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Click "Play" below to listen to the Day 21 audio journal.
June 14, 2015
Day: 21 Daily Miles: 26 Total Miles: 940.75 Hours Hiking: 12
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| Sunrise on Shadow Lake and the JMT across the valley. |
June 14th, my last day on trail. I made it 26 miles to point 292785 E 4194587 N UTM, which is basically the Tuolumne Meadows store. Yeah, so again, this is six months later, I am recording a brief summary of what happened my last day on trail, because once I finished, I did not record a journal for the day.
I started that morning about a mile passed the Agnew's Meadow campground/trailhead...up the switchbacks...with a nice view looking across to Shadow Lake on the JMT, I had spent the night there with another hiker. I got an early start...this was really the day that I wanted to do, to see if my leg injury would allow me to hike fast, or if it really was going to end my hike. I figured I should give it at least one more full day to see if I could actually complete my speed hike, or if was actually going to end....and it did end.
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| The stream flowing out of Thousand Island Lake. |
My other goal for the day was that I had my girlfriend Leah at Toulumne Meadows waiting to give me a ride out of there, not because I knew I was going to get hurt, but she was going to meet me on trail, as a....not a surprise, but as a little motivation boost. All things considered, the way that it worked out, worked out almost as best as it could have....but that the same time, sucks that I had to stop. I started about 5:00 am, hiking...it took me 11 hours to go 26 miles...sure there were some climbs in there, but that averages to be about 2.2 mph....which is well below my normal pace...so my injury wasn't completely stopping me from hiking, but it was not allowing me to hike normally. My normal pace is around 3.5 mph......It was painful....I pushed....mentally and physically it was definitely painful. Physically I would take a wrong step, every 10-20 steps and I would do something just the right way and lighting bolts would come shooting up my leg with pain...I was really relying on my trekking poles, kinda hobbling, if that makes sense...using my two arms to help my one leg out. Slow as we go, it was a nice morning, I got good views all the way up the ridgeline to Thousand Island Lake. The rocks started to pick up [on trail] in that area, you get more boulders, which doesn't work very well with an injury...an injured calf... because of the way that you have to posture your foot. I met a few other hikers and I just kept pushing. I knew I had to at least finish this out...I couldn't turn back, that I had a ride waiting for me, so that was my goal, to finish it out. I don't remember a while lot from the day because I was really focused on my injury and that it was the end for me. Which is sad, but at the same time, I felt like I was giving it the good effort, to definitely prove that I had to get off trail. And I knew that it was the kind of injury that probably, if I gave it a week or so, I probably would be more or less fine...but overuse injuries, you can't fix without rest. On a speed hike, like this, you don't have time for rest days.
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| Thousand Island Lake. |
Even though I was on pace, or above pace to meet my own goal of a sub 60 day hike, which would beat the record also, a couple days off would actually make it nearly impossible, if not impossible to reach my goal...Plus, I was hurt, and I didn't want to hurt myself more...which is one of the more important things, in that, some injuries you can deal with, they will get better and you will be fine, but if you injure yourself long-term, say I really messed up my leg because I was hiking on it for another 2 weeks, that the rest of my life, I may have to deal with that injury, versus healing, coming back, planning it again, then doing it again. I'd rather be hurt for the short term and not for the long term, even if it means I can't accomplish my goals. It was a slow hike up to Donohue Pass... a lot more kind of dayhikers starting coming in when I was approaching Donohue...or at least over night backpackers. I don't remember the downhill from Donohue being so long, but it took FOREVER...I had great views, as I said....When you finally get down to the valley floor, it's probably 8 miles from the valley floor to Tuolumne Meadows proper...I stopped...It was taking me much longer than I expected, so I had stopped once I had gotten down to the grassy area, took a break and started eating something up in the trees....I had figured Leah would probably come hike to meet me, because she wanted to hike with me...so as I was sitting there in the shade, not really hidden, I see her come walking up the trail...(laughs) and completely does not see me...she walked about 10 ft passed me up the trail and I had to yell at her...she looks up and looks around and finally notices me..."How did I just miss you!?!? I've been looking for you, expecting to see you all day". So that was funny.
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| Climbing up to Donohue Pass. |
We finished out the last, pretty, but boring 8 miles or so to Tuolumne Meadows. We finally reached the store area at 4:00 pm and that was it... I threw my pack into my truck, took off my shoes, just basically say that I'm done...I made it in time to get my resupply package from the store...and that was it.... the end. Kind of anticlimactic...but worked out in one of the best ways that it could have...I didn't have to arrange a ride, I didn't have to hang out and dwell on it....So, that was the end. It was sad. Looking back at it now, 6 months later, my leg is fine. Within 2 weeks I didn't even know I had been injured. Mentally, because I was doing so well, I definitely want to try it again, but I don't know if the weather conditions for the trail will ever be as good as they were that year....California being in a sever drought, the whole northwest, Oregon and Washington having absolutely abysmal snow years as well...because after the hike, wildfires really, really decimated the area and close a lot of the trail. I was definitely in the right window, the right year for it...just my leg didn't cooperate. So, for next time, there are definite things that I can change to help prevent it...one is that I had just switched to Altra shoes about maybe 1-2 months before I had got on trail, so I kind of think that with the zero drop from Altra shoes and my legs not being fully accustomed to them, because you have to stretch your tendons and things because you are not used to walking as much on no rise of a shoe, that it could have easily contributed to what happened.
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| The summit of Donohue Pass with the overnight backpackers, looking North. |
I definitely know that the Sierras, in the way that...for the speed I'm going and the Sierras have lots of rocks and lots of drops, where you are stepping down and really catching yourself with your calves...so that probably has a lot to do with it...I did do the Sierras, in what, 5.5 days? A little over 5 day, I did the bulk of the high Sierras, so that speed and all that impact can add up. Just every time you do it, you learn a little more. Doing it the first time and really killing it, is an amazing feat, because you really don't know a lot of the small things...how to prepare for them, how to fix this, how to tweak that...so having done two speed record attempts so far, I've literally accumulated the length of the trail from both attempts, I've done 2,600 miles at speed...at over 44 miles per day...so I do know I can do it...that does go a long ways for the future and figuring out what you want to do....that you can do it! So now, I'm just waiting for the weather to be terrible for California, but great for hiking...then I'll probably be right back out there on trail. It was a good experience, I just wish it turned out differently...
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| Descending Donohue Pass towards the green and lush, but very flat and boring valley. |
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| 360 degree panorama of the Big Horn Plateau, Sierra Nevada Mountains. |
