[pct-l] Heroism & Bravery?

[ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com]

Although Scott's account is so typical of the early thru hiker experience, 
this type of pain and struggle deserves some applause to work through.

If I were to ask everyone who has attempted the Crest, or any other long 
trail, if they had ever experienced "blister-upon-blister," this List would 
get deluged with stories!

Next time, Scott, you'll pre-condition your feet and shoes under weight 
before you start off!

Mtnned
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Bryce" <sbryce at scottbryce.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:59 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Trail Running Shoes so great?


> Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com wrote:
>> People who leave the trail in the first couple of hundred miles
>> probably were not prepared physically or mentally or both
>
> That would be me.
>
> By the time I got to Pines to Palms Highway, I was pretty beat up
> physically. I had 14 blisters, maybe more. The biggest ones were on the
> balls of my feet. The others were annoying and painful, but not enough
> to take me off the trail. I don't know if it is actually possible to
> have two layers of blisters, but from the way my feet healed after I got
> home, it looked as though I had another layer of blisters under the
> visible blisters on the balls of my feet.
>
> I got to Pines to Palms the day after the next section of trail was
> re-opened. I was looking forward to being one of the few thrus who would
> be able to hike the trail from Pines to Palms to Saddle Junction. I
> stopped at Paradise Cafe for a famed Jose Burger. When I stood up, my
> feet hurt so badly I realized that I would need a couple of days off to
> recover.
>
> I hitched to Idyllwild and got a room at the Idyllwild Inn. (BTW, they
> are VERY hiker friendly!) There was another thru there who saw how bad I
> looked and handed me his unopened quart of orange juice. It wasn't until
> I drank the orange Juice that I realize how badly dehydrated I was, in
> spite of drinking two gallons of water every day.
>
> I was in bad shape physically, but as I assessed the situation, I was
> losing the game mentally as well. I would need a couple of zeros in
> Idyllwild to give my feet time to heal. I had already taken two zeros in
> Mount Laguna and three in Warner Springs. Water was plentiful in the San
> Juacintos, but much of it was off trail. I was already fighting hard for
> every mile, so the thought of having to put in extra miles to get water
> was discouraging. I had planned to hike into Idyllwild via the Devil
> Slide trail to resupply. The way I was doing physically, I expected to
> have to take additional zeros then. I was falling too far behind to
> finish, my physical condition wasn't getting any better, and all the
> zero days were costing too much money.
>
> I spent two nights in Idyllwild and headed home.
>
> I will write more details in response to Ned.
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