Since I went off trail due to my knee injury I have seen an Orthopedic Doctor, had X-Rays and MRI’s and discussed the results.

First some background: Roughly a month ago I was crossing a creek called “East Bear Trap Creek” while backpacking the PCT.  It was not a large creek, and had rocks for hopping across without getting wet; Something I’ve done literally hundreds of times before.

But I was careless, stepped wrong and went down.  Hard.  My left knee took the biggest hit on a rock as I went down on the front of it.  Got a good goose egg on my forehead as well.

After picking myself up (With help from friends) I realized I could still walk pretty well.  Thinking I was just mostly bruised, I kept going.  Have to finish the trail, right?

After a few days it became clear the knee was getting worse, but I wanted to see if it was something I could “Live with”.

We were doing 15-17 miles a day and after 60+ miles reached Burney State Park.  By this time I was popping Ibuprofen every few hours and it hurt to walk without the pack.  So I took a cab to the town of Burney and purchased a knee wrap.  It felt wonderful!  That and after the Zero day I was walking pretty well with no pain.

Gee, I thought, it’s only 90 miles to the next town.  Maybe I can do this!

Yes, dear readers: Denial is not just a river in Africa.  After the second day it was clear the knee was still in a lot of pain.  But, we have a rule: Never go backwards!  (It’s silly, but there ya go)

I finally limped slowly into Dunsmure and took the Amtrak home.

The results of the MRI showed I have a stress fracture along the top of the Tibia.  I also have a torn meniscus on the inside of the knee.

So I hiked 150 miles on a broken leg.  The doctor had a few choice words to say to that I won’t repeat here…

It will take 6 weeks for the bone to heal enough before I can have surgery to repair the torn meniscus. Then it’s weeks after that for therapy.  And I have to somehow stay off of it during this time!

Aaaargh!  There goes my summer!  Basically, I will NOT be back on trail for 2-3 months.  So my dream of finishing the PCT this year is likely over…

But I also realize that I was lucky.  The knee is repairable and I WILL be able to hike again!  So for that I am grateful that my poor choices didn’t cause me more harm.

I will update the blog infrequently as healing progresses.  Meanwhile, my friend Turtle has made it to Etna and already move on.  My prayers are with him.  Go Turtle!

-HalfFast