Sobo PCT 2021 Series (part 5): Nero & Zero Days near Snoqualmie Pass for shin splint recovery

Here is part 5 of my trail journal for my Southbound Pacific Crest Trail adventure. This post is a little bit different due to the fact that I’ve made the difficult decision to leave the trail for several days to try to recover from shin splints. Follow my thruhiking trip in the next posts or on Facebook and Instagram at JustAGirlAndABackpack.Blog. The most recent day is at the top, and the oldest day is at the bottom. (I release posts on a schedule a couple of weeks behind the present day for safety reasons.). I want to apologize for any errors, as I am writing everything from my phone while exhausted and haven’t gone back over anything with a critical eye.

Statistics for my journey so far are as follows. Trail stats: record miles in one day = 21.6; avg 12.5 mi/day w/ zero days; avg 15.0 mi/day w/o 4 zero days; 300.7 mi hiked total; day 24. Town stats: 4 zero days; 8 nights spent in a town; 4 resupplies; 8 showers; 4 loads of laundry. Nature connection stats: 1 snake; 2 bears; 4 species of wild plants munched on; 5 species of wild plants used to wipe with; 1 good sunrise; 4 good sunsets; 2 great nights of stars; 8 instances when I felt exceptionally connected to nature; 1 accidental sploosh at a river crossing; 3 dangerous river crossings; 5 dives into lakes/rivers; 2 rain storms; 1 lightning/thunder storm; 2 foggy days. Human connection stats: 8 hiking buddies; 3 hitch hikes; 15 trail angels. Mental state stats: 2 books read; 1 day of existential dread; times I felt scared = 4; times I wanted a hiking partner = 5; 3 days of off trail depression. Physical state stats: 5 small cuts; 1 bruise; 2 blisters; 6 calluses; infinite insect love nips; 1 unidentified lump; many sore muscles; shin splints; my right knee is not happy; my right shoulder is a disaster. Gear stats: 1 pair of shoes mangled; 14 gear repairs completed; 46 gear modifications; 1 gear item lost; approx 5lbs of gear sent home or cut.

Saturday July 24; Mile 259.2, Zero day at New Castle near Snoqualmie Pass (0 miles today, day 24). I helped Rob reshelve all of the books that had been removed from shelves when they got their carpets redone, so their home is slowly looking more put together as they also get the baby’s room set up. My Zpacks Duplex tent came in the mail, so I excitedly set it up in the back yard. I went to the Newcastle Public Library, got a library card, and used their computers for an hour and a half to schedule some more blog posts (i think I actually got some photos to upload to my website this time!). Then I went to REI to grab some last minute gear, and to learn about shoe inserts. The new Altra Lone Peaks I got are flat and specifically made for no inserts, so after trying on everything in the store (as well as other shoes), we established it would be better to go without. At Trader Joe’s I got an absurd amount of dehydrated, dried and freeze dried goodies, including a lot of things I haven’t tried yet that I’m excited for. Safeway filled in the rest of the resupply food. Back at the house i repackaged all of the food by day and came out to something like 6000 calories per day for 5 days, with over 20lbs of food. I’m scared. I need to figure out how to cut back a little haha. Rob and Sarah hosted a little outdoor get together in the school parking lot across the street (something they had been doing to social distance socialize the entire pandemic), and invited me to join. I had a really great time with a small group of their friends, juggling glowing clubs and balls, playing with fire, and watching them use batons and flaming juggling instruments with impressive skill. The backdrop was an old VW van, dubbed the WNDRBUS on its lisence plate, with colorful flashing Leads responding to the music blasting from a boom box. I stayed up late like I always do to make my life harder the next day.

• 

• 

• 

Friday July 23; Mile 259.2, Zero day at New Castle near Snoqualmie Pass (0 miles today, day 23). I slept in until 10:30am due to my late night internet surfing, and spent many hours on the phone with various friends and family. I got up the energy to lay out all of my gear to air out, and I hosed down my pack and sleeping pad. My mom and sis overnighted my new Zpacks Duplex shelter (should arrive Saturday!!), So I’ll be dropping almost a pound and a half of weight. I also trimmed some weight out of my pack (literally) by cutting straps and cords, cutting my sleeping pad in half and taking the corners off at the head, getting rid of some other little odds and ends, etc. I think my pack is now about 12.6lbs. I believe my next step is getting a smaller and lighter backpack, but that’s probably later down the road when this one dies. (Actually, I’ll be trading my winter long johns for my lighter weight ones when the nights are a little less cool and damp further south). Dinner was home made, eaten with Rob and Sarah on their back porch, with music and a beer and good conversation. I cleaned the dishes and swept the floor while we all ate Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. I read The Girl Who Played With Fire while chilling in my bed to wind down. I’m currently thinking I’ll leave on Sunday to get back on trail, since my leg felt almost normal today.

• 

• 

Thursday July 22; Mile 259.2, Zero day at New Castle near Snoqualmie Pass (0 miles today, day 22). And so begins the road to recovery from shin splints in my right leg. My current plan is to stay at my family friends’ house (Rob and Sarah) until my leg is healed, which is hopefully only a few days. Unfortunately, i woke up this morning with that extreme pain in my shin and leg that i felt yesterday, and on top of that, my right knee is feeling twingy, and my right shoulder feels like I really messed something up in there. I also am experiencing some form of post trail depression (even though I haven’t even finished yet!) and find myself having a hard time being motivated to do anything–I actually watched a couple of Netflix episodes instead of enjoying a book, so you know my head’s not screwed on right. I ate a banana and had a coffee while reading a book about medicinal herbs (mostly to learn more about yarrow, but then I went down a rabbit hole), before I headed out to Dino’s, a dive bar that has surprisingly good breakfast fare. I spent two hours at a local public library, eeking out the time limit on their computers so that i could try to get my blog in order (I only got one of a thousand tasks completed). Then I had pho for lunch (pretty tasty!). After lazing about at the house for too long, Sarah invited me to outdoor prenatal yoga, which was my first ever yoga class, and extremely easy, although I could feel the weakness in my right leg. When we got home, Rob immediately invited me to join his one on one strength and stretching zoom class, where a contortionist walked me through some wild ass stretches that left me shaking. After spending years not exercising, this was da lot haha. Sarah made a tasty dinner of chickpeas, quinoa and sweet potato, which we ate while chatting on the couch. The pupper, Bella, seems to have warmed up to me significantly (she was a rescue who was abused), and spent the whole time asking for pets and giving me licks and playful nudges. I then proceeded to waste 4 hours scrolling through Instagram when I could have been sleeping, and staying up until 2:15am so that i could hate myself even more.

• 

• 

• 

Thanks so much for reading! Comment below with any questions 🙂