Day 48 - PCT 2024
Miles Hiked: 4.8
A couple random dudes on crotch rockets showed up in the middle of the night. I heard their bikes from miles away. The road down into the campground was closed and blocked by fallen trees so I assume they walked in. They had flashlights and were causing a bit of ruckus. Thankfully they didn’t hang out long and I managed to fall back to sleep.
I woke up this morning with a tender knee. It’s starting to frustrate me now. Kathryn and I wanted to hike 17 miles to camp today so that we could position ourselves nicely to get into the Acton KOA in 3 days. As I started hiking down Highway 2, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. My knee wasn’t painful but it wasn’t great either.
The one goal I had today was to make it to mile 400. I was close. I hurried along. When I successfully got there, I decided to bail out. An Audi drove by me, the first car I saw up here all morning. I kept walking. About a half mile down the road, the Audi was pulled over at the side of the road. I hobbled up. He asked where I was headed and I asked him where the nearest town was. “LA,” he said. Fuck. LA was far. I was disappointed there wasn’t a town along the way. But I needed off this mountain. “Any chance you could give me a ride?” I asked. And that was that.
I let him know it wasn’t urgent and he could continue bird watching as I saw he was doing. We made a plan to bird watch together for a few hours. His name was Marv and he was an enthusiastic birder. We pulled off to the side of the road at various day use areas on our way down to LA. We walked around looking at birds. I got to use his binoculars as he taught me a ton about local birds. I saw Stellar Jays, California Scrub Jays, Rock Pigeons, Black Phoebes, and others I don’t remember. Overall, it was a fun and interesting experience. I actually had a blast. Being open to new experiences is all part of this journey.
Marv dropped me off at the urgent care centre as we entered LA. I sat out front trying to determine if I needed a doctor or just needed some rest. I texted Dr. Morgan from Blaze Physio and she suggested I try a course of Ibuprofen every 8 hours for 5 days. She agreed rest was a good thing and to continue with my stretches and strength training exercises. I agreed and booked myself a hotel through Expedia.
LA. Who knew?!
