Day 164- Return to Tuolumne

Day 164, 9/19/14
936 (Evelyn Lake Trail) to 942 (Tuolumne Meadows)
6 miles

I felt drawn to return to the stretch of the PCT along the Lyell River Canyon.  Like returning to the scene of the crime.  Maybe I would have a major insight about why I got the stress fracture if I returned.  It was the last section I did back in June before I got off the trail for my injured foot.  I vividly remember hobbling along in incredible pain, especially the last 6 flat miles.  Shooting stabs of pain, heartbreak that I was having to get off the PCT due to injury.  So I re-hiked this stretch of the PCT today, hoping for a flash of insight.

Along the Lyell River.

As I walked along in the same direction as I had three months ago, there was… nothing.  No breakthrough about the cause.  No clarity as to why this happened.  Which is an answer of sorts.  It just happened.  Probably a combination of causes that I’ve already talked about ad nauseam.  But the thing is, injuries just happen sometimes.  You deal with them.  They change you.  They start out horrible and you think your life is over but actually they can be one of the best things that ever happened to you.

***
A guy who had southbounded a few years ago asked me how my hike has been different for the 250 miles I’d been hiking south, compared to the 940 I hiked north with the thru hikers.  There has been a huge difference.  Hiking south I see fewer people, there aren’t trail angels around, stores aren’t open, the sun is in my eyes.  The other southbounders seem more independent and most of them have skipped sections of trail and it doesn’t seem to matter to them that they haven’t walked every inch of the PCT in one year.  But of course I’m generalizing.  Really there is a huge diversity of other hikers around- rather than being surrounded by people that say they are all hiking from Mexico to Canada, everyone out here has a different story and is hiking different sections and are out for different periods of time.  Rather than being united by being on a journey of the same length, we are all united because we are out here TODAY.  That is what is important- that we are out here right now, right here.

Even more important, my mindset has changed since I started hiking south after the stress fracture.  I’m completely free of the self-imposed constraints of a thru hike.  I don’t feel at all guilty of not doing a certain amount of miles every day.  Which means I can swim in as many lakes as I want, spend time taking photos, hike as much or as little as I want, and it’s all OK.  In the end, I know I won’t have the accomplishment of a thru hike, but now I think that is something that I don’t need right now.   I used to think that if I were a thru hiker it would mean that I had achieved success in hiking.  Now I aim for a colorful sunrise, for making a connection with a fellow hiker, for being observant.  I define my own priorities and sometimes I even throw out any goals and I just am.  Each day that I am on the trail, I win.

***
Steph picked me up in Tuolumne Meadows and we headed down to the Yosemite Valley for lunch.  Stepping into a different world.  Tourists from all over the world strolling around.  After over a week without a shower, dressed in dirt, I dined at the splendid Ahwahnee Hotel.  Delicious!  What an experience I felt so lucky to have woken up on a quiet hillside in the woods, and then to be eating in a gorgeous place surrounded by wood beam and artwork.

At least Steph brought me a clean shirt.

Then we walked to Yosemite Falls, tallest falls in the US, but it was dry- no water.  The air was thick with smoke from the fires.  I learned there was a new fire near where Steph lives, the King fire.  WOW how things change quickly.  I had no idea because I hadn’t had cell service for over a week.

Lots of people enjoying Yosemite Valley even with the smoke.

Dry Yosemite Falls.

Taking two zero days before heading back out to the PCT.  I’m gonna hike as long as I can…