We owe all our Friends, Family, Fellow PCT Hikers and Everyone traveling along with us on the Blog an update. Sometimes these are easy to write and other times, like this, maybe not.
Completing our Thru hike has been in jeopardy ever since the second meniscus tear hit my right knee about 4 weeks ago. Now, just getting back on trail anytime soon may be out of our hands. My left knee meniscus tear accepted 3 weeks of therapy and responded very well letting us restart after Kennedy Meadows. After almost 4 weeks of rest and just a little therapy, my right knee has taken 2 little steps forward and then somehow regressed to the original pain level and difficulty just walking while it tries to lock-up in certain positions.

Sea anemone where we camped

Satellite view of a sneaky campsite we had on edge of bluff listening to ocean all night

Gorgeous view and a great sound to sleep to

We camped on the edge of a bluff in Mendocino and fell asleep to the crashing waves below us. Bright green sea anemone awaited our discovery the next morning.

My thoughts and emotions are all over the spectrum. Guilt, that I am the factor that caused our hike to stall out. Frustration, over the pain and injury itself. Depression, over the failure of reaching our goal and losing contact with such a wonderful sense of camaraderie we had with the whole trail community. Happy that I’m not pounding away on a laptop, airplanes and a mobile phone for 60 hours a week.
Hiking the PCT everyday has kept our lives simple and incredibly rewarding. You achieve a big physigcal goal every day in a settling that is absolutely spectacular. Figure 8 and I have felt our relationship and marriage grow broader and deeper. Sure, these temporary question marks do cause stress. We traded the chaos and negativity of the daily news for conversations about nature, waterfalls, flora and fauna. We had successfully replaced the hustle and bustle of traffic and city noise for deer quietly moving through our campsite like we weren’t even there. We’ve had scary moments, amazing sunsets, lots of love and aches & pains but I’d still do it all over again given the chance. We’ve met the most kind hearted Trail Angels along our journey and received the support of our truest Friends and Family in the form of places to stay, logistics, care packages and encouraging words.

We enjoyed an unbelievable view over Lake Tahoe at this campsite

Where do we go from here? For the last 3 weeks we have enjoyed the continued freedom that renting a little Jeep afforded us. We continued exploring the Eastern Sierras, circled Lake Tahoe, laid on the beach in Santa Cruz, camped on a bluff in Mendocino and wine tasted in Anderson Valley.

Camping in redwoods in Anderson Valley

Crazy photo booth at Bonny Doon

Seeing a familiar face in Santa Cruz💜

Figure 8 would prefer to be back on trail. I could follow her in a car but that wouldn’t quite be the same as us experiencing things together. After being so close together for 4 months, I have a bit of separation anxiety just thinking about it.
#Vanlife is an idea we have talked about often. Buying a used Sprinter or Transit Van that we can up-fit to our own functional yet simple design and use to continue our journey. This is pretty appealing and does make some sort of logical sense.
Another option which could serve us well now is to find a month long place to stay inexpensively to rest, heal and make our best plans while I can cook for her, get beat up in Scrabble games and she can still be out on day hikes in the mountains or coast. Where… is the question? Anyone need a Paris trained personal chef for a month?
When we started our sabbatical year, we knew we would begin with our PCT hike. Then likely outfit a van to further travel in Canada or maybe even up to Alaska for another six months. We would’ve used much of this time to scout out a place on the West Coast (combination of mountains and coastline) to start a new business and a new life after the corporate world. Maybe the timing has just been jumbled up? The near term uncertainty is difficult although we still have good plans later in time.

We looooove the coast in Mendocino

One day, in the not too distant future, we will have a B&B, little cabins to rent or something similar to make our living and continue a lifestyle we have grown to live in and love. Everyone will get a Family and Friends rate because everyone we will meet and greet will be a new Friend.
I share all these thoughts, in part, because it’s therapeutic for me to get it all out in the open. But truly, all suggested spins of the Twister Board Arrow, Compass or Map will be appreciated for our life’s next steps. We have camped most of the last three weeks and are enjoying a night in AC and wifi to try to get a game plan together. We have plenty of time and a willing ear as we sort through all sorts of options right now.