1st Attempt on the Pacific Crest Trail

In 2020, I began my very first Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike attempt near the Canadian border. Since hikers can’t actually enter the United States from Canada at the Northern Terminus, I hiked up 30 miles to tag the terminus before beginning my journey south to Mexico.

After about 150 miles, I began to notice pain in my feet that didn’t go away. I hiked the entire state of Washington and made it to Bend, Oregon before I gave in to the pain. I had only hiked 650 / 2,655 miles.

I had hiked too hard too early on, and destroyed the extensor tendons on top of both my feet. I had stubbornly (and irresponsibly) hiked through the pain until I just couldn’t anymore.

It took over six months before I was fully recovered. Lesson learned!