The next morning my back is stiff but I don’t think much about it. Also seems a little harder to take a breath. I pack up and have breakfast and get ready to head out. I go to lift the pack to get in on my back and that is when all hell breaks loose. My back screams at me that this is not going to happen and goes into a spasm. I finally do manage to get the pack on and start hiking but my back aches the whole time. When it was time for a rest I was foolish enough to remove the pack. After the rest the same thing happened trying to get the pack on. I finally manage it but it is clear something is wrong. The pack does not come off during my next rest periods. I am blessed again in that I reach a paved road that goes into the town of Quincy. The plan was that I was going to skip Quincy and go directly to the next town of Burney. I was packed for 2 weeks of hiking and that was one of the reasons my pack was as heavy as it was. That plus the fact that water was again hard to find and so I was caring more water than I had since the desert. However, on reaching this road the decision was clear. I needed to hitch into Quincy and get my back checked out. When I arrived at the road there were two guys in a truck in the parking area. I go over to them and explain my situation and that I needed a ride to Quincy. They said they just came from Quincy (22 miles away) and they are headed in the other direction BUT they have a beer I am welcome too while I wait for a ride. I accept the beer, manage to get my pack off, take off my hat so the cars can see I am a harmless bald old guy and wait for someone to come by. Only about 3 cars and 10 minutes later, a truck stops to give me a ride. He can tell that I am in a bit of distress and he gets out of this truck and lifts my pack into the truck bed. I tell him my story on the ride to Quincy and he takes me the motel that is closest to the hospital and waits for me to check in and carries my pack into the room for me. I AM BLESSED AND PEOPLE ARE GOOD!!! I get cleaned up and go over to the emergency room in the hospital. Starting to get use to this emergency room thing. They are able to see me right away and after a bit of poking around and taking an x-ray they decide I have a back contusion and perhaps a cracked rib. To determine if I actually have a cracked rib would be very expensive and really not worth the effort because it would not change what I am suppose to do which is basically to rest. So back to the hotel and for the next 6 days I rest. I rest and sleep and then sleep and rest. Lenora comes to pick me up and I decide it is the end of my PCT journey for THIS YEAR. Next year in July, Lenora and I will return to Quincy and I will complete the PCT. Stopping for this year was a hard and somewhat depressing decision but I think it is the right one. Since I really can’t complete the trail this year before winter in Washington there is no point in going back out in a weakened state and risk further injury. Courage to start, strength to finish. It will just take me two years to finish, but God willing, finish I will. It was never about the destination but I do want to sit in a Canadian bar and order an Canadian beer.
This blog will continue in July 2016. Until then, be well, do good things. Be a saint, what else is there?
