Busted Knee and Busted Hike

     This past summer, I enjoyed my second attempt at through hiking the John Muir Trail.  I was able to complete it, but not in one outing, known, as mentioned above, as a through hike, or more commonly among backpackers spelled "thru-hike."  True to form, I got injured again, about half way through the 211 mile trail.  About noonish, I was crossing a shallow but very slick creek with large, smooth rocks covered in algae.  I was about a third of the way across when I slipped, and I reflexively shot my right leg out to prevent myself from falling, but I over-compensated and my knee locked very awkwardly.  It was no doubt due to the weight of my backpack, which was about 65 pounds, but I was able to stay on my feet and gradually walk off the funny feeling (not really pain) on the other side of the creek.

     I felt nothing after I got back up to a steady pace, but later that evening it started aching, but it wasn't significant enough to stop for.  The pain subsided that night and I woke up good to go, but this time the pain returned earlier than it did the previous evening, so I reluctantly took a couple Ibuprofen tablets and rested a bit.  It worked, but by the late evening it was pretty much throbbing, so I stopped and camped earlier than usual.  On the third day, I hadn't hiked more than a half hour before it started hurting again, and I tried to ignore it until I became a gimp, then began popping Ibuprofen every couple hours, which was becoming less and less effective.  Wanting to prevent long-term damage, I decided to hike out the nearest exit, rest and recover, and pick up where I left off near the end of summer.

     I did just that, and here are some cool pictures I snapped on those adventures.