It’s been a week since I have been home. I still hurt a lot. I still hobble like a typical PCT hiker. I went for a hike on Saturday and could barely keep up with the other hikers I hiked with. I think I have only one speed anymore and I think steep trails are too hard now. The PCT is so flat and gentle most of the time, especially the last few weeks I was out. I’m in pain and in terrible shape. All I have anymore is stamina.
What should I do to recover from the hike?
Piper
Piper;
I’m in recovery too, from the AT this time. I have different issues, almost the opposite. No pain, but I’ve lost too much weight. I am enjoying day hikes with “normal” people.
I remember finishing the PCT and limping with foot pain afterwards, and not wanting to walk much either. So I just stayed home from the day hikes and didn’t worry too much about it. I think the foot pain continued for months, sorry to say. If you have any numbness, that may last for 6 months or more. About all I could do was take care of the nasty, cracking callouses on my feet, and let the calendar take care of the pain.
In the end, the PCT was worth it for me. I hope is is for you, too. And I just got some good advice on this forum for my weight loss issues.
Garlic
I had a lot of knee pain when I finished my AT in 2004. It took about 3 months to get back to where I could hike again and in the intervening time I gained back a lot of weight.
If I had to do it over gain I would really focus on non-weight bearing excercises like biking and swimming. I would also cut back on the calories.
It was a little scary for awhile as I wasn’t sure if I would ever recover but I eventaully did.
One last tip: I went to australia after my hike and found a topical Ibuprofen cream while there. That seemed to help me a lot but it isnt available in the US for some reason.
I’m not sure how it is I finidshed without the pain. I didn’t feel any pain until a couple of weeks after I fin ished.
jalan jalan
My knees hurt after I went for a bike ride. But they don’t hurt if I just ride my bike for transportation for short distances, and they don’t hurt walking, which is good.
Mostly it’s my feet that hurt. The random shooting pain is subsiding, thank goodness. But they still ache and I get foot and leg cramps all the time, especially when I wake up in the morning and stretch.
I really don’t want the weight to come back and I feel guilty just sitting around reading and relaxing. I feel like I need to get some miles in. :lol
It occurred to me to try walking on the beach. I can do that barefoot so no ill-fitting (they are all ill-fitting for me) shoes can force pain on me and maybe I can maintain or even gain better strength in my feet. I can walk in soft sand or hard. We’ll see how it goes.
Piper
Your body will recover after a thru with patience and time. Numb toes regain feeling (several weeks for me), sore arches rebound (a few weeks), and the joints finally quit aching (a few days). I think you’re experiencing the worst of it now. My body always seems to be the sorest right after a trip, regardless of length. It holds its breath for as long as I’m on the trail, and then during the first few days off, it exhales and kicks me with a vengence. Your mind is addicted to exercise right now, and like any addict, it might not now what’s best for it. Give yourself another week off. You’ll be shocked at how much better you’ll feel and then you’ll be better able to implement a “normal” exercise/diet regime. This week is the toughest week of any thru. Be kind and patient with yourself.
Matt
Drink beer, watch TV, eat lots of cheetos, wake up late, stay up late, take some pills (any kind), get a big ugly car, get a crummy job, buy a suit, spend, spend, spend, go into debt. Then, get a mirror, look at yourself, and say “boy, I need to go for a hike”… and go hike the CDT. It’s really the only way.
Jonathan
I believe Jonathan’s advice is best…except for the suit. In the afterburn of the AT I rented lots of movies, cleaned the cellar, and drank, but to each their own…
fishngame
It’s hard to do nothing. But today I have felt worst of all. Barely able to move. The beach hike idea was not a good one.
I went to the farmer’s market and felt like a cripple. My aching knees, my aching everything. I had to stop and rest. Maybe I need to eat more protein?
I’m trying to be good and eat only fresh food like veggies, fruits and natural stuff. No more things in wrappers. Ugh. I can’t stand things in wrappers anymore.
A job? You must be joking, right? How 'bout I go sit in the park and play my pennywhistle all day. That can be my job.
Going back to work has to be another topic. I can’t fathom such a horror unless the job is out in nature and away from people. All that time alone with just the plants to keep me company (and the animals to run away from me) is how I spent my thru-hike. I liked it that way.
Funny how I enjoyed being alone on my hike but spending the day downtown I find it really strange to be surrounded by people and feel so totally alone, invisible, lonely. I miss the trail.
Piper
when i finished the pct i left my heart on her craggy peaks. I felt pretty much great after the hike… but my feet hurt a bit. i hiked alot when i got home but it was’nt the same. i mourned that trail…still miss it. i did 1000 again in 02 and feel in love all over again…
yappy
I plan on the PCT doing me in 2010, and if I’m not careful, could I too be lost there forever, in its craggy peaks? Ah! Finally a noble end!
fishngame