A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Trail

Kevin made it to Lake Morena early this morning.  No, he didn't hike through the night, but he stopped and slept.  It's my wish he had a good sleep, because it hasn't been good for a while.  He's been stressed about getting it all together for the hike.  Now the time for prep is over and the hike is here, Big as life and twice as Natural.

Kevin's Ten Commandments

It seems that everything has a top ten, or a ten commandments.  Everyone wants to copy God, but no one gets close.  Kevin developed these commandments to help inspire him along the way.  Some of these he borrowed from our son, Garrett, some he made up on his own.

  1.  Live your testimony
  2.  Be grateful (Take nothing for granted)
  3.  Encourage others & hike for those who can't
  4.  Embrace all challenges, including continuous steps.  (A thru-hike is not easy. See the obstacle before making a judgment)
  5.  Take the long view (Don't overdo today)
  6.  Take care of your feet and body
  7.  Stay hydrated and eat well
  8.  Be responsible (Pack it in--pack it out)
  9.  Do the math (you gotta do the miles each day)
10.  Don't forget to have fun (Find the joy in the simplest things and stay in the moment)

Advice from a Runner

Part of the long view is realizing how much of yourself you have to put into a hike like this.  So Leanna sent a text to her dad that said:  It's like running a marathon.  First third with your head, second third with your gut, and last with your heart.




We Stood Upon the Stars by Roger W Thompson

The last bit for this post sums up pretty much something all thru-hikers have in common.  There is a bit of wildness in all of us and it comes from our very creation.  The Creator in making the first man, made him in the wild.  There were no houses and there were no buildings.  We are the ones who messed all that up,  but we have to reach down and find that wildness in us.

Roger says "To recover the wild in us, we must first recognize our making.  Every man has flames of wilderness ignited in him at birth.  We are created from passion and bear the likeness of an untamed Creator.  There is a voice of the wild, and as men we know it.  When it calls we must go, in spite of the clamor of opposing voices that tell us not to.  Our lives will be defined by what we choose.  Along the banks of Rock Creek, I rediscovered a wild that never had been lost.  I just had to return to the voice."  

Hike well, Kevin, and I hope you are hearing that voice as you go.

Next post, I hope Kevin has a trail name to share.

The Journey of 2660 Miles Begins with the First Step

Our liaison at Camp Korey is April Fulgate, and she was wanting a picture of Kevin with his pack.  I asked him to get his trail host to take a picture with his phone, so he could text it home and I could get this out ASAP.  So here he is, starting the Journey of 2660 miles and taking his first steps. As I hear from Kevin, I'll send out updates.

As Kevin hikes the trail, I'll be bringing some "hiking vocabulary" for your enjoyment.  Today's vocabulary word is Hiker Trash--any other thru-hiker on the trail.  Kevin met his first Hiker Trash yesterday flying from Seattle to San Diego.

Podcasts with Garrett, Just Before Kevin Left for the Trail

Thank You All!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the 10th, Becky & I  head to Spokane to celebrate her birthday and Mother's Day.  May 11th, I travel to San Diego to be picked up by a Trail Host who will take me to the PCT for an early start on Friday, the 12th.

I want to thank those who have contributed or pledged to donate to Camp Korey.  This warms the cockles of my heart!

Many thanks also to those who have been pulling for me and praying for me.  Without your encouragement and support, it is doubtful that I would be going.  My wife, Becky; son, Garrett; and daughter, Leanna, have been leading the charge.  But I have also have had great support from the rest of my family, my family at GracePoint church, my NRCS family (I worked with them for more than forty years), and my SRM family (Society for Range Management).

On May 5th, Garrett called and said, "A lot of PCT hikers are not even going to start their hike this year." Maybe all the snow in the Sierras has spooked them.  Then he said, "Dad, you have one goal right now--just get to the trail."  Roger that:  Goal #1--Get to the trail.

The scanned document is from Alan Fulk of the NRCS.  What a great chuckle and great encouragement from Alan and his family--Mary, McKinley, and Walker!!! Thank you so much!

See you somewhere up the trail

Houston, We Are Go For Launch

Houston, We are ready for final check

Clothing system--base layer and hiking clothes ready.  We are prepared for wind, cold and rain

Nutrition system--

        Trail Food: Breakfast & Dinner prepared for entire trail

        Lunch and Snacks for first 5 sections, will adjust once we know what is working

        Stove, pot, and lighter will be shipped to San Diego

        Fuel canister will be purchased there

        Vitamins and Glucosamine ready

        We have a superb person in charge of resupply boxes.  They will be there on schedule

        Town food:  will be purchased at every resupply stop.



Hydration system--filter and Aqua Mira for treatment.  Water bottles and bladder ready.



Sleep System--tent, ground cloth, & stakes ready.  Sleeping quilt, pad, and liner ready

          The support for the tent (hiking poles) will be shipped



Personal Gear:

           Knife, sunscreen, sunglasses, Deet & headnet for mosquitoes all ready

           Bible reading material will be supplied in re-supply boxes



Navigation system--maps, compass, altimeter watch, and PCT handbook pages ready.  Also maps for trail exclosures



Communication system:

            Cell phone and charger ready.

            Pen, paper, and self-addressed envelopes for updating base station



Conditioning:

             Body:  Training hikes of 18 miles not met due to foot.  We have been doing 10 mile hikes

             Foot:  peroneus brevis tendon MUCH better



All Systems, we're ready for Go-No Go Assessment: 

              Clothing system:  Go!

              Nutrition system:  Go!

              Hydration system:  Go!

              Sleep system: Go!

              Navigation system: Go!

              Travel arrangements: Done. Go!

              Conditioning:

                       Body:  the new, adjusted plan is possible

                       Foot:  ditto



Foot & Body: we need your Go-No Go assessment now!

               Go!!  But you must start slow, take the long view, AND listen to the feedback we're giving



Houston, we're Go for launch.

                Travel date for San Diego is May 11th.

                Departure from Southern Terminus of the PCT on May 12th at first light.



PS:  I know that many of you have been pulling for me and praying.  Much appreciated.

Kevin Guinn, May 1, 2017

Bummer! No Thru-Hike of the PCT This Year

First thing, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to Camp Korey.  You can't imagine how much this warms my heart, and Becky's too.  Keep spreading the word about Camp Korey.

May 3rd, my start date is less than four weeks away.  I should be ready to go - body ready for every challenge the Pacific Crest Trail can dish out, mail drops organized, and gear tested.

A tendon in my left foot is not doing well (peroneus brevis).  I have been fighting it since last fall.  And it is my fault.  I basically took off two weeks in March (something I should have done last fall or in January).  Stretching, heat, ice, and massage.  That's about all I did for the last two weeks of March.  A week ago I did short hikes, stationary bike and foot strengthening exercises.  But when I also spent time on my feet weeding, it was too much for my foot.  So, there is no way I can consider a complete thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017.

At least I am in good company.  Dustin Johnson pulled out of the Masters Golf Tournament today.  Seems he fell down stairs yesterday.  His back will not allow him to compete.  He's not risking further injury.  Smart man.  I wish I had been as smart as he because now I'm frustrated beyond belief.

My plan is to get my foot well and hopefully knock out a 200-600 mile section of the PCT this year, and to be ready for the thru-hike a year from now.  I still want to continue to raise money for Camp Korey.  I love what they are doing for some very sick boys and girls.

Gnarly, Stubby, and Gimpy and Maybe a New One?

We've been advised to explain who Gnarly, Stubby, and Gimpy are.  We've briefly said that these are injuries Kevin had in 2014.  It's time to tell the backstory.

Kevin and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day.  We met on February 15th, and celebrate that instead.  In 2014, Kevin and I decided to do our celebrating for the 15th on the evening of the 14th.  During the day, Kevin knocked the SkilSaw off the table and broke the safety guard off the blade.  After dinner we were just a few miles from Lowe's where we could have gotten a new saw quite easily, but we were in the middle of laying new floor in the house and Kevin worked on the floor in one room all day long, and he was tired. So we came home without a saw.

The next morning, Kevin decided to do a few more rows on the floor and try to finish up the room before church.  I was still asleep while this was happening.  He rushed in the house yelling, "Becky, I need help!" He had the fingers of his right hand curled into his palm and blood was EVERYWHERE. I got him to put his hand under running water while I grabbed a towel for his hand and then got dressed.  I wish I'd grabbed some ice but that didn't cross my mind.

We went out to the car and started toward Moses Lake (a nearby town with a larger hospital than we've got here in Ephrata) when Kevin tells me, "I guess they'll call me nine-fingered Jack now." "What are you talking about? Did you cut off a finger?"  He opens his hand to show me the finger that was now residing in his palm. I was not at a point of no return when he told me this, so I make a right-hand turn and head toward Wenatchee, where an even larger hospital is.  I guess I need to say that Moses Lake has a population of 22,000, and Wenatchee is at least twice that size.  Before this story drags on into perpetuity, I'll just say that he did, in fact, cut off the middle finger, and damaged the extensor tendon of his index finger.  After a couple of surgeries to try to reclaim usability in that finger, it is curled a bit, and the knuckle is perpetually swollen.  Index finger is Gnarly, middle finger is Stubby.

Gimpy comes into play exactly two months later, when he is out in the field doing field work and while he was heading downhill, his knee gave way.  He couldn't really walk on his leg and made an appointment the next day with an orthopedic surgeon.  The upshot is that he had a complete rupture of the quadriceps tendon in his left leg.  He was in a brace for a week, then had surgery and was in an ankle to thigh cast.  The doctor came out and told me that he was able to reattach the tendon, but in the process, he broke a drill bit into Kevin's kneecap. After two weeks, they took the cast off and Kevin was ready to start physical therapy, but the doctor was not going to let that happen.  He looked at me and said, "You've got your hands full, don't you?"  And I told him, "You don't know the half of it."

Now we fast forward to today, when Kevin came in from his hike and said, "I think I may have dislocated my pinky. It's back in now, but it still hurts." He had fallen on some ice while he was hiking on Beezley Hill.  Hopefully, he hasn't added another character to his "entourage."  I'm having a hard time coming up with another name!