Stats
3.6 miles (plus 6.5 other miles to Forest Road 4230)
2,089' elevation gain
4.5 hours hiking
2.24 hiking mph
Photos
Link to all photos from day 15.
Journal Entry
italics = original journal text
regular = added during transcription
There is no journal entry from this day.
After waking up at the semi-established campsite, I noticed that one hiker was already gone while the other duo was packing. I made my hot chocolate, then packed up.
Feeling hopeful that my ankle would be better, I walked the first 100 yards to the nearby creek, where I filtered 2 liters and continued on. While filtering, the older duo that was camped near me passed by, hiking slowly.
Hiking on, I knew within a mile that I needed to quit. My ankle was worse than the previous 2 days and was nearly too painful to walk on, even with my hiking pole for a crutch.
I scanned my maps, looking for two things: a high point where I could get cell service and an exit point for the trail, preferably leading to a nearby forest road. Luckily, I found both of these at about mile 4 for the day.
After about an hour, I caught one of the hikers that passed me while I was filtering earlier. Her slow pace was a good match for my bad ankle, so we hiked the remaining mile together. She was talkative, which helped take my mind off the pain. Once at the trail junction leading to Forest Road 4220, I said goodbye and let her know my trail name and that I was exiting the trail.
First, I hiked down this new trail about 1/4 mile to survey its condition. It appeared to merge with an old forest road that matched my maps. I then retraced my steps back to the junction at the PCT.
Now back at a known location, I took a bearing from my maps and, compass in hand, started off-trail up the nearby South Pinhead Butte (5,348'). After a 30-minute excursion through the overgrowth, I stood atop the butte on the trunk of a fallen tree anxiously checking my phones for cell service. Fortunately, I had service on my burner phone and proceeded to call Kylie. I let her know I needed to be picked up and that I would coordinate a pickup with Geoffrey, who has a Jeep that is far more capable on unknown forest roads than Luna.
After a frustrating 30 minutes of losing and gaining cell service, I had coordinated a pickup location with Geoffrey, who gratefully agreed to leave work early to come rescue me. Because I was leaving the trail and going off-itinerary, I gave my current location and proposed meeting location to Kylie in case of emergency.
As I hiked back down the slope towards the trail, I kept my compass out to be sure I was following the correct bearing. After breathing a sigh of relief when I rejoined the PCT, I hiked the short distance back to the trail intersection leading to Forest Road 4220 and began the 5 mile hike out.
The first 3 miles were on an old, unmaintained forest road with a plethora of downed trees. Unlike blowdowns on the well-traveled PCT, these had no existing paths around or over. In addition, the brush lining the road was quite overgrown, meaning my only option was to blaze the trail over each downed tree, fighting through sharp branches. The combination of these obstacles and my injured ankle made for a frustrating and arduous time, but I knew what I had to do.
Eventually, I made it to Forest Road 4220, a dirt road in better shape and continued on towards Forest Road 4230, my pickup point. While hiking these last 3 miles, my mind wandered from reminiscing about my slowly ending hike to wishing for a random car willing to give me a ride. The Advil was wearing off and I was stopping every 5 minutes to rest my ankle, which was getting worse.
Having planned this rescue mission using only Google Maps, I was still uncertain that Geoffrey would be able to reach our pickup point. Some roads that appear fine online can sometimes be unpassable, either by downed trees or locked gates. The worst case would be that he was both unable to reach me and unable to contact to me (neither of us had service). In this case, my only option would be to begin hiking along his proposed route until I met him at his road block. The mere thought of this was sickening, as another X miles seemed impossible at this point.
2 hours after I left the PCT, I arrived at the intersection with Forest Road 4230. I then realized that I was a couple miles closer on Geoffrey's route than our coordinated pickup point. Instead of suffering through 2 more pointless miles, I sat on the side of the road to wait. I readied my emergency whistle to signal him when he arrived.
After only 10 minutes, I heard the first car of the day and knew it was him. Because he wasn't expecting me for another 2 miles and I was sitting off to the side of the road, he drove right past me as I frantically blew my whistle and waved my arms. I panicked, realizing that if he missed me I would have to hike the remaining miles to our pickup point.
Luckily, he located where the whistle was coming from right as I was going out of view. I breathed a third sigh of relief that day and loaded into his Jeep.
The drive home was pleasant. Our conversation kept my mind off the gravity of the situation; that I was driving away from the trail, away from my goal, and towards the real world at a tremendous speed.
I felt helpless and pathetic in some ways, but empowered in others. I showed myself that I was capable of safely and efficiently coordinating my rescue from the wilderness; that I was capable of making the decision to stop hiking; that I gave it everything I had. Still, leaving the trail at my emotional high-point with only 4 days left was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make.
Forest Road 4220.
Snacking, whistle at the ready. Paved road seen in background.
My rescue team.
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