PCT: Day 133

I went to bed last night planning my longest day yet.  My alarm was set for 5:30am, but it’s more of a token alarm since I’m usually awake by 4:30am on my own.  I snoozed the alarm when it went off and before I knew it, it was after 8.  If you know me well you know I never sleep in, and I can’t even remember the last time I slept this late.  I had a missed text from Blue Lizard asking why I didn’t message when I started.  She was even more surprised that I slept in and asked if I was sick.  As I got up I realized I didn’t feel great.  It was mainly my sinuses but I also felt worn out.

I packed up and got moving.  The first 5 miles went by quickly on easy terrain, but I wasn’t feeling much better.  By the time I hit a small climb at mile 9 I was sluggish and worn out.  I was hoping it was just allergies, but Covid has been on the rise in the hiker community and I didn’t want to take any chances.  Blue Lizard and Jessi drove out to pick me up at highway 26, only 16 miles into my planned day. They brought a Covid test which I passed before loading up for the drive back to Portland.

After close to a month and almost 500 miles of hiking without the family I’ve changed my outlook on goals for the rest of the trip. Rather than grind through the remaining miles until Blue Lizard is ready to hike again, I’m going to take some time off to enjoy some family time and help her get her knee rehabbed. Once she’s able to hike again we’ll head back out, probably in Washington. I may do some smaller sections of trail with the kids in the meantime, but don’t have any definite plans and don’t feel any pressure to head back out quickly.