PCT Day 4: A Difficult Decision

20/3/20
PCT Day 4
7.2 miles (+0.5 miles off trail)
Tiny House @ Mount Laguna (0.5 miles off mile 41.5) to Penny Pines Trailhead (mile 48.7)

Didn’t sleep brilliantly and even in our Tiny House it was a chilly night!  Spent a while in the early hours doing a bit of dozing but mainly thinking about the PCTA update and Big Bear statement I read last night before bed.

Thoughts floating around…The PCTA update asked hikers not to hike and postpone or cancel plans.  The PCTA do a lot of great work for the trail and I wanted to respect their request, the same goes for the Big Bear statement.  It feels disrespectful to turn up in towns which are asking people to stay away to curb the spread of the virus.  At the same time, I was within a few feet of more people when I went to In-n-Out the day before we set foot on the trail than I have been during the 3 days on the trail.  Am I really that big a risk to others as a thru hiker?  I’m still not convinced on that, but what if I unwittingly did pick up the virus and Katie or myself became ill in the next few days?  We had 4 days to Warner Springs and only 4 days of food.  If we became ill, we couldn’t sit in the tent for two weeks, we didn’t have enough food.  We were relatively near roads to get picked up but we would need to get to the road and who would pick us up?  My Dad lives less than 2 hours away and is our very own trail angel, taking us to the start and was due to post some re-supply boxes to a few locations.  We could call him, but he’s in his late 60s and has asthma and we then put him in danger.  Anybody who comes to collect us, we put in danger.  And we put ourselves in danger to.  Despite being young and healthy, I have asthma and although it’s very mild, who knows what effect the virus may have on me.  If we were ill and needed emergency assistance, we would then be taking up emergency resources that are needed elsewhere at the moment.  So it felt to me at least that the morally responsible thing to do was to get off trail while we are at least knowingly virus free, get back to Dads and take stock. ?

When Katie woke we discussed things and agreed to phone Dad and ask him to come and get us.  Katie did suggest that we at least walked some way today which was a great idea, so we asked Dad to meet up with us about 8 miles down trail.

It was a cold but sunny morning and the snow was dazzling so I at least got a chance to try out my sunglasses at last!  Whilst we were both deeply disheartened to have to leave the trail, it felt good to be walking again and not in the rain!  It was a beautiful morning to hike and we made the most of our last hike on the PCT for the time being.  The low temperatures made the snow nice to walk in and the landscape was sparkling.  In these conditions you suddenly became aware of all the animals around you, that are otherwise invisible, due to the many cat and rabbit shaped paw prints in the snow.

We only crossed paths with one other hiker from San Diego who had similar views about respecting the PCTA statement and was considering his options.

The views out across the Anza Borrego Desert NP were amazing and we could see Salton Sea in the distance as we wound our way along the mountain side.  The first really impressive views that would could actually see and right at the abrupt interruption to our hike!  As we descended, snow turned to slush and by the time we arrived at our meeting point with Dad, there was little snow on the ground.

When we arrived back in HB, we grabbed ice cream and sat in the sun at Dad’s reflecting and contemplating.  Tomorrow we will update the blog and share a few pictures.  Over the next few days we will think about our options and decide where we go from here.

We are incredibly unlucky that this virus has hit at this time just as we quit jobs, move out our flat, and plan a year away to hike the PCT and then travel around South America.  At the same time we are incredibly lucky.  We are both healthy and are able to stay with my Dad which will help limit how much we spend day to day whilst we assess our options.  The virus has affected our travel plans this year but not our life and many others will be affected in worse ways; some dying, many losing jobs, businesses will go bankrupt.  The PCT is not going anywhere, our adventure on it is postponed, not cancelled.