I had to quit this year’s northbound walk of the John Muir Trail after four days of walking. This will be the second time I’ve had to leave the trail because of a foot injury. The first time, in 2013, halfway along, was from plantar fasciitis after too many miles a day for my age. This time I never even set foot on the John Muir Trail.

I drove from home to Needles, CA on August 31st and checked into a motel for the night. About 1:30 AM I got up to use the bathroom and on the way back to bed I kicked the unseen edge of a piece of furniture with my left foot. It hurt like crazy for a spell and, after I cussed a bit, settled down to a dull ache. I figured it for a jammed toe joint; I've had them before. I decided to continue with my plans for the trail feeling that it would get better with time and use.

The next day I drove to Lone Pine, met my shuttle ride and started walking from the Cottonwood Pass trailhead. My foot still hurt and was swollen but I was able to walk without limping and at roughly my normal (slow) pace. I made it about three miles past Chicken Springs Lake that day going through a truly heroic hail/thunder storm enroute. It deposited about 2” of hail on the ground and I think that walking through the hail was equivalent to icing my foot.

The next day’s goal was to get beyond Rock Creek Crossing by a couple of miles. Anyway, about two hours into the days walking my foot abruptly started hurting like crazy and getting worse with each step; I was about eleven miles from the trailhead here. After another hour’s walking I decided something beyond a jammed toe was wrong. It was then I decided to turn around; I just couldn’t imagine another 220 miles of this. So, I started hobbling back to the trailhead. I stopped for the night at Chicken Springs Lake and then hiked downhill to the trailhead the following day. I quickly got a ride back to Lone Pine and then drove as far as Needles that day and home the next.

After a few days at home I saw an orthopedist who diagnosed a fractured middle metatarsal and two joint dislocations on adjacent toes. It has now been nearly two weeks since the injury and it still hurts like the devil. I’m on an ice and rest cure. I’m glad I turned around when I did.

I'll try hard to remember not to do this sort of thing again!