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!

Dang! Sorry to hear you had to bail because of injury.

Heal quickly and remember there are plenty of ways to skin a cat and even more ways to enjoy the backcountry. If you have to give up some of them, that still leaves you with a wide variety of choices.

I'm really sorry to hear this. That's a tough break, no pun intended. I've always suspected that the most dangerous part of backpacking is getting to the trailhead in the first place.

I hope it heals up before long...I'll hold a good thought for you.

At least it wasn't a trail injury, not that it's much comfort.

With all the fires and smoke going on, I was concerned about your trip anyway. After my own experience with lots of smoke last August (eastern Cascades during the solar eclipse) and early September (Columbia Gorge fire), my lungs are still feeling the damage.

Sorry you had to cut your trip short Pika, but after your toes heal you'll have plenty more walking to do!

Wow, sorry to hear that! I was wondering how your trip went. At least it happened in a summer where the smoke would've been lousy anyway.
I had a broken metatarsal myself a few years ago, but for me it came right after the JMT. All I was doing was jogging a couple blocks to the subway station when I rolled my foot. I really didn't thing there was much to it at first, like you I thought I would get over it, but it got worse. The doctor diagnosed it and then put my foot in a cast for a month. It was the fourth metatarsal.The cast was a big drag, but I healed up pretty well.Maybe your doctor should give you a cast?
Anyhow, best wishes on your recovery!