PCT Day 4 – Zero Day in Mount Laguna

I had originally planned to take a zero day in Mount Laguna. A zero day is a day in which you hike no miles and typically rest or take care of town chores. This was to help give my body a chance to adjust to the torment I am now putting it through. But last night when I went to bed I had changed my mind and decided i was going to hike on – the weather forecast looked great for hiking, I didn’t feel anywhere near as sore Id thought I’d be and my new water filter arrives in Julian tomorrow. Then I woke up and my body wasn’t so happy with the idea. I was nauseated, dizzy, feeling weak and slightly tachycardic (definitely multiple code 4 triggers). So began the battle of the mind vs the battle of the body. My mind wanted to desperately hike on afraid that showing weakness so early in the thru-hike but my body was screaming “stop, rest I promise you’ll thank me later”. In the end my body won and my mind made the tough decision to stay and it was really for the best. I don’t have a good track record of listening to what my body tells me so I’m proud that I did.

John left at 7 and I went back to bed. At 9 I was able to book the room for an additional night and spent the majority of it sleeping, reading and making a few phone calls. I am feeling a lot better now and looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow with the cooler weather and mostly downhill day ahead of me.

If you ever decide to do a thru-hike yourself my solid advise would be to take it slow to start and listen to your body. Unless your in amazing physical shape… something that I am not. If your hiking the PCT i definitely recommend the Mount Laguna Lodge. Big rooms, comfortable beds, real hot showers and they even provide thru-hikers with a bucket and laundry detergent free of charge… mostly to encourage you not to do your laundry in the bathtub.