Injury Update

With a day off the trail in Mazama, my hope was that with some ice and rest my knee would have improved, and I could have resumed my journey.  After a day off, the knee was still very painful to use for downhill trekking, so not wanting to cause further injury to my knee by pushing it, I decided a full medical evaluation was the best course of action.  

With options limited for medical evaluation up in Mazama WA, I would have had to go to Seattle, or Spokane for any real care, so I decided to return home to be evaluated.

After a drive to Wenatchee with an UBER type service in Mazama, and a flight from there to Seattle, and Seattle home, I arrived in Phoenix the evening of July 30.  I was able to get into Urgent Care, and they did a full exam with X-Ray's of my knee.  

Good News Bad News...

Good news was there was no bone damage or chips, but bad news...  there was a significant amount of fluid built up under the knee.  Unsure as to why the fluid build up, the Doctor prescribed me an anti-inflammatory, a knee brace, and a referral to an Ortho Doctor for possible MRI to see what the ligaments and tendons look like, since X-Ray doesn't show those details.

So we wait for the Ortho Doc appointment which isn't until Aug 19th.

The Doc's hope is that it was just a bad sprain and bruise, and with rest it will get back to normal.  It feels better today, and it would seem that I can now put downhill resistance on it, without significant pain.  If it continues to get better, and the Ortho Doc clears it, my hope is to get back to the trail this year!

Unfortunately this setback has cost me precious time!  Time that I didn't have since my schedule was already very tight to make it through the Sierra Nevada Mountains before the snow season.  If I am able to return to the trail this year, I would likely modify my plans to possibly finish off the WA and OR sections of the PCT this year, and tackle the CA section next year.

I will keep you all informed as things progress!