Sore feet slows Crest trail hiker

MOUNT SHASTA, Calif. — Camas hiker Jake Rose spent Monday and Tuesday at a hotel here resting aching feet, realizing he may fall short of completing his walk from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.

Mount Shasta is at mile 1,506 of the 2,650-mile trip.

A shoe resupply Rose was counting on in Drakesbad was not on schedule, forcing him to hitchhike 32 miles to Susanville to buy a decent pair of running shoes.

He lost a day on the errand.

The next three days he tallied 31, 28 and 17 miles.

“My feet were killing me and I couldn’t stand to go any farther,” Rose, 21, said.

He pushed 33 miles the next day just to make it to a town.

“I would say that day was possibly my worst day of the entire trip both physically and mentally,” he said.

After icing his feet in a cold spring, Rose walked 40 miles on Sunday, his longest day yet.

On Monday, he walked eight miles, then hitched to Mount Shasta to rest.

“I want my feet to be 100 percent healed before I move on,” he said.

“At this point, I am not sure if I will make it to Canada,” Rose said. “I may just take it easy and stop in Washington. To make it to Canada everything would have to go right and it would still be close.”

His college in Montana resumes classes on Aug. 30.