Why does nobody talk about how a hurt knee in the Winds ruined my whole route plan?
Everyone on here acts like you need the hardest route or you are not a real backpacker, but that thinking almost got me in real trouble. Last August a buddy and I planned the full 42 mile loop through the Wind River Range in Wyoming, and on day two I tweaked my knee on a boulder hop near Island Lake. A guy named Pete from Colorado we met at the campsite said flat out that pushing through a bad knee on a rough trail is how people end up getting carried out, and he was right. We cut the loop short at about 20 miles and walked out the easy way, and I hated it for a whole day. Now I plan every trip with at least two bail out points and I never book a permit that forces me to finish a set number of miles. The scenery on that shortened route was still better than anything I see at home. How do you all build your routes so a small injury does not turn into a big problem?