Advice needed not sympathy.

Well, what does your doctor know about backpacking? A lot? Practially nothing? Do you think he's being overly cautious? What if you took a PLB/SPOT or similar device, and maybe stayed closer to home/cities/rescue resources?

Thank you reuben. I recently purchased and registered a PLB a couple of months ago. My impression of the Doctor was that he was against solo hiking/backpacking regardless of the circumstances. You have also made me realize that I need to be more diligent about giving an itinerary to a close family member or friend and then following it. Something I have very rarely done in the past.

Well, I guess it is time for me to come clean and offer some observations about health changes that might or might not effect your solo BPing pursuits.

A few years back I permanently lost significant portions of my vision due to glaucoma. As of almost three years now, I have been legally blind. I am not white cane blind, but legally blind, which is a technical categorization of vision loss. You can look it up to get the specifics. Though I am aware of the loss of vision on one level, it often feels as if I see just fine. It is the process of slowly losing vision which causes the brain to think that what it perceives now is "full" vision. As my eye doctor tells me, I see much less than what I think I see.

My changes in vision are that for all intents and purposes I have no vision in my left eye and my "good" vision in the right eye is reduced to less than 20*. Thus without stereo vision, I cannot judge distances well. Going down hill is often difficult because I can't see texture. I forget that I can't see anything on my left because it feels like I see a full field. Dim light simply turns to black for me and so even with the help of a very bright headlamp I have difficulty getting around in the outdoors after sunset.  Bright sunlight overwhelms me and makes it difficult to see as well. These changes have changed how I hike and backpack.

I still solo, but I have to remind myself constantly to be careful. I have to concentrate and often spend time on the trail just looking down. I have to stop to view the landscape. I have to constantly remind myself to look left. I have to be careful crossing logs, going down scree or boulder slopes, crossing streams, etc. Snow travel is difficult because the reflection of light off the snow blinds me and I can't see the texture of the surface. I do much less off-trail hiking now, and when I do go off-trail I am extremely cautious. 

This past year in January and February I was forced to confront my limitations in Thailand and discovered I am able to do more than I thought I could. The issue for me is to find that zone which allows me to comfortably stretch myself without unduly endangering myself. That is an ongoing process which I doubt will never end. One of my dreams is to thru-hike the PCT and PNT.  I may have to do them solo. Am I up to it? We shall see. I certainly do not want to become a subject of second guessing by having written a check my ass couldn't cash.

I realize my situation is different than yours, yet there are lessons to be learned from each other. I have resisted getting a PLB or SPOT Messenger because I don't want to lose that feeling of being out there on my own. Maybe it's time I give that up. Anyway, I hope what I have written here helps you. I hope you feel free to ask me questions, though I may not have a good answer.

Best of luck in all your decision making on this  Take care.

Rumi~the blind~Dude

I'm fortunate enough to have a doctor who's a serious climber. In your case, I wouldn't hesitate to get a second opinion. I do know someone who was in a similar situation once, and he decided that he would rather risk dying on a trip than prolong his life by sitting in a rocking chair on his porch.

I figure that through your prior solo hiking, your family is well aware of the risks and accustomed to them. Perhaps the risks have changed, which I wouldn't guess without understanding the root cause of your condition. However, I don't get the impression that you've been told a recurrence is especially likely. In your position, I'd want to continue hiking solo, and I'd think my family could accept it without undue worry after enough discussion.

I don't want to go through the details here, but I had incident about five years ago that, although much less serious, still might have been fatal on a solo hike. It took three days to recover some ability to walk and nearly a month to walk again normally. I did my first business travel at five days and started dayhiking again at two weeks. People worried a bit, but not enough to give me second thoughts about my decision. They accept that being out in the wild is an important part of who I am, and I appreciate their forbearance.

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone. I think I knew all along that I would continue to hike/backpack solo, just with additional precautions. My children are very tuned into and supportive of my hiking style and I think as long as I send them an itinerary with eta's for the more remote hikes and then text them when I return they will be okay. In fact, I am planning a short 4 - 6 mile hike this Sunday. It won't be solo since my brother wants to go but that is fine. I still hope to attend Pickle Gulch in Sep. but that will depend on my progress as far as living out of a tent. I think I could learn a lot from hiking with Rumi~the blind~Dude.