I may have emphasized the pain going away on the PCT too much. It was still there, but subdued. Backpacking a thru-hike like the PCT is quite a physical and mental ordeal, hiking for 12+ hours a day after day for months, camping every night, acclimating to a range temperatures and high elevations, interacting with other hikers from all over the world. I think it was a new wave of sensations that overloaded my nervous system and distracted me from my usual chronic pains, which are more apparent when I'm sitting at a desk all day.