It turns out that nobody really hikes the section of trail I mistakenly walked on yesterday - most everyone just stays on the dirt road because the trail itself is impossible to follow (which I experienced) and overgrown. This explains why we saw hikers as we were driving in yesterday.
The good news is that the terrain is flat and the temperature is in the low 80’s. Hiking is pretty easy (don’t worry, it won’t stay this way for long).
The not so good news: I have some pretty interesting blister/callus things forming on both of my heals. Despite trying to get as many miles on my feet as I could before we started this hike, I knew this was going to happen. My feet need to toughen up, that’s all - they aren’t used to the heavy pack (we have to carry lots of water in the desert), the air is dry and dusty, and there isn’t much time to rest during the day. I just hope they toughen up quickly. I’m doing my best to channel Courtney Dewalter, an ultra runner who creates a ‘Pain Cave’ in her mind when things get rough. She talks about how she finds it better to manage being uncomfortable when she welcomes entering the Pain Cave, so I tried to follow her example.
Framing it as, “Oh good, I’m happy to endure this pain because it’s making me stronger” sort of worked, and the more I walked the more my brain stopped listening to the pain signals. Until I stopped, that is. Every time I had to resume walking it was like starting over from the beginning. This is why, when we came upon a decent campsite, I told Nick I was completely ok with stopping for the day. Even though we would have ideally gone a few more miles I don’t want to push it.
Another unfortunate thing about today is that my headphones broke. Sigh. I’ll really have to get comfortable in the Pain Cave for the next few days because I won’t have any music or podcasts or audiobooks to distract me. I suppose I could listen from my phone speakers, but in general it isn’t good trail etiquette to do that unless you know you are completely alone. With so many people on the trail I don’t want to risk disturbing someone’s hike. (Although one of the other hikers I briefly walked near this morning didn’t seem to care about this and I was subjected to his idea of good music until he decided to take a break).
But it’s not all bad - this morning we were treated to trail magic! A van carrying hikers to the start of the trail stopped along the way (did they know it was going to take 3 hours to get down that road?) and handed out chocolate chip cookies! I didn’t even think twice - the offer came right when I was thinking of grabbing a snack, so the timing was perfect. Odds are good that we’ll bump into the hikers in the car at some point.
We’re dry camping tonight (i.e. camping away from a water source), which isn’t my favorite, but my feet are happy for the break. It’s nice to be done so early. We won’t be able to stop so early later on, but for now I’m enjoying taking it slow and easy. As my body keeps gently reminding me, I’m not as young as I once was. :). Right now we are both resting under a tree, waiting for the wind to subside before we set up the tent.
Along the trail:
Most of the day was spent scanning the horizon for the next trail marker - the trail was easy to lose in some parts
I think these purple cacti are beautiful
Poor cow
Camp:
