The heal blister/callus on my left foot popped last night, which I wasn’t happy about.  After carefully taking off the Leuko tape and looking at the mess underneath, I felt a little sick to my stomach.  Nick tended to it with Benzoin and more tape but my vision of what it looks like haunted me all day.  

Nick graciously let me use his headphones because he’s the best - how could I ever think of giving him the evil eye and the finger on Day 1?  With headphones, I could safely continue listening to one of the German podcasts I downloaded.  I’ve been spending at least an hour a day learning German since the pandemic started and I don’t want to stop just because I’m doing this crazy hike. ((Why German?  I found a German novel on the beach just as the world shut down in 2020.  I took it as a sign from the universe and now my goal is to read that novel someday.))

Nick and I met at a water tank in the middle of nowhere for lunch and water.  We enjoyed the company of fellow hiker The Lion and a bull who seemed very put out that we were in his territory.  The bull stared us down the entire time we were there.  He’d even lunge towards us every now and then, threatening to charge, just so we’d take him seriously. 

The Lion has blisters of his own to deal with (let’s be honest, most everyone does at this point) so we both hobbled away from the water tank (and the surly bull), surreptitiously evaluating each other to see who should go ahead on the trail.  I tried to let him go ahead of me (Pain Cave or no, I was moving slow) but he felt he was slower and beckoned me forward.  Knowing we’d be stopping for water again in 6 miles, and knowing we’d be camping there, kept me moving. 

On the way, I passed Boujie Bigfoot and the soldier he’s escorting, who is going by Hashtag Blessed now.  (It turns out that Bigfoot is part of Warrior Expeditions, which is a nonprofit outdoor therapy program to help veterans transition from wartime experiences.  Of all the people to flip off it just had to be him, didn’t it?  Serves me right.) Hashtag Blessed told me that if I’m looking for a new trail name he suggests Lieutenant.  Partly because Nick was military (not sure how that pertains to me, but that’s ok) and, the real reason, “Because you can’t spell lost without LT.”  I laughed at the old military joke and told him that, actually, I wasn’t lost that first day, I was right on the trail.  But I appreciated his attempt at a trail name.  

I made it the 6 miles to the cache but my feet weren’t happy about it.  

Then Nick said he wanted to go a little further to try to find a better place to camp.

Having told myself that I would be able to rest my weary feet and tend to their needs, and knowing that dry camping would mean a big water carry, this was a lot for me to process.  

As I was wrapping my head around having to force my feet to continue on, I realized I had somehow lost one of my smart water bottles.  And then B.Bigfoot and Hashtag Blessed walked up.  Nick asked them if they happened to see a water bottle.  They hadn’t, but when they found out it was because I LOST one,  Blessed laughed and said, “see, yet another reason the trail name Lieutenant is perfect for you - you can’t spell lost without LT!”.   We all laughed as we refilled our bottles.  B.Bigfoot even offered me his extra water bottle, which I took only after he assured me that he didn’t need it. (He’s only hiking with Blessed until Lordsburg.). For a guy I seriously wronged on Day 1 he’s being very nice to me.  :)

I told Nick that I could maybe manage another mile or so, so we took off across the road.  We didn’t get far- the Warrior Expeditions support vans were there (for B.Bigfoot and Blessed) and they offered us some trail magic.  They couldn’t tempt me with soda or even ice cream (Manhands was sold on the ice cream), but when I saw the oranges I couldn’t say no. 

After the magic, Nick and I trudged on.  And on.  And on.  He was looking for a tree to give us shade and hopefully a good campsite, but trees are hard to come by out here.  After about 2 miles we saw a small tree-bush, and a little further off the trail Nick saw some yuccas.  It’s not ideal but I don’t want to push my feet any more than I absolutely have to - the vision of what my heals look like underneath the tape haunts me.  

It’s so warm that Nick is using his quilt as a blanket. Just now, as he was opening up the footbox, he sang to the quilt… “and now you you are just a blanket, bwah ha ha ha ha ha“.  He also just used the expression “Bob’s your uncle”, which I have never heard him utter before.  He is definitely entertaining me tonight.