Dusty drive, engaged

I slept fairly soundly through the night. But when I woke up I definitely wasn’t feeling great. Honestly, maybe more mentally not great than physically, but still the stomach churned. I definitely tossed and turned and whined like a lil wanker to Alexandra. She kept me grounded enough to get my head straight as to the next steps. So I decided I needed ti do a few things before heading out, but I would indeed continue. Even though a rest day already sounded pretty nice..

First things first, and that was breakfast. So I roll over and get another breaky burrito at this towns local spot. Grab it to go and run to the grocery store to get a couple additional bars for lunches and some pedialyte to rehydrate more effectively. The one nice thing about starving myself the last three days is I still have most of my camp food. Alexandra sent me a box of goods to this town, but I bounced that one up ahead and decided to make a pit stop in between the two with the food I have. Felt it would be good also just incase I’m still not feeling well and can reassess and rest in the next town only 3-4 days away instead of keep pushing the 6-7 I had planned. I also know there’s a reaaaal fun climb in between, so might be nice to get some real food in me before that.

After my errands, I head on out. Walking the very same road I walked into town. But this time I turn off it about 5 miles out back onto the dirt trail. It was a relatively quick road walk, and the temp was nice and cool. I sat for a few mins once I got back to the dirt and was contemplating the riduclousness of my life and what I decide to do for meaningful gains. I was a bit woozy and tired, but I had a lil snack bar had some water and rested for a bit and continued on.

Some point during the next 20 mins or so after my break, something clicks - and not my shoulders and spine which crack like a glow stick on the regular. No, the Thru hiker was released. I’m not sure why or how, but I walked on. I walked on at a normal 3mph pace, I stoped only twice for 15 mins, and kept trucking forward the rest of the time. I ended up doing 21 miles in total today, and if I can do that two days in a row again I’ll get to Vail in 3 days instead of 4 which would be lovely.

So, what was ailing me? Welp, Dr. Dusty’s diagnosis is that there was a hogposh of little things that compounded to making me feel like dirt. First up was a new greens supplement o started taking a few days before the hike as part of my way to maintain nutrition through the trail. However, I now see that some folks have had stomach issues the first week or so as the body adjusts. Because my belly was grumbly the day or two before, I really didn’t eat a terrible amount of food.

I essentially started my tank on empty. As I climbed straight up for 8 miles, going from sealevel to 9000 feet and spending the night there. Now while 9k is a high elevation, it’s not exactly ‘dangerous’ to most. That’s usually reserved for 10k+. However, the effects still can be noticeable, one of the biggest being inability to eat. Therefore, I started on empty, shocked my body out of the coma it’s been in for the last year and change since the CDT, and the would throw up due to being over hungry. And since my belly was all twisted, anything I put in would come back up. It woulda been smarter to not spend the night at the highest elevation I could, but alas, that wasn’t in the cards for me and I had to make do best I could. All in all, while it wasn’t fun or enjoyable, I fortunately don’t believe there’s any real reason for concern; but the next few days will solidify that.

The trail today wound through hills of whispy tall tan grass, and the lovely sight of small streams crossing through. I saw my first real hikers, today, too! While they were not currently hiking the AZT, they did back in 2014, are PCTers, and training for the Great Divide (the Canadian extension of the CDT).

Then a reminder of another “fun” pet of the AZT: bikers. National Scenic Trails aren’t specifically for hiking, while they are mostly for non-motorized vehicles, they also generally allow mountain biking and equestrian riders. On the other trails there are sections here and there, but by and large mostly for hikers. With the AZT, the trail was able to generate its funding and push for the national scenic trail title from a majority of mountain biking clubs in AZ. So a lot of this train is with riders in mind. Which can sometimes be frustrating for a hiker when you’re making big sweeping ‘S’ curves through the hills and valleys rather than a more direct or simple route. A few extra bends for a rider can be an extra 15-20 mins overall, but could be hours or more for a hiker ti complete from an otherwise hiker friendly trail. But alas, I’m thankful for the bikers to help make the trail, so as the two groups of two passed me today, I humbly pulled off the side to allow them to pass (although true trail etiquette is they yield to hikers, hikers to horses, horses to bikes).

Now I lay in my tent looking at the stars above feeling relatively well. I ate my Momofuku ramen (which was definitely good but maybe anything would be right now) and now get ready for bed. Pitch black at 7pm in the mountains means time for bed.

Oh! Final though. I got (and popped) my first blister today. The familiar hiker hobble is back. My silly little pinky toe.