Whoopsies

Today was definitely the day of whoopsies. Starting off with my poor choice of words last night when I mentioned I was feeling frosty and moved quickly. Well, this morning was in fact, frosty. A frigid night had condensation crystals on the top of my tent, and was a very chilly morning. So much so I almost thought about sleeping in and staying semi-warm in my sleeping bag. 

But alas, miles to go before I sleep, as they say. So I made breakfast wrapped up in my sleeping bag poking out the side of my tent, and was on my way by the normal 7:15. Although, my shoes were frozen. And my socks still damp. So that was a morning almost reminiscent of the AT when frozen socks and boots were as normal as our coffee in the morning. 

As I quickly got a move on, I was happy to see that the water levels of the Gila were down a bit lower up north, and most of the crossing I could find a line of rocks to hop skip and jump across. There was really only one crossing where I had to walk through, but that wasn’t even to my ankles (but still, got the socks even more wet). And of course, the next whoopsie was slipping on what I thought were stable rocks, only to make sure my sock wasn’t going to dry out today. 

Fortunately, the Gila was ending today. There was a bit where it popped out to this recreational area, where I had thought about drying my socks, but knew there was a few more miles of Gila afterwards. The next whoopsies. I shoulda stopped there and dried my socks and shoes and taken care of my blisters. I kept going, and the Gila was completely dry, so no more crossings. But my soggy feet made for prime blistering, and all of my little blisters became big, and new ones formed. Yay!

As the day wore on, the trail popped out to a dirt road which I’d be following the rest of the day (and maybe most of tomorrow). My feet were in serious pain. And after only about 15-18 miles I was feeling pretty down and groggy. Took a gander at my elevation on my watch, and 8500! Whoopsies again. Not the biggest altitude, but definitely enough to make me feel it a bit, especially while pushing miles on burger meat feet. 

I kept on going, and knew water sources would be scarce for a while. So had planned to stop at one about 22.5 miles into the day. As I approached, I reread the comments about the source and noticed a few days ago the spigot had broken off, and there were just the cow troughs left. With a source only 4.5 miles ahead, I said don’t bother wasting time, and just push on. Another deciding factor in this was the wind. Blustering gusts of wind across the open plain, for miles, made it a poor camp area, at best (and a kite tent, at worst). 

And for the final whoopsie of the day. As I approached the water source (about 27 miles into the day) I once again reread the comments and had forgotten to note when I read them earlier, that the real water source was about a mile and a half past this marked one. Yay x5! I couldn’t stop, otherwise my feet would be in pain and I would have to hobble for 5-10 mins after my break until they warmed up and were more bearable to walk on, so I just kept on going, again. 

Finally, I made it to camp, and four other tents were around. A quick chat, a whole lot of water, and then dinner. Now I’m in bed ready to pass out, in hopes the surgery I underwent on my feet (poking holes in all the bubbles and squeezing out the grossness) will heal and mend themselves overnight. Unlikely, but I can hope for at least lesser pain. 

Now I’m positioned only 66 miles away from Pie Town, where I’ll get off to have a great weekend off with Lauren. So won’t HAVE to do more than 22/day for the next three days. But who knows, no one has ever said I’m sane. Today was day 13, so maybe it was just one them days.