Two weeks!
And the CDT motto rings true; “Embrace the Brutality”.
The morning was a cold one once again. This trail definitely holds up to its reputation of being a cold one. Might consider a different sleeping bag, as mines only a 20 degree full zip quilt (no hood, opening on the bottom), and might want a 10 full mummy (hood, closed feet). The four (two couples who actually met on the PCT in 2018) were up and attum earlier than I was! One of the couple started walking, never to be seen again. I was a bit curious as to where they had gone, as I never crossed paths with them again today, and I definitely went passed their mileage. The other couple I passed earlier on in the day, as we finished up the Gila alternate.
It was nice to see CDT markers once again. The alternate had nada, maybe a cairn here or there (a pile of rocks signifying a trail). But man oh man did it remind me why this trail is a tough one. About 4 thousand feet of elevation gain, and even more descent. With multiple pushes over 9,000 feet. Oh, and did I mention there was only one grody cow poop and algae infested seep in the ground for water sources between where I camped, and 26 miles north? Yeah. That was fun.
My saving grace was a thin layer of cloud coverage. It kept things relatively cool, and the breeze didn’t hurt either (although sometimes it was more full on wind blasts, which wasn’t always pleasant and quite chilly). Blow downs all along the trail made for treacherous descents. I was fairly pleased with how clear the trail was along the way, as there really wasn’t any moment I couldn’t find where to go.
As I had a full 26 miles, plus all the elevation gain and descent, on 3 liters of water, I tried to guzzle some in the morning, and sip cautiously throughout the day.
My feet were screaming most of the day. About 10 miles in they started to dull out a bit, which I presume was purely do to numbing of the pain. I’ll take it. Even though every pebble that hit a toe or my heel in the wrong spot would send shooting pains and yelps of discomfort. Soon enough, the full descent to the road began, and little snippets of service allowed me to text Lauren and try to distract myself by sending photos of where I was, and talk about the trail a bit (while hiking, mind you). My pace was slower due to the inclines, so I didn’t really stop for more than 10 mins once, and 5 mins a few times. Every time I’d rest, the foot numbness would wear off and quickly remind me of their anger with me.
Starting to feel a little delirious and dehydrated, I began guzzling more and more of my water, waiting for that all too familiar gurgle of the last of the air bubbles and bits of water being consumed. Much to my pleasure, it was only about 2 miles from my water source that I was fully out. It seemed I had rationed my water fairly well over such hard terrain.
As I got to the tank (initially marked as a solar well with notes it doesn’t pump if there’s any cloud coverage, which it wasn’t, because there was) I was happy to see hundreds of gallons of fresh, relatively clean water. A few golden fish (koi maybe?) swimming about to prevent insect build up and keep algae down to a minimum. I started scooping into my bottles to purify, and splat! My bottle tore and started leaking in not one, but two places. The Swayer squeeze bottles are insanely useless. Ben broke one earlier, and this is my second breaking. Fortunately, my new tools are coming along with Lauren this weekend.
I wanted to get to the road as dreams of cell phone service and ordering dominos to the middle of know where got me excited. I filled up my broken bottle about half way and walked about another mile. And viola! There was an amazing trail angel who had left a few gallons and bottles of water by the CDT sign (but no cell service). For anyone out there who has ever thought about leaving water at random places along long distance trails, no, it’s not weird, and could very much save someone’s life in particularly dry sections. Since my bottle had broken, I only had a full bladder (3 liters) and that little bit to try and purify. So now I’m able to properly hydrate tonight and in the morning to get me going. Thank you, trail angel.
As I peeled my socks off, new blisters were there once again, and old ones refilled and bubbled saying “pop me!” And so I did. I think most my toes now have blisters, as well as the balls of my feet and heels (surprisingly the heels hurt the most, as they’re well below calluses, and I guess under more pressure? Or maybe just in a worse spot. Either case, my feet are singing “I hate you, fa lalalala”. Oh well, a few days off coming up will help them all fully heal and begin to callus. None of them are scary or serious, so hoping the constant drainage will get them a okay, none have popped in my shoes!
Now I’m camped off the side of the road, ready to hit another 26 miles to get to Davila Ranch, where there are showers and place to clean clothes. I’ll probably get in around 5:30, so likely won’t clean my clothes since there’s no dryer there, but I’ll definitely take as many showers as I can get before Friday’s weekend with Lauren. Cant scare her off just yet! It’s only the first 400 miles of the trail...
