Day 11, 4/26, mile 144

So much to share! I planned to write a blog post a week ago, but I dropped my phone in a stream on day 3 and it lived in rice for several days. Miraculously, it now works. Another hiker called me "dumb luck" for the fact that my phone came back to life after that incident. I'm sure glad it did!

On the morning of April 16th, I was dropped off at the terminus to begin my hike and take the obligatory Southern Terminus photo.

-here it is-

My pack weighed about 37 pounds, which proved unbearable by the end of that day. I only went about 11 miles, several short of my goal, because my back was killing me. I was carrying 6 liters of water, 8 lbs of food, fuel, plus my base weight of about 16 lbs at the time. Never want to do that again!

-dirty feet and some of my stuff-

Hiking with my pack has slowly gotten easier since then. The first few days it was my shoulders and my lower back that hurt the most. Then the pain move to my feet. It started in my left a little toe, which was being crushed by my shoes with my feet swelling in the heat. I developed a blister on the underside of my little toe that I drained and then it felt better. Then my left ankle bone and the tendon over it started to bother me, so I ended up doing some shoe surgery to remove the pressure.

 -the surgery was successful-

Then the pain migrated into my right foot to my Achilles tendon and front of my ankle. But yesterday both of these eased and it seems as if my little aches and pains are gone. Now it's just in the last few hours of the day the soles of my feet ache from all the walking.

As I mentioned, I started with lower mileage then I had anticipated. I did about 12 miles the first couple of days then 14, then 4, 10, 13, and now I've moved into doing 16 mile days. It's very exciting to feel stronger. I can absolutely tell to my body is already much more accustomed to carrying a 25 lb pack such distances. I'm looking forward to continuing to increase the miles I do each day and eventually do more than 20 miles on a regular basis. A few days ago I got to 100 miles, which felt like a big accomplishment! That's well more than I've ever hiked on a backpacking trip before.

-at the 100-mile mark-

Weather-wise, it's been unsurprisingly hot most days and pretty warm overnight. The first three nights, however, were below freezing and on day 4 it snowed in the town of Mount Laguna. Luckily I happened to be in the general store purchasing food when occurred. That storm has since given way to temps in the 70s and 80s, though the temperature depends highly on elevation (which mostly varies from about 3000 to 6000 feet).

I've quickly adjusted to the schedule of a daily hiker. No more am I going to bed after midnight and getting out of bed just in time for the Price is Right at 10 in the morning. I like to get to camp around 6, have dinner right away, and go to sleep around 8:30. Then I wake up about 5:30 and get on the trail 45 minutes or an hour later. The morning hiking hours are definitely the best. It's cool out, your body feels great, and your mind is at ease. I hike until about 1 p.m., taking plenty of short breaks, and then siesta for at least a couple of hours. Then I hike another 6 miles or so to where I camp. Much planning revolves around water sources, which can be few and far between down here in the Southern California desert. I am so grateful for the Trail Angels who provide water caches for thru-hikers. This hike seems like it would be impossible without that help. I don't know how it was done 30 years ago when they didn't exist!

I have found that I really love cowboy camping, or camping without a tent. I put my ground cloth down, my foam pad, and then my sleeping bag and I just sleep under the stars and the moon. I usually sinch the hood of my sleeping bag so it's quite cozy. It also makes set up and take down of camp a hell of a lot faster. Plus, it doesn't matter so much when it's windy. I really hate a flapping tent in the wind. Not many people cowboy camp, and though some people think I'm pretty intense for doing so, I tell them I really don't feel that way, that it's just my preference. I've done it every night but one.

The hardest thing so far has not been physical pain or mental stamina, but self-confidence next to the ultralight hikers who zoom by with tiny packs and do 20 or 25 miles per day. It's difficult to not feel envious of their light loads and quickness and question whether I belong out here. I remember a dinner conversation that revolved around mileage and what day people started (mine was 2 days earlier than everyone else). When I asked everyone's favorite trail moment so far people had a hard time answering! So instead of feeling inadequate next to these hikers, I try to applaud their abilities and accept myself, my pack, and my mileage as they are. There are some changes I am considering to lighten my system, but it's about truly hiking my own hike. It is helpful to have my hiking buddies (more on them below) and messages from friends and family expressing your encouragement and excitement for me. I've also found the teachings of Buddhism to be extremely useful, as in off-trail life. I can meditate and practice acceptance, I can feel compassion for others and myself, and I can focus on the experience of being here rather than the numbers.

I have been camping nearly every night with Mouse and Thumb, two young women I met at the Trail Angels' house the first night. Mouse is from Issaquah, WA and Thumb is from Michigan. Both are lovely, friendly, easygoing people. I've been encouraging them to try cowboy camping :-).

-Thumb and Mouse on the first day. Back then they were still Emma and Bailie.-

Hiking so long every day has been great. Except for when I'm in pain or am thirsty, I really enjoy the walking life. Sometimes I walk with another hiker for a short time and have an interesting conversation (or a not so interesting one). But more often I just hike on my own. I don't listen to music, though I'm sure that will come eventually; I just think. I calculate mileages and gear weights frequently. I try to identify plants and think about their ecology. I wrote an Ode to Moleskin that I sing to myself quite often. I also let myself dwell at beautiful sites. I literally stop and smell the flowers all the time, I take breaks when the view is incredible, and I just try to enjoy the world around me. I wish I'd had my phone for a photo on day 5 because the view of the the Borrego Desert and the Salton Sea was breathtaking. I sat and ate popcorn and pretended like it was a movie :-).

-this Onagraceaeous flower smells just like cucumber-

-one of those beautiful views-