I am currently sitting in Warner Springs in the Hiker Resource Center at mile 110 on the Pacific Crest Trail. My blistered feet are soaking in an epsom salt bath and I am typing on a borrowed computer.
So far, it has been awesome. If I leave today, I am still on track for the miles I wanted to do, but I am thinking I may leave tomorrow morning and give my feet a day to recover. They are pretty brutally painful right now and every step is agony until about an hour into hiking when they just go numb. It is hard for me not to just grin and bear it through the pain, but I know if I don’t take care of my feet now, I’ll be off trail for good – and that is the last thing I want.
The desert is beautiful but it is also not your friend. It is hotter than hell between the hours of 11-4, and a lot of hikers take naps – me included. Hiking from 4am-11am is advisable, and then from 4-9 or 10. Naps are life – literally at this point. If you don’t have a solar umbrella, plan on being burned and hot even if you only hike in off peak hours. The Umbrella is the best desert hiking invention ever – everyone wants one and once you get one it quickly becomes your favorite piece of gear. I am 1/7 of the way done with the desert section, and I am actually loving the wide open views and the easy tread. I just gotta figure out my feet.
I have met some really fun people – everyone who is doing this is a little crazy and its the exact same crazy as me. There are brand new hikers and vetern hiker trash. There are people who just want to do 500 miles and people who are completing their triple crown. There are fast people and slow people and tall people and short people and fat people and skinny people and young people and old people. Its a great cross section and pretty diverse. We just all have this crazy idea that walking long distances in the wild is fun.
It is insane that I am doing this. Every time I think about how awesome it is to be able to go hike for 5 months, I just feel so lucky that I am here. Without the support of my parents and friends, I would not be here at all and I am very grateful for it.
Onward!
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