We woke up at 5am to start hiking before it got hot out. The whole day was walking on the side of basically a cliff, dodging sharp plants, almost being swept over the side due to the wind gusts. The passage from Edward Abbey’s book that we read last night was about the hostility of the desert. Very timely.
We started walking. At one point, Eden was in the front, I was in the middle, and Pink Panther was at the back of the pack. We were walking silently and I looked back to make sure Pink Panther was still there, and as I did, Eden looked back to make sure I was still there. Still nobody said anything. We were on the same wavelength without saying anything.
The day started off cool and cloudy, very kindly shielding us from the hot sun, but then the clouds disappeared and the sun started beating down.
Eden wasn’t sure about the campsite and had wanted to keep hiking the night before, but as we passed the other campsites that were completely exposed, she said she thought our campsite was superior.
As the day went on, my feet began hurting. A LOT. They were swollen and pained. I need my new shoes. Desperately at this point. Every step most of the day felt horrible, both feet too big to fit comfortably in the shoes. I took out the insoles to see if that would help create more space and it did, but there was no cushion at all. Beyond painful. Every step I was gasping or grunting, every quarter mile or so yelling FUCK!!!!! – an ancient pain management technique.
Pink Panther walked with me and told me about various scandals and gossip about people I have never met to keep my mind occupied. It helped. I put the insoles back in the shoes and we walked the last 2 miles to the water source. Everyone was kind of dragging today and morale was pretty low, but once we got to camp, we were laughing again, reminding each other that there will be bad days on the trail and this was just one of them.
Oh, it was also bad because I sat on a cactus. Like the little spiky ball things, not an actual whole cactus. Pink Panther is truly an angel on earth because she picked the cactus needles out of my butt.
We’re cowboy camping again tonight and I’m genuinely too tired to even want to set up my tent, and there are too many cactuses around anyway. I took a bunch of Advil and Benadryl – hoping to manage my inflammation response. I think doing a 23 mile day was stupid after all. My feet aren’t happy, and I need them to remain as happy as possible.
It’s only 18 more miles to Warner Springs where my first resupply box and my new shoes are waiting for me. 18 more miles. 18 more miles. 18 more miles.
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