Hot, Hotter, Hottest...Then a Cooldown

 Stats: Sunday night 5/8, MM 42.8

(42.8 new miles, 42.8 total miles, 2,607.2 to go)

 

At the start

Shuttle to the starting point

Our CrossFit coach Crystal recorded a proper send-off for us. This is how we start all our workouts...and we're about to start the daddy of all workouts. Thank you, Crystal!

After the shuttle dropped us off on Wednesday, we hiked 11.6 miles in very hot temps. It was a bit of a rough day, 3 worn out newbies with a lot of uphill hiking. We met so many people it was hard to remember their names. More than half of them were from other countries! 

Mile 1, the journey begins

We carried 5 liters of water at 2 lbs each (extra 10 pounds on our already heavy 30-pound packs) because we only had water sources for the first 4 miles, then none until mile 20 (end of day 2). 

We arrived at our campsite at 2:30, brutal heat, slept under a birch tree for a little shade. Even though we had extra water, we could not drink as much – needed to conserve it. Blazing hot all day. Campsite was packed, tents close together so you could hear every noise. 

Thursday was also extremely hot and dry, we hiked 8.2 miles. We saw many awesome views – the desert scenery is different but beautiful as you’ll see in the pictures. We ran out of water for the last 4 miles, we were so glad to finally arrive at Lake Morena. We went directly to a water spigot at the campground to rehydrate.

Gramps went to the caretaker to pay for our campsites and got quarters for the showers. After all the heat, showers felt great! Then we went to a nearby store for dinner. Gyro, burgers, fries, and shakes never tasted so good! 

We met more hikers at the store. Talked to Emily from Texas, she hiked 20 miles in one day so I suggested a trail name of Roadrunner. Our campsite was on a hill under trees, near rocks, with a great view. We were set for the night.

But, we woke up at 3AM to the sound of dogs barking in the distance – sound carries in the desert! We also smelled a “party” from people staying downhill (and downwind) from us even though they weren’t close. 

Friday was hot again, no surprise there. We left Lake Morena around 6AM (didn’t sleep much with dogs barking). Hiked 6 miles to where the guy who shuttled us was the caretaker at a campground. He let us charge our phones on his generator, and his wife made lemonade for us. We met a few hikers there, including Roadrunner (she kept her name!). She was leaving the trail to help her sister with her new baby. We met a woman who was a forest fire fighter, so I suggested the trail name Fireball and she liked that. 

Strange sign

Later in the day as it was getting hotter, we passed a water supply that was down a steep hill. As we looked at it, hating the thought of hiking down and back but knowing we needed water, we saw a woman with a car – hatchback open – full of chips, Gatorade, trail mix, candy, and water. Our first trail angel! Needless to say we were all very excited to see her.

Refreshed and refueled, we hiked 2 more miles to a campsite. Noone was there yet so we had our pick of sites. All were in the shade, relief! The ground is very sandy and dusty, and because we need to set our packs on the ground to unload everything, dust is everywhere. But hey, out of the sun!

After the long, hot day (12 miles today), we were all in our tents before dark. Since it was warmer, Gramps decided to keep off his rain fly. But as soon as the sun goes down, it gets much colder. 

A German man named Tuna came after we did and set up his tent with the zipper open. As we fell asleep we heard him clapping – figured he was trying to kill mosquitoes. Found out the next day we were right. 

Sometimes we had shade to rest...

...and sometimes we didn't

Saturday was a cooler day, what a blessing! But it warmed up fast as we set off with our 40-lb packs. We tried to think about how we could lose some weight from our packs, but it’s hard to give up being comfortable or cold. Plus our biggest weight is water, we still need to carry more than normal because with drought there are not many water sources. 

Pack adjustment along the way

We could get lighter one-wall tents (tent without a rain fly), but very pricey and the one wall collects condensation on the inside of the tent. Means you could be wet in the AM from your own breathing. Not for me. My blow up mattress pad weighs one pound, but makes sleeping more comfortable. And some people don’t carry a stove but we all like our hot dinners! So I stay at 40#, which is what I carried most of the way on the AT hike.

We came upon a small stream, filled our bottles and tanked up. Drank a lot, you need to drink it while you have it! While there, Tuna came up to us and confirmed he was at our campsite last night. And confirmed he was killing mosquitoes. 

Danny, Tuna, and Gramps

Danny getting water

Gramps spotted a snake eating a lizard right next to the trail where I had just walked by. Got a great picture of it before the snake took off. I’m sure he came back to finish his lunch after we left.

We hiked to Lake Laguna, our stopping point for the day with 12 miles completed. We arrived around noon in time for a nice lunch outside. Nice afternoon, but the wind was a bit cool. Have to admit it felt good after all the heat. We met more hikers, one of the guys (Chris) hiked in sandals. Yikes! I suggested his trail name should be Sandals. 

We rented a cabin, decided to take a zero day to rest our bodies, do laundry, and resupply a little. What a great feeling to take a shower, wear clean clothes, eat real meals, and sleep in a bed. Plus they had a really good diner with excellent food.

We are doing well and did good mileage for this first week, despite our problem aging body areas. For Danny it’s his knees, doing OK so far. For Gramps, his back sometimes bothers him, he uses a small wooden ball every day to roll out the sore spot. For me, it’s my feet – already losing a toenail – and my elbow, which hurts at night from a fall I had right before we left. 

Toenail going, going....

Here we are stretching and rolling at our cabin, trying to minimize aches and pains, and prevent injury.

And some of us do some extra working out along the way.

Danny showing us his squat form

Gramps stretching his back

We head out Monday morning for day 6 of our journey. We try to start early in the morning so we can stop before the main heat of the day. Even then it’s HOT! But this is supposed to be a cooler week, thank God!

Before I go, I want to tell you about common trail terms you’ll see in my blog. Some of you may remember these terms from my AT hike.

• Trail name – what we use on the trail (not our real names). Mine is Nailgun (same name I used on the AT), Mike’s is Gramps, we still need one for Danny. All suggestions welcome!
• Zero day – a day where we don’t hike at all, with 2 nights of sleeping in beds before and after (usually). Time for laundry, resupply, showers, and rest.
• Nero day – a partial day off, where you only hike for an hour or two. Taken when you aren’t quite at the spot you want to be for a zero day.
• Trail angel – someone who comes to a place on the trail, usually near a road, and provides water, drinks, snacks, and sometimes burgers or sandwiches. It’s often someone who previously hiked the trail or knows someone who has hiked it.

Thank you for your support and prayers, much appreciated. Until next week, happy trails!