Water Scare - Days 32-37

Day 32

Hiker Town to Mile 545.1 ~ 27.6 Miles

I got on the trail at 6:30am to try and beat the heat. Today I was officially in the Mojave Desert and it is brutally hot in the middle of the day. Along with the heat there are not many chances for shade. The beginning of today’s section included a 17 mile VERY flat and boring section along the Los Angeles Aqueduct. I say boring because most of it is walking along or on top a paved top of the Aqueduct. It’s basically a 17 mile road walk. But by noon I had completed that section and there was an awesome bridge to wait out the heat of the day under. I ate a huge lunch, took a nap and then visited with other hikers that had the same idea. At one point there were over 15 other hikers under the bridge. Never would have imagined I’d have such a nice time under a bridge. Then at about 5:00pm I headed out again and hiked another 10 miles and now at about 9:00pm I am in camp and ready for bed.

Day 33

Mile 545.1 to Tehachapi ~ 13.4 Miles

Today was a fantastic day! There was trail magic around 5 miles into my day, with fruit, juice and cookies. Then when I got to the road where I was going to hitch hike into Tehachapi there was trail magic again! A man named Butterscotch was making root beer floats for hikers! I got a ride into town and Ondre and I found a hotel that we are going to split for a couple nights which means I will be zeroing here. My left knee has flared up again and my body is telling me it needs a day off. So today I did laundry, went to Albertsons and did my resupply and also went to Big 5 and bought some new insoles. It was a successful productive day and I’m so excited for a day to rest tomorrow.

Day 34

Zero Day

Because of my knee and feet pain I spent the day in Tehachapi and did not hike any miles. There is a movie theater in town so I couldn’t help myself and I saw the new Avengers movie and had a big tub of popcorn! It was so great to rest and spend a day in a town I had never been to. I am feeling ready and excited to get back on the trail early tomorrow morning.

Day 35

Tehachapi to mile 588.2 ~ 21.7 Miles

This morning was rough... coming out of town I had a full 5 days worth of food and 4 liters of water. So that’s probably almost 20lbs of food and water on my back. There was a 5 mile climb to start the morning and if carrying all that weight up a hill wasn’t difficult enough, God threw 30-40mph winds at me too. There were moments where I was walking uphill and the wind was blasting me in my face and I felt like I was walking backwards.

Like I mentioned I bought some new insoles for my shoes while in Tehachapi and I’m still deciding if I like them or not. Today was tough hiking with a lot of weight on my back so it’s tough to tell. They have more padding than my worn down old ones that I had put over 500 miles in, but they had a bit of a different shape in the arch of my foot. After hiking 21 miles today my feet are sore, and I started to feel a new blister form on the back on the left heel. So I am going to put in some miles tomorrow morning and see how they feel and I may go back to my crappy old ones just to prevent blisters.

I set up camp at about 5:30 which is the earliest I have set up camp since probably night 1. So I am excited to get to sleep early and get a good nights rest so I can start bright and early tomorrow.

Day 36

Mile 588.2 to mile 610.2 ~ 22 Miles

So my insole experiment didn’t even last until lunch today. At about 9am I took a break and switched back to my old thin worm down insoles because they new ones were giving me blisters. I’m glad I switched back because the rest of the day was better with the old ones.

I am going to bed with my first real water scare of my hike. I have about 1.2 liters of water and about 6 miles up there is a water cashe (which is a supply of water maintained by trail angles to relieve hikers of really long waterless stretches). On the water report it said it was restocked with 90 gallons of water 3 days ago. So even though you’re never supposed to rely on a cashe I was kind of banking on it being there. Right before bed I heard from a couple of hiker that it is not reliable and there may not be water left... if this is the case I may need to walk 20 miles to the next water source which will take me almost all day and I only have 1/2 liters of water. I usually drink 1 liter/5 miles for reference. Plus being in the Mojave desert makes things worse. I am waking up at 5am to try and beat a few hikers to the cashe and also hike while it’s cold so I don’t drink/need as much water. Hopefully there is water and if not I’m in for a long scary day tomorrow.

Day 37

Mile 610.2 to 634.2 ~ 24 Miles

I rolled out of my tent at 5am with worry in my gut. I prayed and asked God to provide me with water or give me the strength to walk 20 miles without it. It is such a horrible feeling to not know when you are going to be able to drink water. Usually the sink, fridge or water fountain are in close proximity all day. So a couple miles in I see a southbound hiker, which means he was coming the opposite direction and presumably knows the status of the cashe! I asked him and he said unfortunately when he walked through this morning there was no water left at the cashe. My heart sunk. I was going to have to walk 20 miles in the Mojave Desert with 1/2 liter of water... as the thought of that sunk in, I felt frustration and disappointment with myself. I should have carried more water, I should have not relied on the cashe, I should have don’t something different. After those thoughts passed I tackled with the idea of what I was going to put my body though. Oh boy...

After my first 6 miles I get to the cashe and lone behold there are 2 gallons of water left!!!! 2 fricken gallons of glorious water!!! I don’t know if that south bounder missed these two gallons or what but I literally jump with excitement. My day had just gotten so much more manageable and less scary. Ughh thank God!