I bought a new pair of running shoes in LA. I didn't want to hike without a safety net so I kept the old shoes with me just in case something went wrong. As it turns out the new shoes work great - my feet and legs were less fatigued at the end of the day. However, I also developed a new blister on the ball of my right foot. It's a deep blister that formed under the existing callous. The other foot was just fine so I only switched the shoe on the problem foot and I've been hiking in two different shoes.
I just went through the Mojave Desert. Much of that section is flat and follows the LA aqueduct. I got a late start - heading out at 8:30 but tried to make up for it by being consistent. There wasn't much to do out there but walk anyhow. The next spot to resupply for water was 16 miles in. I took a good long break there and then went for another 7 miles to the next water source where I set up camp and planned on calling it a day. However, at 10:00 the wind kicked up and shook the tent violently. I've seen this movie before and I know how it ended, so I packed up camp and struck out for some night hiking. I didn't know how far I'd go, but I knew I wasn't going to sleep in the wind.
The section I night hiked through had been burned in a fire a couple years ago and it destroyed ALL vegitation. The mountainside was literally just soft sand. It was like trying to walk across the side of a dune in many places. The trail was just inches wide. My flashlight could only shine so far and the light got lost in the great gulf of darkness yawning to the side. I had no way of knowing how far down it went. But the night was comfortable for once and I hiked until midnight at which point I found a nice level spot on a ridge top. It was a little breezy but not windy. In the distance there was a large city that stood out in the darkness like a sea of light. It was a nice place to camp.
This next section is daunting in that I have to resupply with 5 days of food AND carry enough water to make it for 23 dry miles. The combined weight of a full resupply and 12 pounds of water isn't a good combination and I'm worried that it will cause further trouble with the blister on my right foot. Such is the trail though.
In a week I'll be at Kennedy Meadows which marks the end of the desert section and the beginning of hiking in the high Sierras.
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3 comments:
How's your trip coming along? Are you carrying the D80? (How do you recharge batteries?) I hope to add a lot more backpacking photos to my photoblog and Flickr photostream this summer...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23183960@N00/sets/72157603822583160/
I enjoy reading your updates, even though I worry about you. It is nice to imagine what you are seeing on your journey; keeps me from losing my freakin mind.
Thanks for that image of you hiking in two different shoes - gave me a chuckle. Great to hear you're doing well, and I hope those blisters heal up. The ones under the callous are a real bitch.
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