I can’t say I slept the sleep of the dead, as 100% of my dreams were based on trail and I woke up every 30 minutes to check my alarm to make sure I hadn’t overslept. But I did sleep, and was up and moving quite happily by about 2.30am. Anything to escape the heat! My morning miles were definitely the most enjoyable. I had a small climb to start the day but it was generally easy, as I was just pulling down into the valley by the highway that could (in a different world) take me into Julian for pie. I got to the underpass at about 7.30am and it was already sweltering. I stopped for some of the cached water and even sat down, but failed to eat anything. I realised I needed to eat more in the mornings because once the heat of the day came it was proving very difficult to force anything down. I needed big gulps of water for every mouthful of whatever, and water is the one thing I did not have.
After 5 minutes (I time my breaks mostly to make sure I do actually enjoy the full quota of time) it’s time to climb up. My next goal is third gate water cache at mile 91, only 14 miles from here but it is hot and uphill.
I do absolutely fine to start with apart from continuing to need to poop endlessly. I’m going to run out of hand sanitizer at this rate. It’s very beautiful and although it is up, it’s a pct uphill which is generally quite forgiving. With about 5 miles to go my water runs low. It’s midday and the sun blazes down. The ambient temperature cannot even be that warm but the sun is relentless. I pee on myself as much as I can but it evaporates instantly.
Finally I stumble into the cache. It is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen and I definitely wait two minutes before setting my 15 minute timer. I manage to eat half a tortilla, instantly down a liter of electrolytes, and tske my socks off to massage my aching feet. My core temp is through the roof and there is no way to get it down. I crouch in the shade and just breathe. 15 minutes disappears in a spate of chores and I don’t even consider the possibility of staying. I’ve walked 28 miles and due to my extreme tuck up yesterday, I am now not exactly close to PVC (mile 153, closes at 3pm). I would like to get to at least 113 tonight, which would still give me at least 40 for tomorrow to walk by 3pm. Anyway, this is a glimpse of the maths my brain was stuck on. I was a human calculator and it was horrid!
I left the cache and struggled immensely. 30 mile blues are a real thing for me particularly when they coincide with the heat of the day. I was still pooping twice an hour. I was hot and uncomfortable and ultimately ended bouncing from tiny patch of shade to tiny patch of shade crying. My pace was not even 1mph. I spoke to my parents who gave me a much neeeded dose of perspective. I decided it was OK not to get to PVC tomorrow. One blip, sure, but it would give me the mileage leeway to not destroy myself in the midday heat that I frankly was not coping well with.
Just as I finished crying I heard the long awaited footsteps. It was Josh! He sat and joined me and we commiserated with how hard it is. The heat was draining both of us. We decided that we should push to get to PVC tomorrow after all. We finally got moving and both had to make compromises – I like to be behind, he likes to walk at 4mph. We talked and talked the afternoon away and it really turned the day around, particularly as it finally was getting cooler as we dropped into Warner springs area. We talked about the nature of FKTs, some of his previous records, our previous failures, our hopes and dreams and desires for this. We both shared a secret wish that we could have done this with Witt as a fast family hike. Next time! We stopped at the cow trough quickly for dinner (quarter of a tortilla for me) then blitzed to the community center at Warner springs for water that comes from a tap. It was about 9pm now and our plan was just to make it to mile 113, which we did by just about 9.30 or so. We quickly set up camp. I hate having additional chores to do but decided to sleep naked to let everything air out. Wickedly hard day but the afternoon was a lot easier than it could have been.
Low: leaving 3rd gate
High: walking across the Warner springs meadows with Josh
Miles for day: 49
@ mile: 111.5
Rambling Red 