Stats

Start: Water Cistern – Mile 504.5
End: Hikertown – Mile 517.6
Elevation Max: 5,734
Elevation Min: 3,055
Elevation Change: 1,596 up & 4,150 down
Average Heart Rate: 123
Walking Time: 4 hrs 11 minutes
Date: 5/3/2022

The Walk

My watch said 4:30. The wind was ripping over our camp site. My sleeping bag was getting pushed to the side by the gusts. It must have been 40+ mph. And I was starting to get wet. Thankfully only one hour until I could get up. I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and dozed back asleep. I woke up to Jack rabbit packing up. It was 6 and the sun was starting to come up.

The wind was still blowing over the ridge. It hadn’t slowed down all night. 50 feet downhill and out of the wind it wouldn’t even be chilly. We camped at a risky spot last night and lost! Not a wise bet when we could see a wind farm in the distance.

Thankfully my bag was still warm. The wetness hadn’t gotten inside yet. But I wanted out of the wind. I wanted to start walking to warm up. I packed up as quick as I could and walked down the ridge 100 yards. The wind was gone. I was still chilly but not nearly as bad.

I filtered some water for the day and had a bar for breakfast. Then headed out. We only had 15 miles to hikertown. I have been told to expect weird things at Hikertown. I’m really curious to see what it’s like and I’m ready to embrace whatever comes.

The morning passed quickly. The trail went by some green grass and the wildflowers continued from last night. It was an enjoyable start. We were descending and I could see the flat, low desert coming into view. There were miles of flat, barren desert between me and the next mountain range.

It would be the hottest part of the trip. But I look forward to it. And I still plan to do it all in one day. The challenge of 48.8 miles in one day is on. I’m not doing it for logistical reasons. It would be much faster to split the hike between two days. That’s just two normal days on trail. Not even very hard.

I’m doing it to find my limits. Or really to test them. The most I’ve hiked is 33 miles. At the end I still felt good and could have gone another 3-4 miles. But that was a cool day. A lot has changed since then and this challenge would be hotter with little sleep.

But let’s see what happens! I want to see how my body reacts to long day. Eventually I want to hike the rim to rim to rim at the Grand Canyon in one day. Which is a similar distance. Elevation is pretty minimal and we will take a full zero in Hikertown, so I think it’s manageable.

I had a tuna wrap at 10:30 for a light lunch. Then pushed on another 8 or 9 miles to finish the day. Green turned to brown as I saw less and less life along the trail. We descended throughout the afternoon to around 3k feet. We made it down the flat desert and I could feel the sun heating up.

A cool breeze was welcome now. The final stretch was a 1.5 mile road walk. Not bad! I could almost taste the burger and soda from Hikertown. Eventhough I had low expectations. It would still be nice to have hot food!

I finished the road walk with Jack rabbit and walked into hikertown. It felt like a western movie set. I have no idea which movie, or maybe it’s just a smattering if used movie sets.

15 hikers were hanging out in the slightly shaded area in the middle. A driver was giving rides to a nearby market and there was a shower / laundry for anyone who wanted to use them.

The shower was outdoor and the laundry was a hose with a washboard. But hey, I’ll take it.

I got a burger, cleaned up, and hung out with hikers. It was cool to see some friends I hadn’t seen in a few days. I was happy to see Nimbus in good spirits. Her knee was getting better and would be back on trail tomorrow. A host at hikertown the made tamales in a garage and sold them for $3. Super random, but they were great! I had one and will have another one or two tomorrow.

I headed to bed with a full stomach. Hopefully I’ll get a good night sleep. Tomorrow I’ll rest as much as possible. We plan to leave at 1am the next day for the 48.8 mile challenge!