Day 1 and all the things I thought I knew.

Sometimes you think you know something, but you don’t really understand it until you experience it. As you know, heights can be scary, but until you’re standing on a cliff, you don’t really understand your fear of heights.

Our first day on the road was just this. It was everything we had read and prepared for, and it showed us that nothing could fully prepare us. The main conclusions:

water is heavy

First things first, water weighs a lot. And when you need to carry up to 16 miles of water in the desert heat, that weight feels heavier with every step. Our day began at the southern end, where we had already drunk a liter of water each. The typical refueling spot at Hauser Creek at mile 15 was dry. This meant that from the next reliable water at mile 4, we had about 10 miles to a water reservoir at mile 14. We wanted to be able to make it to mile 20 on day 2 without it if necessary. This meant that from kilometer 4 onwards we carried a lot of water. And it was hot.

Going from a desk job to walking all day is difficult

We knew it. We knew it would be difficult to be on our feet all day carrying heavy backpacks. We trained as much as we could between work and other commitments. But knowing it’s going to be difficult and doing it are two very different things. The first kilometers are characterized by vertigo, but finally our bodies begin to tell us that this is not what they are used to.

The desert is hot

If I tell you I’m walking through the desert, you’ll probably imagine an arid, sandy landscape. If I tell you I trained in the PNW, you’ll imagine the lush coastal rainforests. These are opposites. On day 1 I learned the reality of training in an environment different from that of adventure. I trained in the cold rain and snow, but the desert is hot, my feet are hot and I hide from the sun under a bush.

salt is necessary

We reached the water reservoir at mile 14 and discovered there was plenty of water there (thanks to the trail angels!). We filled up on water and hydrated before heading to camp. Although we have homemade dehydrated meals that I generously scooped out, I didn’t scoop out enough. I had a mild headache that night and needed to eat salty snacks on day 2 to relieve it.

The desert is beautiful

Despite the difficulties of day 1, the beauty of the desert was astonishing. The green hills and rock formations are very different from what we are used to. We spent a lot of time identifying birds and plants we had never seen before.

Day 1 was difficult, exciting, beautiful and very informative at the same time. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the tour has in store for us!

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