The desert: 702 miles of contradiction

This is difficult!

37°C to -2°C or 100°F to 29°F

Mountains and hills galore.

Dirt and wind and more dirt

As expected: many snakes and lack of water.

Then a saying occurred to me. You need to wake up at 100% every day. Otherwise, you won’t last a month, certainly not even six. Well, it’s easier said than done. I think I had an energy deficit every day for a month, but I’m still here!

All the «experts» have said to do 10 miles for the first week, then try 12, then 13. After three weeks, move it up to six miles each day and see what happens. Well, many hikers reach their teens on the first day or so. Many, many, like 1/3, were seriously hindered in the long run or completely off track because they didn’t follow that advice. Some made it, of course; many did not. Blisters were a major source of serious injuries. Practice as much as you want at home, unless you live in a similar ecosystem, you won’t be able to replicate the load, up, down, head, and resulting blisters. My shoe size went from size 13 on one foot and 13.5 on the other foot to 14, then 15, then 15 width in 70 days.

Even when I increased my daily mileage from 18 to 20, I felt it. Every two kilometers, your body notices it. This is a real science to getting proper sleep, proper recovery, proper nutrition, while also understanding that the clock is ticking on snow in Northern Washington, including the other “snow” known as ICE that requires you to be out of commission for 6 months.

Americans vs Internationals

There may have been about 50% Americans and 50% internationals at first, but my observations at the end of the desert, at the beginning of the Sierra Range at Kennedy Meadows North, were corroborated by a local PCTA worker clearing the trail, who said the internationals substantially outnumber the Americans at this point. I think one aspect is that it’s easier to leave if your family can drive a few hours and pick you up. Try again next year, maybe. Not so for internationals.

A desert?

It’s not what I would consider a desert at all. There are constant ups and downs around the mountains, with substantial elevation changes.

We did more elevation in many places in the “desert” than I did in the Sierra Mountain Pass days. Crazy! And there were amazing views, plants and landscapes that changed from the expected classic desert to real mountains and then to grasslands.

I met many people over and over again as you went back and forth around them. They walk faster, but then they go to zero in a city, and I would just use Nero (close to zero, but you walk, get food, go to sleep in a bed, maybe in a parking lot, and then go on a hike in the morning). I once slept on the sidewalk of a parking lot outside a grocery store in Agua Dulce.

the heat

This winter-trained Canadian kid walked over 1.5km of elevation gain in one day in 37°C heat in the shade. When you walk on black dirt or gravel in the afternoon, the heat radiating from the ground raises temperatures to 50°C. I would often push myself hard to a shady spot, stay without my hood and hat for a minute, and then run toward the next shade. Sometimes there were none. Absolutely brutal.

Water

It’s about water. Heat stroke, altitude sickness, joint pain, digestive issues, hypothermia in frigid desert temperatures – it’s all about staying hydrated.

The only thing a PCTA hiker knows for sure is where the next water is. We base all decisions on water. How much to take and where is the next source. I have met people in real difficulty and heard of satellite evacuations triggered by panic buttons due to lack of water. At its heaviest, it was carrying 6 liters of water, more than 13 pounds. Most of the time, you drank until you felt nauseous, drank some more until you were about to throw up, then took 3 liters and moved on to the next fountain. In Apache Springs, I went down a very steep slope for 45 minutes just to get to the water, then back up a steep trail for an hour just to get back to the trail.

Success

It was a truly proud moment when I entered Kennedy Meadows and dozens of hikers cheered and applauded, as they do for all hikers who have formally finished the wilderness and are now embarking on the Sierra mountain range. The hiker challenge is coming!

Thank you again for your time and attention; I am honored by every person who takes time out of their often hectic lives to read my random thoughts as I continue this journey dedicated to the people of Ukraine, who just want to live free, like all of us.

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