Solo Day 5

Tonight I can hear kyotes in the distance and country & western tunes being blasted from someone’s car on the other side of the hill. It’s an absolutely stunning night, relatively warm and no wind with a perfect view.

This morning I said goodbye to my two trail buddies as I wanted to head out on my own. I needed to feel the tranquility of Day 1 and also ensure I know what I’m doing out here by myself. The solitude helped me feel more connected with this new ‘home’ of mine and I felt more focussed on the trail ahead.

The first task was finding the next water source off the trail. Despite the fact it says for horses only there was a tap on the side which provided slightly cleaner water that still needed filtering. I left a note and some trail mix for the boys and bumped into them on the way back to the trail after tending to my ever increasing sore feet!

The day got extremely hot and made me think about all the training hikes I’d done over summer back at home. Being out here is the furthest I’ve ever felt from home. I think each day feels like the equivalent of a week or a month. I already feel very used to not having a roof over my head.

After a quick beef jerky wrapped in cheese snack I was back on the trail battling with the sunshine and the pain of so many lose rocks under my feet. Almost thinking boots could have been a better idea. By about 2pm today I was pooped. There was very little shade the whole day so when I finally found some I made good use of it.

At around 4:30pm the boys caught up to me and asked if I was missing anything. I replied with a blank expression until Pac Man pulled out my entire water proof sleeve of maps and my trail notes. Hmmm… Scary that I didn’t even realise they were missing. Today I found my lost sunglasses case in a hiker box but my headlamp has never resurfaced.

There was some amazing scenery today with the San Jacinto Mountains (I think) in the background and some beautiful desert flowers in bloom.

Tonight I used my first aid techniques to ensure all the cuts and blisters on my feet are cleaned and covered. My whole body hurt after 17 miles today, the longest distance I’ve done so far.

I’m getting some interesting tan lines, especially on my hands from my hiking pole straps. Even though I’ve worn long pants since day 1 my legs are also filthy. There is very little water for the next 30 miles so I’m dependant on a water cache 10 miles away to get me through. The boys are heading into Julian tomorrow and depending on the water scenario at the cache I may possibly too so I can purchase an extra bottle of water to carry over the next stretch. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store.