The Walking Dom

Mile 454 / KM 730
Ziggy and the Bear to Agua Dulce

Song stuck in my head: "They called her killer" by Lucero.

I miss: Some serious shower time! That's a constant feeling though. Above all, I miss being clean out here. I make a big deal about "bandana showers" every night, since I hate the feeling of sweaty legs in my sleeping bag. But today I missed something other than being clean. I missed brunch. Not the american kind of brunch but the swiss kind of brunch where there's just enough of everything to fill you up but not over fill you. The kind of brunch where everything is organized in neat little bowls and the latte has a little heart on top of its milky foam. The kind where there's salmon on toast, croissants, a variety of strong cheeses and mimosas and by the time you leave the restaurant you feel a little tipsy. I miss that.

I read that it takes 21 days to program your body to something new. Sounds like something you would read in a Gala magazine but I think this one's actually true. All my muscular pains are gone and I feel good. There are aches and pains that usually kick in after about 17 miles but even those will fade eventually I suppose.

What's way harder to stay in control of is the mind. When you walk 10 hours a day your mind wanders to the most random places. I'll think of how many ants I've killed along the way or why we get itchy. Or I'll think of a fight I had with a long gone boyfriend back in high school. I think about mistakes that I've made and regrets that I have. I've got some... not too many though. You experience the highest of highs and your lowest of lows out here, but thinking about all these things has shown me that as far as I know I'm a very happy person and other than a couple tweaks here and there my life is the way I want it to be. I believe that the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times. The best moments usually occur when a persons body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Experiencing this kind of satisfaction every day is amazing and reason enough to be walking this trail. The mind and body are intertwined so if one isn't working then the other must compensate. Sometimes pushing yourself is only possible with a little motivation from the outside. I don't think I would have been able to make it this far in this short amount of time without my trail friends. They push me to new levels, or I push myself since I see them doing it. If they can, I can.

I had a really rough day two days ago. The arch of my left foot became inflamed and an hour into the hike had to use my poles as crutches. I had worn out my insoles and ignored it for too long. Luckily I have two pairs of sneakers with me so I was able to switch the insoles of my runners into my trekking shoes and boom, a whole new woooooorld (Took me 5 hours to come up with that idea though...). But then there was that nasty ass rattler rattling its tail at me and that garder snake that I stepped over and that tick that stuck its head into my back and it was hot and it was all uphill and on top of that it was my first 25+ mile day. Just a fucked up day, and for the first time I felt like I wasn't sure if I was able to pull this one off. But I did. I went to bed, got up and the air was cool. We got a HUGE breakfast in Acton, saw Michael Jacksons tiger, only walked an easy 15 miles, went to Vasquez Rocks which was impressive and now I'm in Hiker Heaven in my tent behind a trailer and in an hour I'll get a ride to REI. I'm back on track. All is good.