Walk

March 16, Day 6

PCT Mile 86, Saddle Ridge.

Short blog today, as I am exhausted.

This morning when I woke up my left foot had a decent amount of swelling and was pretty sore.  Last night I read about the particular type of tendonitis it is, and its generally caused by the shoe continuously rubbing the top of the foot.  The regular recommendations RICE (rest ice compression elevation)  Additionally they recommended relacing your shoe to skip the eyelets over the affected area.  I did that and it seemed to help a tiny bit.  It was tender all day and I had to be very deliberate about my foot falls.

today I carried the most water I hope to ever carry.  The section I am in the middle of is a 32 mile dry section.  Its also HOT.  I should have done this stretch at night.  There was no wind today, so all 91 degrees bore down on me as I ascended the San Felipe Hills.  Its a never ending maze of switchbacks and turns.

By mile 9 tomorrow I should hit the highest point (4400 feet) and then descend down.  Right now I have 4 liters of water, and if today is any reflection of what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, I am going to need every bit of it.   Im really dehydrated now.

Today was very hard and tiring.  I wish I had more to say, but I spent most of the day focused at the trail 3 feet ahead of me so I could put my feet in the perfect spots.  And also thinking about water.

Which does remind me of a thought I had.  In the movie Waterworld with Kevin Costner, in the opening scene, it shows him urinate in a filter type device.  He then pumps it a few times and out comes clean water, he then drinks.

I have news for you.  Urine contains a lot of salts as well as metabolic wastes, urea etc.   If the filter can remove all of that, he could have used it to purify sea water.  Had he done that, a main point of the movie wouldn’t have worked.

Anyway, that’s how much I thought about water today.

Drink well my friends.