The Beginning: a good place to start

It took me 4 hours on a plane and 3 hours on a train to travel a distance that will now take me 5 months to walk.  Perspective is a wonderful thing.  Arriving a few days before I head out in hopes of getting a little used to this dry heat.  Tomorrow I am volunteering with the local hiking group to do trail maintenance and help with the water caches from Lordsburg to the Border.  I'm always looking for opportunities to give back to the trail and help others in their journey.  Saturday the 25th is go time at the Mexican Border at a place called the Crazy Cook Monument.

My mental state at the moment an odd combination of missing my friends and family already but being ridiculously excited for my coming adventure.  An immense amount of preparation has gone into this moment.  My heart has been pounding all day.  Despite leaving my incredible life of being a veterinarian behind temporarily, I also have many friends and family on the trail.  Some are friends I have met before on past hikes and others are fellow adventurers that immediately become family, bonded by our mutual experiences and generally awesome perspective on life.  Even on the train this morning I met an Austrian named Banana Pants whom is also starting now.  Needless to say the train ride went quickly as we chattered who whole time, almost like we had met before.

The desert is hot, dry, windy, sandy, dusty, and absolutely beautiful.  You can see forever and if you look closely, the cacti are blooming.  Blisters are pretty much inevitable, despite all efforts to avoid them, it's just what happens when your feet are sweating and the endless onslaught of sand makes its way into your shoes.  I feel lucky to have the experience of hiking in southern California under my belt but I can't help but be nervous.  I'm not sure anyone can truly be comfortable with hiking is such a hostile environment.  A hiker's best resource is their mind.  I like to think that if I plan ahead and pay attention I can avoid most mishaps like running out of water and getting sunburned.  We'll see if that works!

The next post will be after I hike 90 miles from the border, back up here to Lordsburg.  My feet will hurt, my skin will be raw from the wind and sun, and the callouses will be forming where my pack sits on my hips and shoulders.  I guarantee I'll have a smile on my face, I hope so anyway.  The edge of your comfort zone is where the magic happens... this is me looking for some magic.  I hope you enjoy following in my adventure and helping to raise funds for the Spokane Humane Society!

Happy Trails!
-Beads

ps, I know the donation link still isn't up and running, it will be up shortly!!  Stay tuned ;-)