CDT Day 18 (6/5/23)

Miles 448.6 (Red line 563.4)- 479.2 (Red line 594) (30.6 miles)

Verbatim

I really need to get a different pair of shorts. This testicle chaff and desert climate is really cramping my hiking style. Thankfully there’s been some large banks of weather and clouds. In fact, here comes one now. Shade acquired. Let’s go.

I don’t really know what to write right now. I’m feeling frustrated and exhausted at a mediocre campsite. In this section there’s a few scraggly trees. Those trees by which there’s some level ground have cow poop in, on, or around them. In the cow poop live and spawn little tiny flies which are buzzing around eating the salt from my things and my skin. It’s quite irritating. Now that I’ve stopped and am in the warmth of my sleeping bag my testicle chaff is acting up. It’s miserable having the whole left side of your ball sack scaley, cracked, and desiring to give you a red hot shot of pain at any bump or twerk of the leg. Also, my mustache is too long. The corners of my lips have hair long enough to be twirled by my tongue. I did that on the left side of my face a lot today. In trying to bite off the dead skin from my lips to clean them, I more often grabbed a hair. Ouch! Also, walking on lava rock today really sucks. I had my first “fall” of the trip (maybe. I might have fallen descending to the Gila. Can’t remember) when I glanced up and took my eyes off the slope. I stepped on a “roller” and my forward foot went right out from under me. Also, water is running right through me. I drink to a very unsatisfying sensation and dribble out a quarter cup of pee ten minutes later. I must have peed those quarter cups every ten minutes for over an hour or so today. I’d never make an FKT (Fastest Known Time). I pee too much.

I scared a bull today! Not one minute after I fell on my “roller” I walked out from the trees and into a field. A hulking brown bull with huge shoulders, dried something hanging from his penis hair, and brown poop caked all over the entirety of his back side was longingly calling out for his friendly cow neighbors. He was really set on his task. I called out “Hey there!” from a good 80 feet away and there was no response. Only when I called out from about 30 feet (really not that far at all) did he stutter, startle, and turn to see me. Thankfully he started to run away. By the time I’d crossed the field I could hear his longing call once again. There were some cows on the other side of the field behind some trees. They weren’t getting any closer. That is to say, they were not responding to his call.

I also spoke with a bunny this evening. It was so relaxed with me that it rested its legs. It was beautiful. I sang the Mopomo song Michele and I wrote.

The hiking was desert. But it was beautiful. Scrambles was right, there are cool rocks this section. I used the afternoon storm show to move more comfortably. I only got rained on a little bit. I was always ahead of the storm.

Today was day 18! That makes it 10% of the maximum amount of time I have out this summer. May. June. July. August. September. October. November. 15-30-30-30-30-30-10=175 days.

That’s a rough estimate. Weather could shut things down much sooner than November 10th. Things could be done in mid October for that matter. Still. I’m happy to be out. It’s been a good 10%.

Post Note

I remember everything about this post. I remember that bunny. That was a really healing moment for me. To see a lost friend reincarnated if only for a moment. Moe! I miss you little bunny.

I remember that bull. A good image to see. Boisterous and sexy up front, but really gross behind the facade. Too loud to hear anyone other than himself. No one was responding to him. Tough life dude. You need a Culo Clean.

My CDT trip did not take 180 days. It could have, but that would have driven me insane. I was actually measuring distance against time so consider if I could hike both the CDT and AT northbound in the same season. I’ve tried to hike the AT southbound. It just won’t happen. I’m from Maine. I have to go home. So, I thought if I worked really hard I could push both the trails into one year and finish this damn Triple Crown.

The American “Triple Crown” is a title granted to thruhikers who’ve traversed the PCT, CDT, and AT. Since the “coolness” of thruhiking has grown, earning a Triple Crown is sort of a socially pressured expectation. It’s dumb. You can do whatever you want. They’re three very different trails, so you’re almost bound to not resonate with one of them. You like animals? CDT. You like woods? AT. You like easy steps and views? PCT. If you can figure out what you don’t enjoy before hiking one particular trail but feel like you need to go hiking three times then spare yourself and just do one you like over again. Anyways. I somehow figured I had to hike all three and I had to hike them consecutively with my three summers from graduate school because when am I going to have scheduled summers again and when I graduate I need to get a job so I can show up relationally. I couldn’t do it. School got in the way in 2022. That or I wasn’t fast enough; if pulling 70 consecutive 35s is feasible. Some people do it! They’re cooler than me. Crush miles bro.

So here I was in 2023 picking up the pieces and thinking that if I could hike the CDT and AT in the same summer, the way I wanted no less, then I would finally have caught up (albeit delayed a few months) and could move on with my life. Welp. Once a thruhiker always a thruhiker. You can take the man out of the trail but you can’t stop him being a bum. It’s ok. I seem to be unable to find a job, so it’s fine. It’s not like I have other options. I’ll be back.