There's a first for everything

Hey everyone! Haven't had much time to contact anyone so I quickly set up this blog page while I have a few minutes in town. Dan and I are on day 6 of our hike and already we've covered 80 miles over gigantic mountains in the desert. It's been extremely hot with very little shade but thankfully a storm is coming in so we had little to no sun to deal with today. I've been told that the worst is yet to come once we hit the heart of the Mojave Desert...which makes me a little nervous. According to everyone I've met thus far, EVERYTHING makes me nervous which is why I've inherited the trail name "Worry Wart" aka "Double Dubs." I'm hoping that name changes over time into something more intimidating and fierce to others. Right now it's just embarrassing when someone asks me what my trail name is, although it really is quite fitting. I've taken lots of pictures with my camera but not so many with my iPhone so I will try to post as many as I can throughout the trip although Im trying to conserve battery life as much as possible on the phone since charging will be seldom.

I had a lot of first experiences today. For starters I encountered my first rattlesnake. I knew it was only a matter of time. Most people I've been hiking with are averaging at least one or two a day. My heart was racing. This thing looked like he just ate a baby deer for breakfast. But thankfully there was enough room to mosey on around him off the trail. A lot of the trail thus far has been about a foot wide and all along cliffs.

My second "first" for today was experiencing the amazingness that they call "Trail Magic." it couldn't have happened at a better time either. My new Alaskan friend WeeBee and I were talking about all the delicious meals we would stuff our faces with as soon as we reached town and just trying the best we could to distract ourselves from the extremely painful colony of blisters forming on our feet from the past week. I ended the conversation in typical Jamie form saying how much I just wanted an effing beer and a slice of pizza (although my exact words were a tad more explicit) and just then I look up and a group of six hikers were sitting under some shade next to a cooler filled with beer and sodas and next to it was a variety of fresh fruit and apple pie. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I graciously took a soda (I was saving the beer for the pizza I expected to get in town) and apologized for making a grand entrance by dropping the F word. They all just laughed and said "ask and you shall receive." we kicked it with them for awhile until we moved on to my next "first."

As soon as we finished up guzzling down our drinks we walked about a quarter mile down the road to hitch hike into town which was about 15 miles down the road. My first hitching experience. Both scary and thrilling all at the same time. A few cars passed us by until this clunker of a car pulls up and tells us to get in. It was a young woman, her father and a sleeping baby who was passed out in his car seat in the back. After hopping in we exchanged introductions and they asked us where we were hiking to and later told us we were crazy. Stephanie, the driver, had a lead foot and apparently didn't realize that cars were made with break pedals. Worry Wart was in full effect as my nervousness went from 'oh no these people could be murderers' to 'holy crap I think we might drive over a cliff.' We ended up getting to town ok and are so thankful for Stephanie and her dad for taking a chance on picking up two vagabonds on the side of the road. For all I know they could have thought we were mass murderers.

Which brings me to my last "first" for the day. This blog. Please bear with me as it will be a work in progress.

My love to everyone. Missing the comforts of home but thrilled to be living out this great adventure. Peace and love.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone