MILE 100 – The Trek

It was insanely hot today.

I have decided that 4am wake up alarms MUST be set to avoid the sweltering heat of that fickle mistress we call the desert. 

I also keep reminding myself that in a month or so I’ll be in Flagstaff and out of the brutal sunshine, shadeless, sandy Sahara. 

But she sure is purty.

AZT beauty

It was quiet for the most part on my 20 mile hiking day today. I passed too many endurance racers to count, and witnessed two meltdowns.

Hey, there’s ZERO shame in a meltdown. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. There’s a LOT of water involved in thru-hiking. 98% is hydration, and 2% is tears. 

I gave a lollipop to the second racer I saw having a hard moment. And she smiled and thanked me thru tears. It honestly made my day. I got to trail magic someone on trail! 

That, coupled with passing mile 100 of this 800 mile trail is a pretty epic day in my books.

 Oh, AND having a working water filter. Thank GOODNESS. (the water filtered clearly from the source in the background, and although a little cow-y it was perfect for my morning espresso + powdered horchata)

hiker coffee & pumpkin spice cake

It was relentless ups and downs on trail today. We thru hikers call them PUDS. Pointless ups and downs lol. And I’d like to give a shout out to a phenomenal piece of gear that made today’s PUDS hiking possible. The umbrella. I hiked all day with it. I think the math on it is that it saves you drinking a half liter of water per hour and you’re about 7° cooler under it. Literal godsend.

Not to mention the envious comments I got on it from every racer that passed me. I truly should have packed a couple extras out. I could’ve made a killing. Supply and demand baby! You want an umbrella in the desert? $500 and yes, I take Venmo lol. I wouldn’t have charged that much, but I’m just sayin’ 

I don’t have a pic with my umbrella yet, but stay tuned. I’m sure it’ll make an appearance in a post soon enough.

Until then, here’s a 100-mile smile from me to you…

early morning Starfish puffy face!

Never stop exploring. Embrace the suck. I. Believe. In. YOU. kk ily <3

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