We’ve been in the desert four days and nights. Sand has made its home in all that I own. The winds blow every afternoon … usually when it’s time to set camp. Sometimes tents tumble across the desert like sagebrush with anxious climate marchers in hot pursuit. So what have I learned? Walking in the middle of the day is quite uncomfortable. Walking blacktop thru a desert becomes mesmerizing and sometimes seems as if you are going nowhere for hours at a time.

Blisters are nasty occurrences here. They can develop in a matter of hours and make walking as painful as any contact sport. I currently am wearing six full blown blisters. As an attempt to save my dream of walking every step, I’ve resorted to new methods of blister treatment. My newest is Gorilla glue. Today I nearly went ten miles before the glue patches came free and exposed the raw skin to pressure from pounding the pavement. Five miles of agonizing steps gives you time to think about the merits of suffering, and to wonder what have I gotten myself into. My feet are glued up for a 7AM departure and another 15 mile day ahead. May the road go easy.