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Day 7
Orange smoke in the sky – there’s a forest fire nearby. Copters keep swooping over to snuff it. It didn’t take long to get back into desert hills, there’s trees around but its still dry. Actually, the terrain is the strangest mix of mountain and desert I’ve seen. The smoke and the potential it holds…
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Day 6 (Pete)
Easy day today. We spent some time on the phone with loved ones. Its really hard to convey the experience over the phone. The amount of time I’ve been gone already seems like eternity to me. I’m sure it is but a brief moment to those left behind. Strange accelerated time perception. We walked a…
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Day 6 (Tape)
K, first entry on the second tape. This is, I’m recording this at the faster speed, 2.4, to see if the quality comes out any better. It’s Monday morning, and we’re walkin through a bunch of gorgeous meadows and trees. Pete: Big contrast Dylan: Big contrast to tommorow. Pete: Did you get that? Dylan: No…
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Day 6
We walk the eight miles of grassy fields and poppies to the golf course known as Warner Springs. Tra la la. What the hell is a golf course doing by itself out here? Well there’s grass isn’t there? Can’t get our package cause it’s Sunday, so we’re stuck here with the golfers and their servants…
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Day 5 (Pete)
It was a long hot day. I am now sitting with my back against a large cottonwood tree canopying our camp. Trees need water to grow. That, though it is a simple truth struck me hard as we made the last couple miles with these trees in sight. We made it in short time. As…
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Day 5
After a long, long day of contouring through the dry San Felipe hills, we pull into paradise. At last, cottonwoods, grass, fresh water. And singing cowboys. No place is perfect. We wash up, sink into bliss.
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Day 4 (Pete)
There is something psychologically unsettling about trudging headstrong into 40 miles of terrain that isn’t meant to, and doesn’t, support human life. We woke up two frost cakes. A thin veneer of stiff white over our sleeping bags. Walking, and the rising sun, warmed up the land. A wrong turn that, initially, didn’t matter dropped…
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Day 4
The problems we face now bear no resemblence to any we’ve ever faced. Carrying heavy water punishes the feet, brings exhaustion. Running out of water causes not only painful thirst, but also alters perception. We have to filter 38 miles worth of water from a spring choked with poison oak. Then we misread the map,…
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Day 3
The sense of adventure really starts to set in when we pick up our first small resupply box in Laguna Mountain. A cold, windy, foggy morning. We take turns getting warm by the heat lamp in the bathroom. We know we need extra water for the near waterless Anza Borrego trail ahead, but the hills,…
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Day 2 (Pete)
I lost my phone and address list as well. We are at about 6000 ft. in a beautiful, but chilly, meadow adorned with green grass and large pines. This evening I laid back and watched clouds whip across a nearby hill and dissipate through the tree tops. It is a very peaceful life so far.…