It was difficult to tame my fear, but on the 96th day I walked at night for a while, shouting as I went along. I had to do it again. I was very happy with myself to have done it. It was a process and now I walk at night without thinking about mountain lions. I'm almost always quiet again, thinking and walking, as if it were daytime.
On day 97 I was woken up by noises, and there was a rat inside my shoe, which had already pushed out my sock and gnawed the shoelace. Funny that, here in the desert, I have had two of the coldest nights of the whole trail journey. I was wearing every piece of clothing I had in my pack, which, to be honest, wasn't much. I felt like I was naked on the street. For a few days it was difficult to walk, with hardly any water, and when I got some it was hot like tea. It was a very exposed pilgrimage, without shade. I prefer long walks at night and breaks during the hottest hours. I camped alone every night, without seeing any hikers at all.
On the trail I only saw hunters and nobody else, in the villages there were always loads of people. As always, many curious people approached me to talk and during those days I received a total of $31 ($5 + $6 + $20) from random people. The first lady felt sorry for myself, I was shattered and dirty, bald with spiky hair on the sides of my head, a long beard and eating everything I laid my eyes on. 'This is for you to buy a shirt ', she said while putting the money under my phone. The others gave me money because they admired what I had endured… I politely refused, of course, but they insisted, and in the end I had to take the money.
I'm almost in Mexico, I'm so near...
Day 96 (52,7 km) - Finally walked at night again;
Day 97 (59,4 km) - A mouse gnawed at my shoelace;
Day 98 (66,4 km) - Random walking day;
Day 99 (29,9 km) - One of the coldest nights on the whole trail;
Day 100 (53,5 km) - The water seemed like tea;
Day 101 (52,3 km) - So hot. I walked at night and the moon looked like the sun;
Day 102 (36,6 km) - Night walking again. I'm happy that I don't think about mountain lions anymore;
Day 103 (67,1 km) - Since Mount Whitney I have camped alone every night;
Day 104 (54,8 km) - Dehydrated;
Day 105 (31,7 km) - Someone gave me 20$.
– I am travelling with Iati Seguros, if you buy any of its insurance through any link on my blog you get 5% discount.
– All the pictures with Samsung Galaxy S10.
This as all the other articles on this site are translated by my good friend Devo Forbes!!
