Day Three - 2005

We got up about the same time day three. Anxious to start and almost sorry it was already going to be over, but not really.

Day three was brutal hot and we walked North - which is up in the desert - all day. At one point it was so hot they had vans bringing in water at a mid point between pit stops for the walkers. There was lots of cheering though too.

There is a guy that's been at the walk every year. Thunder Dan. He shows up in the morning and stands about a block away from camp and cheers until every camper goes by. He wears pom poms and funny hats - the works. When the last person goes by he gets in his car and drives to the front of the line to do it again. For three whole day.

Day three was long and hot and more work than we thought it would be. At one point in the last five or six miles, Sister 2 looked at me and said I can't feel anything below my waist, and she meant it.

Instigating sister and our cousin were a little way behind us. They talked each other through the last several blocks like this:

Sister: We can walk ten more steps right?
Cousin: Right.

Then they would go ten more and reverse the conversation. When they finally turned the corner and Rawhide was in sight, Instigating Sister burst into tears in relief.

I personally hit the ground when it was over, literally. I had to sit through closing ceremonies. Our families all came out and they stood (I sat) and held a shoe in the air to commemorate what we'd just accomplished with a huge group of people that all hurt as badly as we did.

It looked like this.

We, however, looked like this:




Then we went home exhausted and weepy and signed up to do it again next year.

But next year, we would be more prepared! We learned a lot, like:

BRING A CAMERA what a bunch of maroons - out there with no camera.

and a pillow (for some of us)

Get up and out of camp early! The back of the pack is slower and the day is longer.

Have someone special come to visit. It's amazing how much you want to share the experience once it starts.

Bring portable music. Those people with speakers attached to their ipod on a fanny pack at their waste are brilliant.

Walk your pace, speeding up or slowing down for others will kill you.

Talk to people on the course


I have to say I'm pretty cynical most of the time. It's a joke in my family. I have rarely, since the first year, been able to tell anyone any detail about the event without getting teary.