Day 36 – 27 Apr 19. 500 Miles!

Today 31.9 km (19.8 mi), Total Distance 813.4 km (505.4 mi). 9 hours 10 minutes (0630-1700, less time at cistern)

Sorry photos still to come

I was awake pretty early and on my way as the sun was starting to appear over the hill. I crossed the road and began the climb up. It was a long climb, switchbacking up the hill.

Looking back down the valley I had camped in appeared to be in the mist, thoughit had not seemed so when I was down there. There were three caves alongside the trail. I went into the second one which would have been fine for sleeping in except the smell of human feces.

Once the steep bit was done the trail evened out a little, though it continued climbing. There were now views of the desert down to the right. I came across a guy packing up from cowboy camping (camping without a tent) the previous night. He said he had great views of the lights of the towns below.

Half a km later there was a hiker going back in the opposite direction and he said he had forgotten his hiking poles back at his camp spot where the other guy was. He later passed on by when I stopped for a rest. I then caught up to him a few km on.

I had decided to have an easy day and walk slower than I had been but was having problems doing this. Every time I stopped concentrating on my speed I ended up walking fast again. Once I caught up to the guy, called Disco, I stayed with him as he was going the pace I thought I should be doing today.

We caught up to a women who was filtering water at a small stream. She was called Billy Goat. Her water bladder had a hole in it so I offered her a half liter bladder I had that I could spare.

She caught up to us not long after we continued and the three of us walked together for nearly an hour, talking the whole time. She then pulled ahead just before the 500 mile marker. This was a marker made of stones that matched the 500 mile point on Guthooks. We knew there was a fancy marker in another 1.6 miles.

As we hit a dirt road we caught Billy Goat. She was going to have lunch in some shade and I joined her while Disco continued. He was planning on having lunch at the fancy 500 mile marker.

We chatted while we ate and then Billy Goat left. I gave it a good 5 minutes before following to ensure I would not be tempted to try and race to catch her.

There was more climbing up to the fancy 500 mile marker at the 501.6 mile mark. It was in a sunny exposed position so I was glad I had lunch where I did. This stretch had been dry for a while so I headed up a side trail at a water tank a mile further on but
the stench of dead animal was too much and I decided not to risk filling my water from there. There was meant to be a cistern a little further on.

In less than 500 meters I heard voices and music and followed a small side trail to a low roof of corrugatedplastic over a large plastic tank. Three guys and Billy Goat were laying on the cistern in the shade under the low roof. I joined them and started filtering water. The water was full of unidentified stuff but it did not smell so I filtered through my shirt
into my dirty water bladder before then using my Sawyer filter to filter into my water bottles. The water tasted fine and no one got sick later.

I then just hung out with Disco, Eagle, Billy Goat and the other guy. The guys had picked up a collective trail
name of the three stooges. They were good fun. We were playing music including the song with the line “I would walk 500 miles” in honour of reaching the 500 mile mark. They also tried out a song with 1000 in it in preparation for the next big milestone.

The guys moved on after an hour and I followed 15 minutes later. I was now planning to walk another 5 miles and find a campsite. I found a nice flat spot but after I started putting up my tent some big wind gusts came through and I realized it was a bit exposed so I moved down an old trail nearby and found a nice sheltered spot with great views down to the desert below.

Visits: 385