We’re almost three weeks in–
Well less than halfway in terms of mileage,
And today, already, we talk post-trail.
Today was Hayduke in its truest form;
A trail of extremes.
To wake next to cow pond
To descend into canyon,
We were still riding the high of yesterday’s story of survival.
The coldest I’d ever been;
Those snowy mountains stark contrast to today’s 90-degree heat.
I still didn’t know what that converted to.
I still didn’t know what dehydration meant,
until those two litres stretched fifteen miles,
In today’s 90-degree heat—
I didn’t want to know what that converted to.
And I find myself getting frustrated.
Frustrated in ways that remind me of my younger self–
It’s easy to forget; this is a goddamn dream.
To feel it in its entirety,
It is to embrace all aspects
And just. Be. Here.
This morning I knew.
There was no way we wouldn’t push to the cache.
The promise of purified water? We could dump the salty pond we sipped from,
The promise of replenished food? We could sleep in, we could sleep long…
But it is my turn to make the coffee.
