Aimless

Booty

2010-03-08T15:44:00.001-05:00

Nature provides. --> Thanks, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Paul. I sincerely appreciate your help. --> Phoenix ETA: Sunday.

Vulnerable

2010-03-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

Apparently no one is willing to help me get any of the things I desperately need right now, like new footwear, a good headlamp, and a reflective vest. That's OK, though. It just lets me know I really am alone out here. Not having these things might get me seriously injured or killed, but at least I know where we all stand.

Did you know Yuma is

2010-03-05T11:22:00.001-05:00

Did you know Yuma is actually supposed to be pronounced 'Yummay'?

18 days and 362.5 miles

2010-03-04T19:06:00.001-05:00

18 days and 362.5 miles from the Santa Monica Pier to the Arizona state line above the Colorado River in Yuma.

Today: A day of rest and fundraising in Yuma

2010-03-04T18:52:00.001-05:00

Waking up 22 miles from the Arizona state line yesterday, I knew I had to bust ass and take very few breaks to make it to the sign before darkness (to get a visible pic). So wouldn't it figure that some CHP asshole had to stop me not once but twice to hassle me and tell me I'm not allowed to walk along the ONLY FUCKING ROAD. Instead, I was supposed to walk over giant sand dunes and wide irrigation canals with no bridges. Essentially this dude negated all my break time by making me stand around and listen to him with my pack on. You probably haven't thought about this, but every minute I stand around carrying my pack is a minute I'm neither resting nor moving. It adds up quick, as do the extra miles. So I ended up having to walk 23 or 24 miles, with almost no rest, to make it to the state line in time for a pic. (If you haven't done this, you don't know what pain is.) Much more to it
than that. --> Thanks to whoever contacted John Sears for me. --> Need your help getting some gear...

If I don't get a

2010-03-04T13:55:00.001-05:00

If I don't get a really good headlamp, I'm gonna end up seriously injured. If you'd like to help, call me so I can let you know how. Thanks.

Yuma

2010-03-03T20:49:00.001-05:00

So much to say... later.

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Dunes

2010-03-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

If I don't get a

2010-03-01T17:26:00.001-05:00

If I don't get a really good headlamp, I'm gonna end up seriously injured. If you'd like to help, call me so I can let you know how. Thanks.

27 miles today; 72 the

2010-03-01T02:44:00.001-05:00

27 miles today; 72 the last 3 days; 300 the last 15 days. South of El Centro. Finally averaging 20 miles/day. Yes, I hurt like hell all the time.

If I don't get a

2010-02-28T22:05:00.001-05:00

If I don't get a really good headlamp, I'm gonna end up seriously injured. If you'd like to help, call me so I can let you know how. Thanks.

Some dude on a bike

2010-02-28T15:44:00.001-05:00

Some dude on a bike just told me God loves me. Is that why my ass hurts?

Evil desert

2010-02-28T14:35:00.001-05:00

Pic: Chaco feet. Jealous, huh, winter-bound, pale-ass Ohio honkeys? --> My god, yesterday was a bitch. Rain. Sun. Rain. Wind. Wind. Wind. I got off to a great start, with 10 miles before noon, but the weather took its toll, along with the absence of anywhere comfortable to sit. The wind kept me from cooking. I wasted an hour of energy just trying to set up my tent as a windshield... unsuccessfully. In fact, I almost lost the tent a few times. Bent the poles a little more, too. So much more hellish than I can describe here. Was shooting for 30 miles yesterday, and I could've done it with semi-decent weather. Instead I stopped at 8:00 beside a huge stack of hay, which shielded me from the wind and saved me from even more misery. Still did 22.5 miles, though. Slept about a mile short of Westmorland. --> Would someone please contact John Sears at Gregory Mountain Products and ask him to
call me? I have feedback and questions for him, but I don't have his number handy. Thanks!

So I walk into a

2010-02-26T21:39:00.001-05:00

So I walk into a truck stop after a smokin' 20 miles, and what's on the TV but Forrest Gump. Ever feel like everything is as it should be?

Desert

2010-02-25T17:08:00.001-05:00

I think this means I'll be in the middle of nowhere in a few minutes. It also means I'll be in Arizona in about five days. --> Brad, will you make sure Eric Eves sees this? If you can, also let him know I'll be in Phoenix in two weeks or less and that he should call me. Thanks.

Coachella. Left takes me east

2010-02-25T16:04:00.001-05:00

Coachella. Left takes me east of the Salton Sea; right goes west. I'm going right. Lots of water and ramen noodles makes for one heavy-ass pack.

Sbarro's prices have gone up

2010-02-24T16:52:00.001-05:00

Sbarro's prices have gone up while their pizza has shrunk by at least 2". You were already overpriced, Sbarro. Guess where I'll NEVER eat again.

Palm Springs to pedestrians: If

2010-02-23T22:09:00.001-05:00

Palm Springs to pedestrians: If you want to be able to see where you're walking or if you want a sidewalk, fuck you! Go buy a car.

Machine/badass

2010-02-23T21:00:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, after walking for hours without a break, I realized I'm about 82% machine. Later, though, when I weighed my gear on a scale at REI, I became aware that I'm 100% badass. Thinking I was carrying a little over 40 lbs at the time, I was actually carrying 51.5 lbs. But that doesn't make me a badass. Here's what makes me a badass: For the first couple days of this new adventure, I was carrying an additional 2+ gallons of water. That's 17 or 18 lbs right there, and it means my gear weighed 68 or 69 lbs when my water bladders were full. That's HALF AS MUCH AS I WEIGH, and that number's gonna go up in a few days when I'll need to stock up on water and food to make it across the desert. But here's what really makes me a badass: I don't fear the desert. This'll be easy. --> I have always raved about REI, but they've really pissed me off lately because they won't remove my Gregory
review, which I've asked them to remove twice. So now I'm gonna trade in my beat-up tent for a new one.

Desert Shadow

2010-02-22T21:04:00.001-05:00

VERY IMPORTANT! If I should

2010-02-21T22:01:00.001-05:00

VERY IMPORTANT! If I should ever be hit by a car and cannot speak for myself, I want the perp to be prosecuted very aggressively. 2 B continued..

If you've never walked by

2010-02-21T17:54:00.001-05:00

If you've never walked by an orange grove, picked an orange without asking, and eaten the orange, then you've never eaten an orange. Delicious!

Jim & I are Avatards.

2010-02-21T14:08:00.001-05:00

Jim & I are Avatards. We saw it again yesterday in Redlands; ate at Shakey's. He's on buses back to LA now, so I'm gonna try to do 25 miles/day.

Thanks to the Rose Bowl's

2010-02-19T11:37:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the Rose Bowl's entertainment committee, the dream police now live inside my head. They also come to me in my bed. Every single night.

I dare sleep in Fuck

2010-02-19T02:04:00.001-05:00

I dare sleep in Fuck Fontana tonight. 22.34 miles today; 93.8 miles the last 5 days. Head still hurts. If I'm never seen again, the cops did it.