And a good life is even harder

Lions, rattlesnakes, and the Hope Fire in Eastern Washington

Dragging - July 7

I had no energy from the moment that I woke up until now. Dead.

Twice, snakes shook their rattlers right next to my feet and scared the daylight out of me. I walked cautious and scared the rest of the day, seeing snakes in every stick’s shape and hearing them in every insects’s click.

This part of the trail is dried out, dust where water should be, and grass so brown and brittle it looks like it will catch fire at just the suggestion of a spark. Wildfire scares the people in these valleys and for good reason. Once it starts, their homes vanish.

An inspiring moonrise over the dimming pastures near Havilah

That was the environment I dragged my feet through all day, dead and dry, snakes in the grass, and dust in the stream beds.

It ended on a high note, or at least a quiet one. A lady stopped and told me the church in Havilah leaves the door unlocked for hikers and I could stay down there. I’m writing from inside their parish hall.

I made it at dark and even though my day was only 17 miles, it took me every hour to get it done. Maybe the heat, maybe the new shoes or a nutritional deficit dragged me back, but I made it.

The delay will cost me later if it makes me run out of food.

Rough - July 8

Walking the roads of Eastern Washington

I was in a lot of pain today. I felt like I had to make up for yesterday’s shortcomings so that I didn’t run out of food entirely. I got out of the church and on the road early, and pushed hard all day.

I regret taking the 1-mile detour to go see Mount Bonaparte’s fire tower. It was locked. By the end of the day, I was walking under the beam of a headlamp and wishing I hadn’t and wasted my energy for the little side trip.

My neck is stiff. I thought of Sylvester Stallone, and now in his later movies you can see something wrong with his neck because he has to turn his whole body to look somewhere. I feel like him right now. I love his movies, so that’s not what I mean. I just have a messed up neck.

My back is chiming in too, my knee stabs, my feet throbs. Who cares about all that though? I’m doing it.

Life is hard, a good life is even harder.

Smooth - July 9

My focus every day is to make miles. When it all comes down to it, that’s really all there is to this whole cross-country trip. Every day, I have to diligently make forward progress. It’s as simple (and as challenging) as that.

Today was a lot better than yesterday though. For one, my neck didn’t feel like it was being torqued the entire time. I woke up in the exact same position that I fell asleep. I believe I shut my eyes and didn’t move except to breathe until morning came and they opened again. I was too tired to move.

Another reason the day went smoother was because of the route. Even though dirt roads are not scenic, my pace is much more effective on them. The brief sections of trail were raked with blowdowns, and steep slippery sections of dry sand on rock. This trail is the adventure that I bargained for, every day is an unknown just like an adventure should be.

Someone drove up on the road and gave me two cans of sparkling water. She chatted for a bit and invited me to her family homestead. I probably would’ve taken her up on it if the side quest didn’t add another 2 miles onto my day. I was trying not to look at the gun sticking out of her waistband the entire time.

She was nice, I imagine she didn’t even think about shooting me. I’ve been thinking more and more that I should have protection out here. Especially as I get into grizzly country, it would be a good precaution.

I’m not licensed to conceal one. Having it out there in the open like she had draws a lot of attention. There are lions out here, wolves too. Plus, I wouldn’t mind ending a few rattlesnakes’ careers. Not to mention that without a gun, I’m far outmatched by a grizzly.

The part that worries me the most is the national parks. So many people visit the parks and leave their food for bears to take, that bears have become a dangerous and persistent pest.

I have to defend myself, because the people running the park are indifferent, and will let a visitor die before they do anything about an aggressive bear. I wish that wasn’t the case, but no one’s going to defend me better than myself.

Maybe when I get to Montana…

Lions and snakes - July 10

Today I had the distinction of a dead rattlesnake stop my heart. A second rattlesnake also scared me, but turned out to be alive and in my path. I wasn’t expecting either snake. I was a little more prepared for the lion.

Locals call them cougars. As I walked Highway 21, a driver rolled down his window and said he had just seen one charging up the ridge. I saw the lion come back down to the road to retrieve her kitten a few minutes later. Without a car nearby, she emerged from the woods and my presence startled her. Lions are an ambush predator. If she was hunting me, I wouldn’t have seen her. For as big as that animal is, they don’t scare me as much as the snakes.