Day 6, km 125, Stage coach

At 05am the alarm called me. I am going to do this every day now. The early morning is the only pleasant time for walking. At 10 the sun is already massacring you. By this time I try to have complete 2/3 of my day's distance. Around noon I look for some shade (not very easy) and rest till 15:00 to then do the last 1/3 of my days hike. It is the only way to survive, and to reduce water consumption.
Today the trail led lower and lower into dryer and dryer terrain coming down from 1800m to 700m, and the heat got worse and worse. On top of this the front skin of my left foot feels as if it is coming loose. I made a critical mistake by taking barefoot shoes (xero) that are super light but that I have never tested. The trail is extremely rough, strewn with rocks of all sizes. For normal shoes this would be a challenge, for my soft Xero's it is deadly. On top of this comes a ground temperature like boiling sand, which goes straight through the sole.
By 11:00 I could no longer walk and found shade under a huge rock..At three I hobbled to arrive half dead at the road just as a trail angel arrived and offered me a lift. Oh my god, what a "God send"!
I am now spending the night at a real stage coach stop on the edge of the desert and will hitch hike to Julian tomorrow morning to buy new shoes and get rid of some more weight. EG. I will send away my gas cooker and half of my clothes.Read more