desert death hike : coming soon

people tell me: "of course you like the desert, you grew up in it."

not so. first, i didn't grow up in the desert. i grew up in air-conditioned buildings. i never went into the desert, at least, not often. i was a boy scout for most of my childhood and still rarely went into the desert. when i did, i hated it. i hated being outside up until my senior year in college. i couldn't wait to leave the desert and go someplace where i didn't need A/C.

even when i visited, i stayed out of the desert. always in the A/C. car, house, grocery, mall. the desert never touched me.

but now when i go back i leave the A/C off. that's right, now that i have a fancy luxury car that can tell me it's 110F outside, i leave the fancy luxury A/C off and enjoy the heat. and every chance i get, i'll put on my hiking shoes, grab my water, and hit the sand. why? because now i love it. let me tell you a secret about the desert that explains why i love it: the desert will fucking kill you. the bay area won't fucking kill you. new jersey won't fucking kill you. hong kong won't fucking kill you.

but the desert will fucking kill you.

a hike in the desert is a spiritual journey wherein one can find one's limits and one's self. done right, the heat and the solitude will burn away all else. done right, a desert hike is a chance to thumb one's nose at death and for a while, be immortal. because although the desert will fucking kill you, you don't have to let it. successful defense against a hostile enemy is a good feeling.

that's right, the desert is hostile. and it's also welcoming. it's my worst enemy and my best friend. it's me. that's why we get along so well, i understand the desert and the desert understands me. it took me a while to arrive at this point.

the first time i did the desert death hike i learned two things: first, take water. now, take more water. keep going, take more. more than that. that's not enough, keep going. little more. okay, lots more. still not enough. all right, put it on your back and walk a little. not staggering? you're not carrying enough water. pile on some more.

the second thing i learned is this: i may be too easily frightened, but i'm not stupid. i panicked but i made it through because of my own desert-hiking-smarts. i left a marker to the exit and i found it. yes, i found it after i panicked. but i laid it there before i panicked and that's the point.

i mentioned solitude above. this time i won't be doing the DDH alone, i've found someone tough enough to make it with me, and likely tough enough to truthfully say at the finish: "that was it? i thought it was gonna be hard!" (i never said the beach walk would be hard, only rewarding. the DDH isn't "hard" either, but if the weather's right, it's harsh. the forecast says only about 105F. that's not bad at all. looks like it will only be "fun". i can live with that :)

there won't be total solitude because i won't be alone. it'll be better than solitude, because i will be able to share a place that is "mine" in a way that most places cannot be. windy hill is a nice place to hike but it's not "mine": tons of people go there all the time. but i can say with a high degree of confidence that we won't encounter more than 3 other people on our DDH, and i'd wager the number is much closer to 0 than 3. the place won't be "mine" this time, it'll be "ours". all ours. i know a couple of places like that, and it's nice to know of such places. especially places that posess so much natural beauty as the DDH. of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. we might be able to smell the salton sea. ick ;)