THE WALK – DAY ONE

What gives???? We have to be at the registration table at 5:30 a.m. That’s 5:30 in the morning. I’ve forgotten that hour even exists anymore. Thank goodness the alarm clock remembers it.

Got everything set up, sent Jim to have breakfast, and started to register the walkers. By 7:30 I was done with the registration and the bus was loaded. Needed to get them on the road while it was still “cool”.

The bus took all the walkers out to Badwater which is 18 miles from Furnace Creek and dropped them off. They walked 8.5 miles the first day to the turn off to Artist’s Canyon.

The support vehicles were loaded with cases of cold water, the frozen fruit and the snack bags we put together. Kathy stayed at the front of the walkers mainly to try and get people to slow down as they passed them. A different Jim stayed at the very rear with the last walker to make sure they were safe.

Two other vehicles, including Jim and I, drove back and forth from the front to the rear and back again, making sure people were okay and had everything they needed.

Sean pulled the port-a-potty and became the most popular person along the trek. Even more so than the water people.

The walkers, 52 of them, started off together but it wasn’t long before Suzanne began to leave everybody else behind. What is so amazing, is the fact that she does this walk in flip flops. My feet hurt just watching her walk. But she has a rapid walk pace and never varies from it whether it’s going up or down the hills. If she needs water she holds out the bottle, we take it from her, fill it up and then drive ahead of her so she can grab it as she goes by. Amazing. (See that vehicle way up ahead – that is where Suzanne is.)

The walkers ranged in age from 9 to probably 70 or so. It doesn’t take long for the group to spread out. Eventually it’s about 4 miles from the leaders (not counting Suzanne) to the ones in the rear.

Uphill and downhill. By 11:35 all the walkers had reached the end point and were transported back to Furnace Creek Campground. Everybody was more than ready to go swimming and relax until time for dinner at the campground.

104 degrees.