Desert Heat

Day 5

Date: 28.04.2022

CDT Mile: Mile 66.5

Miles hiked:. 17.1 Miles \ 27.3 km

We slept in today till 6am, and got ready to hike by 6.40am. That's the fastest we got ready! From the water tank we got our water for the next stretch and off we go. It's beautiful out here in the desert. The scenery changes in grounds and flora. We run into Swiss Monkey at water cache no. 4, another Swiss thru hiker, but he's off fast again because there is no shade. Also we hike on and shortly later run into Apple, a trail angel (a trail angel is someone who helps hikers). Apple provided trail magic with cool drinks, chairs and shade out in the middle of the desert. He's doing this already for more than 20 years, and maybe we get to see him again in Colorado! Sadly, he was just packing up, but still had 3 cool drinks left. We chatted and helped him bringing all the gear to his car and then hiked on. There is supposed to be a tree with shade in a couple of miles, where we plan to have lunch and stop for a couple of hours to wait out the heat. At the end it's about 6 hrs we spend under the tree. As the sun moves, we have to move too to get some shade. And while we hang out, other hikers join us. One hiker, I forgot is Name, packed out hard boiled eggs! That's a great idea and they are a fantastic source of protein! The high of the day was Simple peeling his first hard boiled egg in his life! I hardly can't believe it, he's over 40 years old and doesn't know how to peel an egg?!🤣 we have to show him to first knock the egg to crack the shell and then to peel it. He asked if he can eat the thin eggskin, he has never seen that before either! I still can't get it!

Shortly after 5pm we leave the shade and hike on. It's still very hot out there. Not far there is a water source, a cattle trough. Mmh yummy! We had to scare one cow away which was just drinking. They are very curios cows and are watching us, what the hell are we doing there? Guess we are the most interesting thing for them on that day😁 then we move on again till it's dark, where we can refill our water again from a cattle trough, however there are no cows around. I filter water from such sources with my water filter and additionally use aquamira, a chlorine dioxide treatment which should really kill all bacterias which may still survived my filter system!

While hiking on I witnessed a very rare natural spectacle. There was a huge wasp and it looked like a spider was just about to eat it. However, it turned out completely different. This type of wasp is also called the tarantula hawk or the spider killer! While adult tarantula hawks are nectavores and feed on flowers, they get their name because adult females hunt tarantulas as food for their larvae. An adult female will paralyze a tarantula with its stinger, and then transport the spider back to the hawk's nest. Once there, the female lays an egg in the spider's abdomen, then covers the entrance of the burrow to trap the spider. Once the egg hatches, the larvae will feed on the still living spider for several weeks, avoiding vital organs to keep the spider alive until the larvae pupates into an adult wasp. All I can say is that nature is brutal! The locals here say that anything in desert is eater hurting or killing you (wind, sun, animals, no water, heat, even all the bushes here have sharp thrones).

It's dark when we eat dinner. And out of the sandy ground a big spider crawls up just next to our feet! Where the hell did that big animal just come from?! Laying in my tent later on I could hear many spiders crawiling out of the ground right under my tent, but I guess it was just my imagination and it was the wind really - I really do hope so at least!