500 Miles

He looks lovely in this light...

Last weekend (was it only last weekend?) my friend Sarah and I went to the Sierra Juarez Pueblos Mancomunados to do two village to village hikes. In a little over 4 years, it is our plan to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. About 4 years ago I had signed up for a half marathon in Chicago in an attempt to feel better physically and loose a little weight. Sarah signed up with me, and on one of our first training runs, she said she had always wanted to walk the Camino. A bucket list thing. I said I would do it with her, and last weekend was the beginning of a training of sorts. She came to Oaxaca and we were going to do two days of walking in the forest. The first day was 24 kilometers from Cuajimolojas (3100 meters above sea level) to Lachatao (1900 meters above sea level). The planned second day was 18 kilometers from Latuvi (2900 masl) to Lachatao. Ralph was our driver - wine, beer, pajamas and the next day's gatoraide in a cooler, waiting for us on arrival.

Sarah and I both worked in HR together at AMD, and we are "data" HR girls - we like information. We question how things are going to work. We evaluate thoughts and ideas. Maybe too much, but we had questions about this walk. This walk in 4 years. 1000 kilometers over 40 days. How much gear? How would we feel after a day? What time of year should we go? How did we want to sleep - in a group hostal type environment or a bit of luxury in our own room?

Day 1 Selfie

And so, we're off. I am not sure if this is the point to tell you if walking downhill for about 6 hours and nice steep climbing for short spurts in between for the other 90 minutes does to your toes. I know I cannot describe in words the feeling of utter and absolute exhaustion we felt when walking the last 20 minutes in the hot afternoon sun down into the village. Maybe these can wait...

Doesn't this trail look nice? HA!

Day 1 Things: What you think is too much snack food is just enough. Fall gracefully, if you must fall, and have Sarah nearby to grab your gatoraid as it goes flying into the bush. Pine needle beds suck. Stick to the road well traveled unless you have a guide to move logs for you to traverse boggy ground. Seeing animals never gets old. Take pictures even when you are tired. Advil is good. Having your own room - priceless.

Francisco moves a log. Seriously.

Day 2 we changed up our plan. We decided for a local in and out hike of  roughly 11 kilometers. It was the right choice. There is no way my toes were going to support another almost completely downhill day. So, we changed the plan, and it was the right thing to do.

A view. It really is this beautiful.

Day 2 Things: My backpack for this long walk needs front pockets of some sort for water and my camera. Your body does not feel as bad as you think it is going to feel on the morning of Day 2. Even your toes, but they still hurt more than other parts. Maybe selfies only on Day 1?

Did we even wash our faces?

Kind cool gap in the rock.

On the bridge with Juan, our guide.

Fauna Notes - things we saw: Woodpecker, Field Mouse, Squirrel tail (unattached, seriously, we didn't touch it), Some Red Bird, Wild Horses, goats crossing the road, Cicadas, Dead green scarab, dead centipedes, Oxen, Kitten, Puppy, Turkey Vulture, Martins (Bird), Donkeys