Wendover, UT

Day 126 out on the road. I have arrived in Wendover, UT only a few hundred yards from the state line of Nevada. I have walked 2,467 miles to get to where I am. Nevada will be the 13th state I will walk through.

I spent 2 days in Salt Lake City last week just walking around being a tourist. I also wanted to give my skinless foot a little bit of a break. It was nice to be in a big city again, although after a few days I am always ready to get away from the big city. Visalia, CA, the town I am from has always been referred to as a small town. I no longer see it that way. In the past 4 months of walking I have gone through only 3 cities larger than Visalia. Kansas City, Fort Collins and Salt Lake City.

I have been told numerous times to be careful, that the specific road I am walking on is more dangerous than others. I have heard that about most every road I have been on. I remember before I left all anybody worried about and warned me about were other people. I was told “don’t trust anybody.” People are shocked to hear that nobody has given me any trouble along the way. They say it wouldn’t be like that if you walked where I’m from. I have never felt threatened by anybody in the last 4 months. I think many people have a built in fear about people they don’t know. I used to feel that way. The generosity of complete strangers has changed that and made this experience greater than I could have ever imagined. I have so much faith in others now. I don’t feel alone.

I did get to check out The Great Salt Lake while in town. It was a new experience for me. It was unlike any body of water I have ever seen. The sand in more of a hard salted crust that coats the earth. I never want to wear shoes when I’m done walking for the day so I trekked across this surface in bare feet which turned out to be a bad idea. The uneven hardened surface was painful. I began to do that thing where you overly swing your arms and brace each step with your upper body hoping this would somehow make it smoother. Once you get going with these motions you can’t slow down. It felt like I was walking on a new planet, and I was now walking like I was possibly from this fictional planet. That gave way to a moist putty like surface as the water neared. It was like a forbidden substance. A foul smell came into play around this point as well as the sight of countless dead birds surrounding me. I had gone this far so I had to go in. I stood in waist high and took in the sunset on the 4th of July. It was a special moment for me. Another state. Another landmark. I walked here. Reinforcing the idea that I am boundless. I can go anywhere if I really want to.

Yesterday was one of the toughest to date. I began walking through the salt flats. This was the home stretch. The last 70 miles offered no services. It is truly a mental grind to do this. The sun beats down and magnifies the white salty surface that surrounds you in all directions. It is endless. The only thing marking change is the green signs marking each passing mile. I couldn’t look up. It was too difficult to work this hard and feel as if you are not moving at all. I began to focus on the rocks that make up the road. Trying to see a pattern in the rocks. This couldn’t keep my mind occupied. My 6th pair of headphones wouldn’t stay in my ears due to the wind. I tied then around my ears to keep them in. This left me unable to straighten my neck to keep them plugged in. The occasional slap to my right ear kept the music from shorting out in these gas station headphones. I began to think of the reasons why I began this walk. I knew I had to challenge myself again. To give myself a reason to believe in myself again. I knew there was a rest stop 15 miles away from me. That would put me at 45 miles on the day. A new record. I can do it. What happened next proved to be a true test.

The sky grew darker and the wind clamped down on my forward progress. I have never felt wind this strong in my life, and it was constant. Each step carried more weight. I felt like I was fighting to keep my feet on the ground. There were times where I had to lock the brakes on and push the cart forward with all of my strength just to keep from going backwards. The wind began to dig up the salt from the fields and shoot it across the sky. It was like somebody constantly throwing sand in your face. Now I really couldn’t look up.

The lightning struck so loud it felt as if the ground would shake. Then came the rain. Rain flying into my face at such a high velocity it stung with each drop. I had no visibility at this point. I was holding onto hope that something existed beyond here. Stopping short and camping was no longer an option. I had to get out of this situation. The only way to do that is to keep walking. I had gone 43 miles when a police officer stopped me. He said he would give me a ride to town. I thought I should walk, but with one last look at the nightmare like atmosphere I accepted. It took several minutes to rearrange the trunk space to fit my cart in. Every loose item in his trunk was taken away by the wind. I finally got in. Bittersweet. I wanted to make it those last 2 miles so badly, but it didn’t seem to be in the plans for that night. The conditions must have been bad based on the first question I was asked by the police officer. “Have you been drinking tonight?”

I ended up in a motel here in Wendover. Freezing cold, shivering and covered in mud and salt. Still in disbelief at what had just happened. I got more than I wanted. The battle between me and mother nature lives on.

Side Note (s)

I was at a rest stop between Salt Lake City and Wendover where I was camping for the night. Rest stop bathrooms are not a great destination for finding friends. The people that enter are closer to animals than people. I would fit into that category at this point I guess. I was waiting for a stall to open up. At this point I heard some noises coming from the stall that I wish I hadn’t. It was unpleasant to say the least. He probably did not know he had an audience now. Everyone else in the bathroom now making eye contact and attempting to giggle silently. The man finally emerged from the stall. Shirt tucked in. Hair combed. How can you go from being so animalistic to so proper in the span of seconds? I thought, you’re not fooling anyone, we know you’re a fraud. I should write a book, “Diaries of a rest stop restroom.”

I am taking the next 10 days or so off. On Friday I will be taking a bus to Tahoe to see my family for the first time since leaving. I will return to Wendover following that and begin to walk the 600-700 miles to San Francisco and the final 2 states of my journey.