july 22
day 74
20 miles
total 1,931
as soon as i started i knew there was trouble.
not a star was visible
but there was lightning dead ahead.
after victor congratulated me for finally reaching the drought stricken west i hadn’t even looked at the weather.
i underestimated my rain conjuring power.
an hour in the rain arrived.
i just got in the car.
another day of walking with wet feet was a bad enough prospect.
but i had only today broke out a new pair of shoes.
my ghosts are wonderful
but don’t hold up to rain well.
i think the insides are fastened in with elmer’s glue.
checking radar showed a relatively small (but intense) storm right over us.
the previous round of thunderstorms had blown by at 50 mph
i figured we’d be clear in about 4 minuets.
this storm was content to park on top of us and pound sand with lightning bolts…
we didn’t clear for 4 hours.
so i feel like i lost another 28 mile day
(or more)
to the rain.
but i. gained a much needed quality nap.
and haven’t felt this fresh in at least a. month.
i hope to make up some ground tomorrow.
within the limitations of having the nearest lodging over an hour away.
and i mean the only option.
you cannot truly appreciate the vast emptiness of the sand hills any other way like you can by walking it.
you can walk for hours without seeing a tree
and a whole day without passing a town with 20 people.
i love the night out there.
the only sound the wind
or unidentifiable animal calls and sounds.
during the day it is a landscape of raw power
and stark loneliness.
those who live here are a different breed.
i was lucky enough to spend some miles with jackie,
a genuine sand hills farm girl
and get a different perspective on this sere landscape…
a hardy few know it as “home.”
and this harsh and unforgiving land is home to the nicest people on earth…
nebraskans!
as always there is so much more to tell.
tales of gopher holes and excavations by their nemesis the badger.
during the day all that remains are the signs of the life and death dramas that play out nightly on this seemingly barren and lifeless landscape….
that and the never ending variety of wildflowers.
it seems i discover a dozen new ones every day as i plod endlessly on to the west.
every day is filled with magic and. wonder.
there is so much more to tell.
but i need to get my sleep.
i have a date with the badgers tonight. at least for now i am one of the things that walk the sand hills at night.
laz