24 june 2005 was a memorable day

i met this guy - nathan - one day while walking down highway one in pfeiffer big sur state park. he told us (myself and my coworkers) that he was walking from tijuana mexico to vancouver bc canada to try to raise 1 million dollars in 100 days, walking 2200 miles.

i decided to see if i could keep up with him for a day. here's my comment from day 55 of his adventure.

"i woke up in davis at 6am, eager with anticipation, of what the day ahead would bring. it would be my 4th time seeing nathan and first time meeting clare, and possibly my only big day with the west coast walk (i walked about 1/4 mile of it while in big sur, unofficially). i got my stuff together and was on the road to san francisco by 8am. after arriving at the north end of the golden gate bridge at 10 min of 10am (we were supposed to be meeting at the south end at 10), i decided to run over to the south end to meet up with nathan and his merry band of rotary walkers. the run over the bridge was actually very nice, breezy, a nice view, and i got 2 miles under my belt for the start of the day! after a few photos (and donuts) with the group, we made our way across the bridge (lots of photo ops) where i got to chat with some of the local bay area rotarians. i myself not being a rotarian had nothing to say about my rotary experience aside from my interactions with nathan and the project. at the end of the bridge i got a quick lesson on what the "iron lung" was all about (which was interesting and informative), we took a few more photos and then bid the rotarians good bye for now.

i followed clare and nathan in the west coast walk mobile from the bridge up to novato (a random corner in town) where we would begin our journey north - first northwest and then northeast.

it felt a bit like "take your friend to work" day, where i was seeing first hand what nathan was doing with his life, every day for the past 1.5 months and for the next 1.5 months.
i figured he would be walking incredibly fast, so on top of water and food and a map of the route, i purchased a bunch of AA batteries and made 6 mix cds to keep me company as i envisioned him running off into the distance and me plodding along, just trying to make it to petaluma before nightfall (or midnight).

as it turned out, playing rugby and hiking in the woods nearly every day paid off. when we started walking into novato, i felt very comfortable with the pace we were walking, and i thought to myself "he's gotta be slowing himself down," mentally preparing myself for the moment he decided to take off.

we walked through novato - the only notable things being the excellent sidewalk system and the high number of bus stops. then, all of a sudden, we were in the country. less trees, more hills, a very cool park, and lots of cows which seemed to really like nathan (they all turned to look as he walked by). MOO.

another thing i had considered before doing the walk was the topography of the land. i had myself convinced that the walk was going to be all uphill, and that i would surely be in severe pain and way behind for the entire trip. it turned out that almost the whole first third of the walk was fairly flat, with some gentle uphills. my legs were feeling fine, no soreness or cramping or anything. the only physical ailment i was dealing with at this point was a blister forming below my ankle and above my heal. my shoes had anti-slip pads in the backs, but they seemed to be rubbing on my feet uncomfortably. i put some moleskin on and we contined.

after not being sure if we had missed our turn for many miles, we started up a hill. i decided to have a granola bar. to my dismay it turned into paste in my mouth. it was then i realized just how sweaty i was. guess i was a little dehydrated. drank some water and ate another granola bar.

then, we saw the road where we were supposed to turn. hooray! the sign said petaluma 9 miles. piece of cake! :)

at around 13 miles we decided to stop and take a break. nathan wanted to change his socks, i wanted to check my blisters. i had been feeling some pain in my heels, but i had put the pain somewhere else, thinking "deal with it, you're fine." when i took off my shoes, i discovered TWO bloody ankles and TWO blisters forming (one on each foot) between the ankle and heel. more moleskin. ripped the no slip pads out of the shoes. and off we went.

the second half of the trip was a little more rigorous than the first. fun stuff: more hills, winding terrain, no shoulders on the roads, dodging traffic. no shade, more hills, more cows.

at some point we descended into petaluma. i had been through there before but only for work. and driving. my first walk through petaluma was actually quite pleasant. we agreed it would have been cool to stop and have a bite to eat or drink and just sit in the shade by some shops, but there was no time for that, WE HAD WALKING TO DO! and merrily we went, through the town, soaking in the shade from the planted trees (no natural forests here) and enjoying the cute houses and planted flower beds. i even stopped and smelled the roses!

we took our final turn, onto stony point road, and this is where the space between us began to grow. nathan was hitting his stride, and i was losing mine. by now, my legs were sore but not to the point where i couldn't walk, just sore and letting me know - "hey, we've been walking awhile now!" my feet were a bit sore from the blisters but i was not going to give up. i was going to finish no matter what. but nathan was far ahead of me now and showed no signs of stopping (which was fine, i had intended this to happen LONG before the last 1.5 miles!) the end straightaway started to feel like uphill, flat, uphill, flat, and by then we had been walking for 7+ hours and i was thinking - is there going to be any more downhill? we were looking for white barn door ranch road or something like that, and in my delirium i kept thinking that the next street was sure to be it. and every next street was not it. so i kept on. and then at some point i looked up and didn't see nathan in front of me and i thought - my god, how far behind have i fallen? i looked back down, then out at some cows in the pasture who were smiling in my general direction, then i looked up again and there was the west coast walk mobile, nathan, and clare!
i don't know that i had a lot of emotions when we were through. relief. amazement. excitement. exhaustion. i remember asking nathan awhile back if he ever got tired of smiling for the photos. he said sometimes at the end of the day he was so tired he didn't want to smile anymore.

so clare took our photo :)

thanks nathan for letting me keep you company on your quest for canada. i would have liked to raise some money to give to you as a part of my donation but my decision to do this walk was made somewhat last minute. i am telling everyone i can about your walk, your goal, your purpose and mission. you have a lot of support even if it's not financial. i hope i provided you with good company!

and, you never know, i might just bump into you again in oregon or washington when i can rally myself a ride. my blisters are healed now (1.5 weeks later) and i am ready to go (i bought some new shoes!)

...we never did reach white barn door ranch road."

check out nathan's blog: westcoastwalk.blogspot.com