First Day - Thursday, May 24

We got off at 7:30 to start the trail amid a shower of rose petals and a Haiku from Jerry. My friend Reinhold Metzger came out to do the first 21 miles with us.

Jerry was driving to Lake Morena to run backwards at us. The day turned out hotter and harder than we expected and the three of us were low on water by mile 12 where we met Jerry. Suicide Boy was having major issues with the heat and started going very slow. Jerry shared his water with SB who also struggled mentally when he got a phone call his Grandmother just died. The last 5 miles were tough and we were all out of water with 3 miles to go. Once we reached the last summit, Jerry ran back to the car to refill water bottles and then ran back up to us with water. I was ahead and reached the car first. SB had blacked out and fallen so Reinhold was kind enough to carry his pack the last 2 miles downhill. Thanks Reiny! The day ended with SB saying he was quiting and me panicing about going the desert alone.

Jerry drove Reinhard back to his car and had to go 4 wheeling in my car (the first time) to chase down a border patrol to get jumper cables to start Reinhold's car since he had left his lights on. After a couple of hours of cooling down and hydrating, I convinced SB to go another day of 21 miles before deciding to quit. We set up camp at Lake Morena. Jerry is staying over to drive to Burnt Rancheria, run back at us again and crew us until the end of day 2.

Not the way I thought our first day would go but I'm staying positive that tomorrow will be better!