First off, this post is being written by the lovely Jean, wife of said slightly insane Kyle Widner. I’m with him this first week – not hiking mind you, I’m smarter than that – but I am supporting him and meeting him at various campsites this week as he hikes. It’s fun and a bit of logistics are involved, but he is still doing the miles. It’s all him doing the work!

From the beginning:

• April 9th we drove to San Diego, and I dropped him at a famous pre-launch trail coordination depot in SD, known to many other hikers simply as “Scout and Frodo’s place.”
• April 10th, Kyle and his group of fellow permitted hikers begin their hike at Campo, the Southern Terminus at the US/Mexico border.

Their assignment? To hike the first 20 miles to the Lake Morena Campground. Why a full 20 miles on your first day? Answer – no water. Mind you, this day ends with a really brutal 4.5 mile assent out of Hauser Canyon, totally exposed to the sun on this western facing slope.

The results – Success!

Kyle completed the first day in 7 1/2 hours and is off to a great start. Thanks to his constant training, not to mention the work with personal trainer extraordinaire Joey, he literally just sauntered into camp that night.

What else happened? Well…one of the things we knew he’d have to encounter are rattlesnakes. So it was a good thing to just get that item out of the way first thing, right? You’ll see this lovely little one down below. Again, we’ll leave the major descriptions to Kyle in what will be his upcoming book (shameless plug), but suffice it to say no matter where you run into a rattlesnake it’s guaranteed to get the blood pumping and scare the hell out of you!

We finished the night with hamburgers and cold beer and a sleep in the car. So in the end it was a super strong first day. There will be many more harder ones ahead though.

Don’t worry, he won’t have it this easy, as by the end of this week he’ll be totally on his own and I’ll be home resuming my more normal routine. But we’ll be keeping you posted – more later!