Days One Hundred Twenty-Eight through One Hundred Forty-Five

My aunt and uncle dropped me off in the Ivanhoe area on January 2nd, 2010. It was cold then, and in the ensuing days, it got colder. For a while, I simply did not want to bother with taking out the camera, writing things down, and keeping the kind of notes that make a trek like this interesting. The cold is a beast all its own. Taking a photo or jotting down notes means stopping and losing heat, taking off my gloves and feeling the bite of the cold, and ultimately trying to regain whatever semblance of comfort I had just enjoyed.

I had to tough it out though. My body adjusted (somewhat), and I got really fast at getting the gloves on and off long enough to take a picture. Below you'll find my efforts.

Once again, I have included a brief summary of the miles I've done and the places I've visited, followed by photos from this time. The day comes first, then the place I reached, followed by an estimation of the miles covered (all miles are included whether they contributed to the overall goal or not; my feet don't know the difference). Journal entries are interspersed throughout. Please enjoy.

Day 128: Ravenna, about 6 miles
Day 129: FM 1753, about 6 miles
Day 130: Denison, about 15 miles
Day 131: Denison, about 4 miles (I tromped around town, then camped just south)
Day 132: Just past Sherman, about 11 miles
Day 133: Hwy 82, about 10 miles
Day 134: Just past Whitesboro, about 8 miles
Day 135: Just past Gainesville, about 14 miles
Day 136: Just beyond Muenster, about 15 miles
Day 137: Just past Saint Jo, about 9 miles
Day 138: Just beyond Nocona, about 12 miles
Day 139: FM 2332, about 20 miles
Day 140: FM 2332, about 12 miles
Day 141: Just outside Charlie, about 19 miles (I went to Charlie and backtracked a little that evening, repeating mileage)
Day 142: Henrietta, about 22 miles
Day 143: Hwy 82, about 17 miles (6 of these miles was a walk in Henrietta itself)
Day 144: Wichita Falls, about 1o miles
Day 145: A zero day in Wichita Falls

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Day 128: I'm alone again. Thirty-six hours ago I was in Baltimore with Annie watching Groundhog Day. Now I'm camping alone by the road in some quixotic quest to walk around Texas. The weather is colder now, 30s 40s, and will get colder before the season is through. It's hard to figure why I've swapped comfort for this.
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Dwight, Denison, Grayson County, Day 130
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Day 130: Freezing morning. Somewhere between the mid-20s to low 30s. I had to keep sticking my hands in my arm pits every few minutes just to have the dexterity to pack!
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Day 133: Been drinking water from puddles and streams and treating it with GSE (Grapefruit See Extract). So far so good. The puddle in front of me was partly frozen. Soon enough, these water holes will no longer be options.
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A Kindred Spirit, Whitesboro, Grayson County, Day 134
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Day 134: Library for four hours! Email & letter to Caprock, Facebook stuff, etc. The librarians were so nice. Asked if I was camping out in the cold. Small talk like this is not common. One shelver even smiled at me!
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Pump Jacks For Sale, Gainesville, Cooke County, Day 135
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. . .Muenster, Cooke County, Day 136
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. . .City Facilities, Nocona, Montague County, Day 138
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. . .Birds' Nests, Clay County, Day 139
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. . .Self-portrait, Clay County, Day 139
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. . .Tolerance, Clay County, Day 139
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Day 140: Nice night. (I'm referring to the night before.) Heard animals sounds all night, though I slept through much of it. Lots of coyotes. I spread hot coals around my sleeping area [just in case].
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Day 140: Camped in a field and set up tarp. As I was setting up, a truck and trailer stopped nearby. They stayed there several minutes, so I figured I'd introduce myself. The driver was a real cowboy! Young but confident, big hat, boots, blue jeans, spitting every so often. We talked for ten minutes or so, him encouraging me to make a fire and seek shelter. I confessed my fear that I was on someone's property, and he said, "Shoot, you ain't hurtin' nobody." It wasn't his property, rather his ex's, yet I sensed an ownership of the land nonetheless. He cautioned me about the snow and the winds that go 50 to 60 MPH in the panhandle, saying that he lived out that way. Also said that everybody knows one another from here to there, that it's a small world. He said that if I needed anything, he'd be down the road. Finally, we said good night, and I snuck into my tarp. It was a warm night.
. . .Maddox's Arrow, Clay County, Day 141
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. . .How Now Brown Cow?, Clay County, Day 141
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. . .Charlie, Texas, Clay County, Day 141
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Day 141: Hiked to Charlie for fun! Added about 18 miles to the trip.
. . .Frontier Jailhouse (circa 1890), Henrietta, Clay County, Day 142
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. . .Junior Livestock Show Auctioneer, Henrietta, Clay County, Day 142
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Day 142: Matt Kelton, the editor and part owner of the Clay County Leader, invited me to the Clay County Junior Livestock Show. I'm here now. Cowboys galore! The kids raise an animal for a few months to a year; then the animal gets judged and ultimately gets a premium for the children's efforts.
The emcee is amazing! I've never heard anything like this. It's like Max Headrome on uppers. A pie just went for $475! The man sounds like a hive of angry bees spewing invectives against multiples of twenty-five!
This is the place to be. Hundreds of people fill this space, part of the local high school. I see kids, teens, adults, elders. Lots of people have programs and are keeping track of the bids and buyers even though many are not participating. One woman told me she does it "just cuz." It interested her to see which animals fetched which prices.
. . .Junior Livestock Show Pig, Henrietta, Clay County, Day 142
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Support System, Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Day 144
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Day 144: Met up with Katrina and Christina, my couchsurfing hosts, in Wichita Falls. Met their friends, too. Everyone was so nice. And I slept on a couch won on the Price is Right!

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That is all for the moment. Until next time, folks...

The Cold

It has been a long time since I've posted, but I wanted to let you know that I am alive. I wish I could say more.

I am in Whitesboro, and one bank sign said that it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Considering that the coldest it had been prior to leaving last November was around 40 degrees (and then, that was just one weather snap), this is a pretty drastic change for me. I expected it, obviously, but expecting it and getting it are two very different things.

This reminds me of a random tale. I once invited Erin Mahoney and Mesbah Motamed to punch me in the stomach. We were in the library of all places (and let the record show that this was years before Fight Club). Erin hit me, but the punch was slow-coming and my muscles clamped down before it landed. Mesbah on the other hand had a different take. He felt bad about punching me, talked about, wavered, all the while I was encouraging him to just do it. Then out of the blue, he smacked me, sending all the wiry force of his little Iranian frame straight through me. I started to crumble, and both he and Erin grabbed me and eased me to the floor. It didn't hurt so much as completely knock the air out of me. I couldn't believe how weak I felt for those moments. For me, this illustrates the above principle: expecting it and getting it are two very different things.

I don't have a picture to illustrate any of this unfortunately, but the sensations are never-ending. Each morning, I'm surprised to hear the birds chirping. What's there to chirp about? I've spent most of the last several nights twisting and turning, rarely comfortable, and surprised when the day starts again. I must be getting some sleep in there somewhere, but I really don't recall going down at all. The sunlight and sunrise are difficult to believe in, so hard were the moments without them.

I decide early if I want to stay in my sleeping bag and let the world heat up a few degrees (which means a several more uncomfortable hours until around 11am) or just get up and deal with the cold burning my toes and nose and fingers. What's worse is that I know this is mild in comparison to what's coming up 200 miles west of here. Maybe it's better actually. After all, I'm not there.

And that's all for the moment. I've applied for a volunteer position at Caprock Canyons State Park. More on that soon. And now it's time to hit the trail again, cold weather or more.

Until next time, cold weather watchers...