Scoreboard; Trail 2, Bill 0

As expected, the Texas climate did not disappoint. The horrific heat has a way of making you appreciate the small things like an occasional breeze and long bouts of walking under the forest canopy. Even with those fleeting moments of bliss, the heat weighs heavy overhead…

My trip started exactly at 09:55. I was a mere 50 yards from the parking lot when I stopped to take a picture of two large insects. By their color I would say they were bumble-bees, but they had a completely different body structure. Each bug was a bit larger than a quarter. Either way, they were amazing little creatures and a stimulating way to start my hike.

I found the trail to be in exceptionally good condition and the various trail groups have done well with marking the trail. There were numerous large trees across the trail, which took me by surprise. I assume this was the result of a recent storm, because many of the trees appeared to had recently fallen. I’ve read that the groups leave a few trees across the trail as a way to discourage bikers, ATV’s, etc. I understand the reasoning, but personally I would rather have a clear trail. Not knowing if a snake is bedded down next to the fallen tree makes me nervous when I throw my leg over the other side of the log. I use my trekking pole to try and clear the area, allowing the snake to strike or move away.

Drinkable water on the trail is almost non-existent. Of course this was not a surprise, most of south Texas is in a drought condition. Two and half miles from parking lot #1, there is a small pond with water, but it is stagnant looking. The shore line is rooted up, giving evidence that it is the local watering hole for feral hogs. I also passed a creek later in the day which had 2-3 inches of black, stagnant water with insect larvae swimming in it. Both of these sources would only be used in emergency situations.

I was carrying 196 ounces of water with me and I drank over 130 oz before I stopped walking. At the time I felt like I was drinking plenty of water, although I didn’t account for how much I was sweating. As you’ll read later in this post, the fluid intake became a serious problem.

The LSHT is eerie in the fact that I never saw any wildlife other than birds. Not a single deer, raccoon, possum, hog, or squirrel was sighted the entire time. Even though I didn't view any four-legged animals, I saw a beautiful and majestic hawk fly overhead. I don’t think it was a red tail hawk because the feathers were light colored, almost white. Red tail hawks are large, yet this bird seemed to be considerably larger. Later today I plan to investigate the different species of hawks in the area and see if I can identify the one I saw. While I was preparing lunch a humming bird startled me when he buzzed within inches of me.

The bugs were not as bad as I had expected. As with most trails, there was a fair amount of spider webs across the trail. I keep a bandana in my pocket to wipe the webs off my face. Ticks were the biggest pest of the day. I stayed on the main trail, yet found small flat brown ticks on my legs frequently. All in all, I swept away ten or more ticks, two of which were already having a blood lunch compliments of me.

By three pm I had covered the minimum mileage for the day. Around the same time I had gotten sick to my stomach and started throwing up. The first food to come up was the potato and eggs tacos I ate for breakfast. Naturally I assumed I had eaten something bad. I started feeling better once the contents of my stomach was gone, then I noticed the sensation to throw up after drinking water. Other than the upset stomach, I felt fine. I continued hiking, hoping the issue would resolve itself. At the 11.5 mile mark I stopped and sat beside the trail deciding what to do. I knew I could tough it out, but I continually asked myself if it was worth it. Struggling with the decision was not any easier as I starred at my bracket, which read; HTFU.

In the end I called Andrea to pick me up. I wasn’t having fun and it did not make sense to stay on the trail feeling like this. I hiked another half mile or so to a road crossing where we would meet. While waiting for her to arrive I felt silly, because I started feeling better. For a brief moment I considered calling Andrea and telling her I had changed my mind. Then an episode of muscle cramps started. From this point forward it was clear it wasn’t “bad tacos” which made me sick, it was heat exhaustion. The temperature had reached a near record high of 96 degrees. I had hiked most of the mileage under the suns heat (started at 10am) and didn’t drink enough water to keep up with my sweat rate.

Now I’m sitting at home second guessing all my actions. Admittedly, the safest thing to do was to pull off the trail, but I hate quitting. As I get older it has gotten easier to call it quits. I don’t have the grit I had ten years ago and my mind refuses to accept this fact.

After texting my friend Karen, she said it best; “You didn’t respect the weather”. Nothing could be truer. Because of my work schedule I have to request vacation more than two months in advance. I took a gamble hoping the weather would corporate. Last week the average high temperature was 84 degrees. This week only one day was forecasted UNDER 92 degrees, there is no way I could have predicted this. I never considered cancelling my trip, thus I didn’t give the weather the respect it deserved.

I don’t know why I have such a strong desire to thru-hike this trail. I’ve lived in Southeast Texas all my life and the landscape is rather boring to me. But someday, I will conquer LSHT.