Alrighty...let me start this post by saying Moms, Mother Hens, people who worry excessivly, or folks with weak stomachs should probally skip this one and wait for the Day 8 post. It's also a LONG post so go to the bathroom, get a snack and settle in for the long haul!So we woke up this morning to the nice surpise of no snow on the ground. Cold and windy and rainy but no snow. We had a good breakfast with our hosts, Frank & Judy Schwietzer, and by 6:30 AM we were being dropped off at the same spot we were picked up at the next day.
We hit the road in full rain gear with B.O.B. covers on. To put things in perspective this morning when we left the weather channel showed a temprature of 30 degrees, sustained 33 MPH winds from the east with gusts to 50 MPH, and heavy soaking rain. We knew things would be tough, however, the forecast wasn't showing any relief throughout the day so we could go now or sit around and wait and still have the same conditions later on. We figured we should hit the road just the same and get this done with as soon as possible.
It seems like instantly after stepping our of the vehichle at our drop off point our rain gear was already soaked. We cinched down our coat hoods and look out of a roughly 3 inch hole for the next few miles. Being that the highway was so wet, nearly freezing water was coming off the tires and hitting our shoes, soaking our shoes and socks instantly. As if the sideways rain, wind and cold temps wern't enough, every car that drove by threw road scum and a "power washing" of water on us. Rain gear is great and water proof sounds nice, but let me tell you...THERE IS NO SUCH THINGS AS WATERPROOF...only water resistant to a certain point, then your goinjg to get wet regardless. The "water-proof" thing lasted about 45 minutes then I was soaked to the bone. It was somewhere within this first 45 minutes that Mother Nature started to make things even more far out by throwing a gust of wind my way that literally threw B.O.B. into the ditch. The contents of my cart were scattered and blowing around in the ditch and B.O.B. was laying down on his side, begging me to call it a day.
Alrighty...so at this point we are a few miles into our walk; soaked, cold, and battling some serious headwind. Then things changed for the worst. Brendan was about 1/4 mile ahead trying to convince a passing motorist who stopped to make sure we were OK that yes, we actually are of sound mind and yes we agree this is crazy and rediculaous but the show must go on. AT this point I'm not sure we are qualified to consider outselfs "of sound mind" but thats beside the point! After the car pulled away we talked had a chance to catch up with each other on how the first 6 miles had gone. Brendan's toes were in tough shape, as he could not feel a couple of them. I agreed that if we continued in this situation we were bound to have feet that looked more like hamburger than feet. Things were seriously desperate as far as cold and wet was concerned and we decided to needed to come up with a plan. We knew if we didn't do something soon someone was going to be hypothermic or frostbitten...we needed make a decision and commit to it.
Realizing that Brendan and I are proablly the only 2 people in the world that really care about being "self-supported" we needed to swallow our pride and do something to better the situation. We were going to end the day and flag down a vehicle to Mobridge. Right after stopping our body stopped producing heat leaving us more vulnerable to the elements. There we were standing on the side of the road, Brendan hiding behind a telephone pole, me squating behind my cart, both trying to get out of the wind anyway we could.
I've been an some crazy adventures all over North and South America and have run into some situations while mountaineering where I knew my safety was in jeopardy. This situation was no different. Squating behind the cart, shivering uncontrolably, our options were to wait and flag doen a car or throw up a tent, change into dry clothes (that were in drybags in the carts), and waiting the storm.
Not knowing when the storm would run out of steam we flagged down a truck. I introduced myself to the driver as "Freezing and willing to pay for his diesel to Mobridge...in fact...if you let us ride we will ride in the back with our carts". I got all this in before he had a chance to say no and drive away. Before we knew it we were riding in the back of a truck, at 80 MPH, down a SD highway in a fierce storm. Both of us were shivering like crazy, sitting in the back of this truck starring at our B.O.B.s covered in ice.
So...we had to swallow our pride a little bit, accept help, and get a ride for about 24 miles. WHAT WEINIES HUH!?! However, by making the right decision now we didn't jeopardize the rest of the trip, we get to hit the road another day and get to hit the road tomorrow with all of our toes and fingers we started with (me with 10 and Brendan with 9 1/2)!
Tomorrow we get back on the horse and do it all over again!
Nolan
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OK, now that you heard from old "Six Toes" on our AWESOME day, here's a bit from me---
Frank and Judy Schwietzer are wonderful folks near Glen Cross who put us up in their hunting lodge, called the "Howdy House"...a must go if you ever need a great getaway for hunting or to get a break from city life. Frank is a great story teller and knows a million jokes! I think Judy has heard them all---many times, but we sure thought he was a card!
I knew today would stink when I walked out of the lodge and felt the "pelting" of rain as we walked to the house for breakfast. It is amazing to think that we skirted the "blizzard" that nailed Rapid City and the Northern Hills when we watched the news reports this morning. If we would have started a week later, we may have never made it! Can't think about that now-
As I ran with my head facing the ground, not really looking up often (due to the freezing rain & crazy wind), I focused on the white line because then I knew I was OK. I would look back once in awhile to make sure Six Toes was OK. I have been running ahead of Nolan because my blisters now are having offspring and that is nice! I have to run because that causes the least amount of pain and even though they are squishy, I have to try and focus on positive thoughts---a challenge for sure.
I became concerned today when I could no longer feel my toes or fingers. I thought for awhile that if I kept running into the sheets of icy rain that blood would certainly be sent to my extremities when the body feels threatened or in danger. Then I remembered that my brain must have gotten frost-bite, because when people start freezing, the body protects the core...not the extremities. Boy, I am sure glad I snapped out of that stupid train of thought! It could have proven to be a major mistake and one that could have been costly.
I started to feel a bit despirate after we decided we should not continue on. With no more heat being generated by our running, our core temps were dropping quickly and so too was our IQ. There are very few times in my life that I can honestly say I thought I may be in a serious situation in which I thought I may be in dire straights...and this was one of them. Here we were- on a lonely road, not well traveled, and we needed to get out quickly.
Then came the Dale's from Timber Lake (Bill, Jesse, and Tucker) and picked us up in their pickup. We road in the back of the truck bed for a few miles, and I noticed that Nolan was shaking uncontrollably!! He could no longer feel his fingers and I was growing more concerened. They did stop in Trail City and shoved us in there to warm up...I don't think we could have possibly made it all the way to Mobridge. Thanks guys for saving our bacon!!! We owe you BIG-
We got dropped off at the ALCO store and tried to warm our bodies. The cappacino was UNBELIEVABLE! Then, to my amazement, SSG Mike Mullen, from the Army National Guard introduced himself and came to get us and bring us to the Armory to get a warm shower and put on some dry clothes...how AMAZING IS THE GUARD---HOOAH!!!! Mike basically is the MAN because he also loaned us his pickup (even though it's a Chevy...) We also met up with SFC Dan Heil, who grabbed my extra "stuff" when I had to make Chuck lose some weight on the road. I also want to thank Mike and Dan personally for helping out!!We had two interviews when we pulled into town from the local radio station (KOLY AM 1300) from Nate and the Mobride Tribune from Katie. We had an enjoyable time with them and was glad to share our adventure with them...
We are now at Jason Peterson's house, Six Toes cousin, and are catching up on some things. We both feel bad for not doing all of the miles, but don't regret the decision to stop- and that decision may have proven to save some digits...
My family (Mama Murph, Erin my younger sis, and Shawny- Erin's man!) is driving here from Minneapolis to be with us for the next couple of days We have a really long day tomorrow anyway (43 miles of joyful bliss). Maybe the weather will turn around and as our clothes dry, we hope you all continue to follow our progress...
Brendan~
"Find your inspiration...and do something about it"
