More lessons (big picture)...

Never underestimate the kindness of strangers. It is amazing the number of times I was on the verge of desperation (generally due to lack of water) and someone appeared who helped me.

Never underestimate the kindness of friends, for that matter. The friends that met me along the trail were wonderful to me, lifted my spirits, fed my body and my soul.

The old timers who travelled the length and breadth of the Americas were the real tough ones, we're just a bunch of candy-asses in comparison. We've got our GPS units, satellite phones, navigation apps, detailed topo maps, down bags and freeze dried food and think we're pretty rugged; they had unreliable guides, buffalo robes, dead-reckoning, horses to be fed and watered, rampant disease and a muzzle-loading rifle! After this trip, I appreciate more than ever what they accomplished.

Equally amazing were the Aztec pochteca who, traveling on foot, traded and reconnoitered as far north as Arizona and New Mexico. Macaw remains, pens and feathers in Anasazi Great Houses, as well as traces of chocolate in Anasazi ceramic cups; and Cerrillos (New Mexico) turquoise in Central Mexico are silent testimony to this.

The ability of modern modes of transportation to shrink distances and create time for other pursuits cannot really be appreciated until you've done a long walk....especially a walk where you can occasionally see a highway.

Likewise the importance of artificial light and a warm shelter to creativity cannot by underestimated!

The earth hums. I've heard it many times, perhaps more on this trip than ever before. Its only audible at night when all else is quiet, but it is a distinct deep vibrating drone, like the sound of a didgereedoo. There's a possibility that this is coming from inside my head, some kind of weird tinnitus, but I don't think so.

Too much solitude, too much "mindfulness" can drive you mad. There's a balance between solitude and social interaction that I only achieved in a few places on my walk, where I encountered more folks on the trail, had more random conversations. My mental state definitely improved over the course of the trip as I adjusted to these circumstances. On the other hand I think hiking with someone else this distance could be a real trial as well, unless it was a person very compatible in pace, attitude, habits, etc...something very difficult to find. My conclusion is that solo is still probably the best way to go.

And if you want to learn the importance of a good spouse (wife, in my case) in your life, take a long walk without her or him! Its not just the void created by their absence, its having the time to think about what they do for you and the difference they make in your life.

Water rules life in the desert southwest, I became obsessed with it, carrying a gallon with me, whether I needed it or not, through much of the hike, despite the weight, after running short in the Mazatzals. I slowly recovered, relented and dropped back to 2 quarts as I approached the Mexican border, where sources became more frequent and more reliable, but I can assure you, I will never take it for granted again.