90 Miles in Two Days... Yikes!

Marines pass through Santa Barbara, marching 90 miles in two days to show commitment to wounded veterans

The volunteers of the Spartan Hike fundraiser are adding 70 miles to their 425 mile hike as they pass through the Santa Barbara area this weekend, to show their dedication to helping combat wounded veterans.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. Feb. 25, 2011 – The six Marines of the Spartan Hike, a fundraiser benefiting combat wounded veterans, have decided to take on the ultimate challenge, as a devotion to their fellow brothers and sisters in arms.  They are adding 70 more miles to their 425 mile march as they pass through the Santa Barbara area on Friday and Saturday this weekend, totaling 90 miles in just two days.

American Spartan Inc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting combat wounded veterans as they transition back into the civilian world with their injuries.  The Spartan Hike is the first fundraiser of the new charity, whose motto is, “Physically inspiring challenges.”

Originally, the Marines were going to march about 20 miles each day, totally 425 miles by the time they reach San Clemente on March 5.  The long, lonely stretch from Vandenberg Village past Santa Barbara had not been calculated in the hike, as they planned to drive through it.  That is, until their leader and founder, Sergeant Daniel Arcand, decided that they could not take the easy way through a difficult journey, because the wounded combat veterans they support do not have that option.

“I wanted to contribute to something aimed at helping the men and women of America.  They have sacrificed so much to keep my wife and children safe and I feel that this hike is a small thank you to them,” said hiker, Gunnery Sergeant Andrew Klatt.

The Marines will be marching 66 miles on Saturday, Feb 26 and 24 miles the next day, no matter what type of weather comes their way.  All hikers readily agreed to the additional miles, as they are committed to bringing awareness and support to the charity.  They will spend both nights at Carpinteria State Beach.

According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 4,481 warriors were wounded in Afghanistan in 2010 alone. Living through combat is only the first step in an uphill battle for the injured service men and women. Support from family and friends is crucial and costly, as many surgeries take place overseas. American Spartan Inc. aims to provide financial assistance to the families, so they may be with their loved ones during this time.  Following the surgeries and military discharge, they seek to help the wounded as they transition back into the civilian world and continue their rehabilitation.

American Spartan Inc was founded and operated by volunteering, active duty Marines. The purpose of American Spartan Inc is to provide financial relief and moral support for wounded veterans and their families, with the Spartan Hike being their first large fundraiser.  Those interested in learning more about American Spartan Inc and the work they are doing for wounded warriors, can visit their website at http://www.americanspartaninc.com.

Spartan Hike - Day 14

Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"The morning of Day 14 started out like many of our mornings a week ago, with the pinging sound of rain drops impacting our rainflys on their descent from above. As I packed my things up before coming out of my dry tent, I laughed to myself as we had joked that the rain would probably find us again in San Luis Obispo when it finally let up in Big Sur last Saturday.

Preparing for another battle with the elements, we quickly packed up and loaded our gear. We opted for a quick battery charge at Starbucks, dawned our rain gear and hit the road for today's 19.5. Facing strong headwinds and an even stronger steady rain, we fell right back into full storm mode and powered through. Along the route, we received a great deal of support and were even given a less than promising weather forecast. The word was that it was to be near record lows overnight with possible snow showers continuing throughout the next day. This obviously got mixed reviews from the group and we agreed that time would tell.

Weather or not, we were going to be facing a large challenge anyway as we had decided to add some miles to the journey. Originally, we planned on driving a 60 mile section of Hwy 1 as it passed through March Air Force Base into Santa Barbara and we had deemed it expendable. In an effort to gain more publicity, we had all voted to now include the 60 miles while adding zero days to the journey. Meaning, the total mileage would be 485 and we'd be knocking out 90 miles in 48 hours. So tomorrow looms large on our horizon regardless of what the elements hold in store."     

        Tommy Muir

 

Spartan Hike - Day 13

Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"This morning we arose to find it surprisingly warmer than we had become accustomed to. We carried out our morning activities and drove to our starting point for a modest 17.3 miles. With each step south we take, our message and cause spreads further and we are subsequently met with more and more support. Today provided great examples of that, with countless waves, salutes to our flag we carry, horn honks and several people waiting on the side of the road to ask questions, offer support and give well received donations. 

In between the welcomed encounters of support, we talk to one another and also get plenty of time for personal reflection. Each and every one of us has multiple combat deployments under our belts and consequently carry with us the memories of those who came home not as they left or those who didn't come home at all, our Nation's true heroes. 

For me, the first combat wounded veteran I had the privilige of meeting came two months before I became a platoon commander in the operating forces. It was November of 2005, I was a student at infantry officer course and my younger brother was 9,000 miles away in Fallujah, Iraq on his first deployment with 2/7. As I was the older brother, I was always the first to do pretty much everything, except step up to defend the country. Jeffrey did that and the proudest day of my life was watching him graduate recruit training at MCRD San Diego on the Corps' Birthday in 2004. As we were raised to back each other in a fight, I left for OCS in January of '05 in his footsteps for the first time in my life. While his squad was on a routine foot patrol, they encountered a suspected IED. Due to movies, most people think, "okay, set up security and call in EOD". In the third world, they don't have trash day, they simply use something until it no longer serves it's intended purpose then they discard it wherever. So the battlefield is littered with endless possible IEDs and it's essential that the unit on the ground determine that it is positively an IED prior to calling EOD, as they are heavily burdened. 

Acting as I believe any good leader should, Jeffrey's squad leader Corporal Z had his men set security and he approached closer to make the determination, never asking his men to do something he wouldn't himself. It turned out to be a real IED and the detenation nearly killed him. He later confessed to Jeffrey that if one of his Marines hadn't been screaming in his face during the duration of his medevac, that he probably would have died as the pain was unbearable and he just wanted to slip off to sleep. 

Prior to departing for a 20 day field training exercise at IOC, I got a call from Jeffrey telling me about what happened to Z. Before he could ask, I told him that as soon as he got to Bethesda I'd be there visiting him. Z got to Bethesda from Germany two or three days before I got out of the field on a Friday.  We had our Marine Corps Birthday Ball Saturday night in Richmond, VA so I knew I wasn't going to be able to get up to see him until Sunday. I woke up early Sunday morning, said goodbye to the girl I was seeing who drove up for the ball from NC, got in my car and headed north to see the guy who had been consuming every thought that wasn't related to work the previous three weeks. 

As long as I live, I will never forget walking into that hospital room. Z had no idea I was coming to visit but due to my brother and my similar appearance, he instantly recognized me. As I knew he had already endured nearly a dozen surgeries, mainly skin graphs and others to put him back together, his next move left a lasting impression. With iridescent eyes, he rose in his bed and extended his gauze covered hand, he lost each pinkie finger, to me. He and I spent the next few hours talking about sports, movies and the leadership potential and combat ability he saw in my
brother. 

As the majority of his body was covered in gauze and he was being held together by staples and stiches from the many surgeries he had already had and he knew there were many more lingering in the near future, he never once displayed a sign that he wasn't planning on making a full recovery. His grit and positive attitude were more than impressive, showing me just how strong and capable the young men are who were fighting this current war. 

When it came time for him to get some much needed rest, we exchanged goodbyes and I told him I'd see him later. What I didn't tell him was thank you for personifying what I should expect of a squad leader in my platoon, thank you for taking care of and developing my brother and most of all, thank you for your service and your selfless sacrifice."

          Tommy Muir

Spartan Hike - Day 12

 Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"Sorry, as I'm doing all of this from my phone sometimes it doesn't go as planned. Here's the recap.

Day 12 started out much cooler than anything we had experienced since Half Moon Bay ten days prior. We broke down our frost covered tents, ate breakfast and quickly got to the days starting point as we had someone we were meeting for an interview and photo op. We were just north of the town of Cambria at San Simeon State Park and had been approached the previous evening, while gasing up the vehicles, by a little girl and her mother who said they had seen us hiking. 

The little girl wanted to do an article, for a school project, on us for the front page of the Cambria newspaper. We got to the starting point and set in on the days 19 miles and about a quarter of a mile into it, there she was camera in hand. She took some pictures, got a few quotes and certainly impressed each one of us with quite the go getter attitude that is seldom seen in someone her age. The days miles went by quick and relatively painfree as things have become pretty flat now that we  are out of Big Sur. 

We got to our campsite, set up our tents and started preparing dinner. In the midst of the action we failed to immediately notice that we had a new two legged friend moving amongst us. Every turkey I have ever encountered in the wild has great ears and even better eyes for humans and they quickly head in the other direction once they detect us. Not this guy, he came within inches of us and at one point we thought he was going to hop into a bag chair and join us around the fire. He hung around until dusk, when he decided to fly, even though he appeared too heavy for lift off, to a branch thirty feet off the ground in a pine tree. After some obvious jokes, the topic of discussion quickly turned to those who've gone before us and upon whom the legacy of a Marine Corps infantrymen is built. They weren't the first nor the last, but the men who hit the beach on the island of Iwo Jima 66  years ago fought one of the hardest battles in the Corps' illustrious career and as the flag was raised on that tiny little island in the Pacific 66 years ago today, we discussed how priviliged we felt to wear the same uniform."

         Tommy Muir

 

Spartan Hike - Day 10

 Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"Day 10 brought with it another healthy dose of blue skies and sun light creeping over the mountains. Due to our eight days of rain experience, we are a very well oiled machine when it comes to our morning routine and we don't waste a lot of time. But this morning was different, at the end of today's 20.2 miles awaited hot showers and real beds for our use and there was a noticeable extra spring in everyone's step as we were eager to get there.

At this point, including our day of driving we were all at a minimum of 11 days sans a shower with some including myslef at 12 due to not showering the morning of our departure. As stated earlier, we've all gone at least twice as long without a shower in far worse places. However, there's no denying the obvious fact that once you see the light is at the end of the tunnel you just want to get there and we were ready to get there. We quickly broke down and stowed our DRY gear, heated up water for breakfast and hit the road 20 minutes prior to what we had planned. We hammered out today's miles with large strides and even larger smiles, including two steep and long climbs. The first was good times, she measured out at 2.5 miles and gained over 2,000 feet in elevation. Number two was a much tougher customer at only 1.6 miles but gaining close to 1,500 feet of elevation.

We made it to Ragged Point Resort in time for a late lunch but before sitting down to the meal we decided to take full advantage of the warm water that the showers were kicking out. Smelling good and clean for the first time in a while, we enjoyed a nice lunch. Afterwards, we went our own direction to catch up on the news, sleep or taking a side hike. We all met up again for a phenomenal dinner that included a couple pitchers of ice cold beer from our new friend Matt, who also gave us the rooms free of charge. After a very delicious and filling meal, we retreated to the friendly confines of our warm and dry rooms for a nights sleep in comfortable beds with pillows."

         Tommy Muir

 

Spartan Hike - Day 11

 Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"We awoke the morning of day 11 under the blanket of warmth provided by climate controlled rooms at Ragged Point Resort. We planned on taking advantage of their restaurant before our departure and had said we'd meet at 8. Everyone arrived riding high on the wave of a good nights sleep in a bed and a hot shower. We enjoyed a good breakfast and found it rather amusing that every last one of us took a shower prior to coming up for breakfast; that's definitely a characteristic of a grunt, we'll take full advantage of a comfortable situation as it may prove to be our last for long periods of time. Vehicles loaded and stomachs full, we pushed south to hammer out the days 19 miles.

With every step we took, we were pushing further out of the Big Sur area and the steep mountains and precious beauty with which she is comprised of. We encountered plenty of wildlife today, from both the sea and the plains. To our west, on nearly every beach we passed were rather large and rotund elephant seals who came ashore to do what appeared to us as to die but was actually to sun themselves. As the name would lead one to believe, these weren't the cute little seals you see swimming around in shows at Sea World, they were more in line with their first name elephant and they were monstrous and appeared very lazy.

To our east were cattle and they are exactly what you picture in your head but these cattle were slightly disturbing. As we'd close to within a couple hundred feet of them, they would cease all movement and stare at us until we passed by then they'd resume their grass trimming operations. This was definitely wierd for us, but we quickly deduced that it was wierd for them too as they probably don't see too many people hiking past them.

We made it to camp all hoping to find hot showers and beds but knowing it was back to the tents. As it was Dan's birthday, we asked him what he wanted for dinner, beef stew or pasta. He told us he wanted beef stew and he wanted us to eat pasta. We told him we liked his style but it'd be stew all around to save on dish duty. We ate, enjoyed the fire and retreated into our tents in preparation of another day on the trail."

         Tommy Muir

Spartan Hike - Day 9

 Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"Day 9, we emerged from our suprisingly dry cocoons to see an absolutely beautiful blue sky and the light from an unobstructed sun. As George Harrison so elloquently put it, "all things must pass" and it appeared that our battle with this storm was over. She tried and tested our spirit and I can proudly say that not a man broke. We boiled water for coffee and oatmeal over the fire eagerly anticipating the days 15.7 we were staring down. 

Words do no justice to the grandeur and beauty that we were fortunate enough to be trekking through and it was quickly realized that we all wanted to re-hike the miles where we had been staring at the ground to avoid taking raindrops and hail to the face while taking I'm the scenary. Photographs are unable to relay what our eyes have the privilige of taking in on a daily basis in this part of the country and I can only liken it to the photographs and news footage of the aftermaths of Katrina. The destruction in pictures and on tv was of total devestation and they were truly unable to accurately depict what I saw with my own eyes five days after she made landfall in September of '05. 

The beauty here can be seen in pictures and understood through words but not fully appreciated unless with your own eyes. Today was one of our shortest days mileage wise but it was one of the longest in the amount of time it took to complete as we were constantly stopping to snap pictures and take it all in. I didn't think morale could get higher, but this is truly a group intent upon seeing this mission completed and each one of them proved to me that it is going to take an unimaginable force to keep them from knocking out the miles."

         Tommy Muir

 

Spartan Hike - Day 8

 Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"We awoke to clear blue skies but weren't buying what was being sold as it had rained nearly all night. We quickly broke down and stored our waterlogged tents and discussed our breakfast options. A decision was made to dine at the Big Sur Lodge (on our own dime) as we could afford a late start due to the fact that we were only knocking out 16.7 miles today. As we were putting the last items in the vehicles, our nearest and least dearest friend started falling on us; confirming indeed we made the right choice.

In typical fashion, what started as harmless little drops quickly turned to a hard and heavy downpour and with that we were on our way to a great cup of coffee and a fine meal. As we pushed south on Hwy 1, we were thrown a couple pretty sexy knee buckling curveballs. The rain would slam us then back off until we managed to forget about it and then we were reminded again. This continued throughout the day and we made it to our campsite in the midst of a period where the only things falling from the sky were the well received warming rays of sunshine.

Not taking anything for granted, we quickly set up our tents and as the final rainfly was being snapped on we were once again reminded what it felt like to be wet. In what turned out to be a final round with the weather, she went out as if it were a title fight and punched herself out. We felt fortunate as we cooked the evening's meal over the fire, free of rain. As we ate our beef stew, we joked about not knowing what to do minus the rain and at the thought of actually seeing the sun for more than five minutes. As it was an exceptionally cold evening, we stoked the fire and pulled as much warmth from it as we could before retreating to our tents for some sleep; wondering what was in store for us the next day."

          Tommy Muir

Spartan Hike - Day 7

Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"Our hope wasn't strong enough. We were greated once again by a nice cool and heavy rain. We chose to for go our routine warm breakfast in favor of quickly tearing down our drenched tents and grabbing hot coffee at the gas station when we filled up the vehicles. After we had torn everything down, our "good ranger buddy" decided to drive up to our campsite and from the friendly and warm confines of his truck inform us that we hadn't yet paid for our stay. First thing I thought was, yeah that's true but only because you weren't at the gate when we drove in while it was pouring and your lack of driving around camp last night didn't allow for any opportunity of contact between the two of us. As I was thinking this, Dan paid him and we were on the way, ready for the wind, cold and rain we were going to encounter on today's 20.6. The elements gave us their best from start to finish, no question and our collective hats are off. The rain fell hard and heavy and it was a nice cool 45 degrees but neither of those was our fiercest foe today.  That was the wind, which peaked at close to 30mph. We were leaned forward at near 45 degree angles pushing into it and we all likened it to hitting the blocking sleds in high school football. In spite of the conditions, there are zero complaints amongst the group and morale somehow is climbing. We have even begun making light of our own situation and two common themes emerged during today's hike. One, even with the constant rain showers we certainly weren't smelling fresh even though more than one member of the team claims to smell like roses. It's been a week since anyone's last shower, which is a really short time in this group as we've all gone atleast four times as long. Two, we could all think of worse places to be miserable. Even with the cold, rain and wind the trek has been filled with absolute breathtaking beauty and that's something no one will argue with. As we were loading up back into our vehicles, Dan's phone rang and the conversation brought a smile to his face. 

When he hung up, he told us that our adoptive mother Marilou was driving 80 miles south to bring us a hot meal for dinner. She got to our campsite and emerged with a beaming smile and a couple bags of fresh fruit, peanut butter and cookies. For dinner, she prepared chicken taco casaroll, which was magnificent and really hit the spot. We had a great conversation about current events, to which we knew nothing of and of the epic storm currently hitting NorCal. She brought us a front page news clipping of a story telling of downed trees and flooding at the campsite she first met us at three days prior. As she departed she honked and headed back north, not really knowing the impact she had made on us."    

          Tommy Muir

Spartan Hike - Days 6

Hiker, and co-founder of American Spartan Inc, Captain Tommy Muir, continues to keep us updated on the day-to-day of the 425+ mile Spartan Hike, via emails spent from his phone.

"Day 6 or as we're calling it, day five of the storm as it's rained at some point for five straight days. Today, we emerged from our tents to...wait for it...that's right, rain. We quickly heated up some chicken noodle soup, our prefered cold and wet morning breakfast, on our campstove as starting a fire would have been a feudal attempt. We polished the cans off on the ride to the starting point, dawned our rain gear and hit the trail to mow down today's 18.6 miles. The rain subsided for exactly 7 minutes and 26 seconds, we counted. The rest of the day felt like various scenes from the film Forrest Gump when he was describing the various kinds of rain he encountered in Vietnam as we seemed to deal with all at different parts of the day. Dan and I had a great conversation about how we may have allowed the ideal SoCal weather to impact our judgement and planning. Being that it literally rains 20 times a year and nearly always is an ideal 68-72 degrees, we think we lost our perspective as to the climate in the rest of the state. We joked that NorCal might actually be the Pacific Northwest and that we might just be cutting circles in Seattle. Either way, we accomplished the days mission and made it to our campsite where our tents were bracing themselves for another test at their skill of repelling the rain. We put a cover over the fire pit and with the aide of a starter log, got a fire going. We made a hot meal, joked about our wet gear and selves and called it a day. Hoping the weathermen and women (didn't forget you Indra) were dead wrong when they predicted the rain to continue."

          Tommy Muir

                

Rain... Rain... and Wind.

Here's the recap for days 12-14. They start out dry and then it gets wet. Things are also heating up, we've added 60 miles we were previously going to drive and zero days in support. Meaning we're doing 90 miles in 48 hours. Stand by for that recap, it's probably going to have a little bit of a painful undertone. But who knows. Take it easy.


Tommy

Action News 8 News

Check out the hikers on the news!

Braving The Storm To Help Veterans - Video - KSBW The Central Coast

Spartan Hike - Who's Talking?!

Tommy Muir has been dedicated enough to keep a short, daily account of the Spartan Hiker's daily activities.  Who is this guy keeping you all informed?  

Tommy is a Captain in the United States Marine Corps.  A native of Peoria, IL, Capt. Muir has been in the Marine Corps for six years.  Before his Semper Fi days, he studied Criminal Justice at Illinois State University.  After earning his Bachelor’s Degree, he joined the Marines and attended Officer Candidate School in Virginia, followed the Basic School and Infantry Officer’s Course. 

He was deployed to the Diyala Province of Iraq in March of 2006 as a rifle platoon commander with the 1^st Battalion, 9^th Marines.  After a short stay back in the states, in returned to Iraq with 1/9, this time to Ramadi as the executive officer of Bravo Company. 

When Capt. Muir is stateside, he volunteers with Big Brother Big Sisters in San Diego County.  Capt. Muir also serves as a director on the American Spartan Inc board.  Fascinating fact?  His last name is famous!  The Captain is related to John Muir, namesake of the 211 mile long John Muir trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California.  Hiking must be in his blood!

"Personally, I'd like to think that when people first join the military or the Marine Corps, they do it out of a love for your country, a love for your family and your friends," Muir said. "But the minute you get on a plane and fly 9,000 miles from home, it's no longer about your friends and family, who you originally joined for ---- it's about the man on your left and the man on your right, because that is your family,” said Capt. Muir.

Spartan Hike - Day 5

Update from a hiker - Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011

Day 5 was an adventure from the very beginning. We had been told the previous evening by several fellow campers, who reminded us that they were staying in comfortable trailers, that there was a 100% chance of rain over night. We joked about 100% and the fact that nothing in life ever really is, especially since we were all trained as infantry leaders to make an 80% decision and go with it in a combat situation; as there's never time for the "100% solution." Percent chance aside, it stormed heavily on us over night but our tents held firm and we emerged from them dry in the morning to see standing water in every direction. We made a hasty fire and warmed some chicken noodle soup. As we were polishing off the last bites, Marilou appeared with our serving spoon that she had mistakenly taken home when she departed the night before. She said she was glad to see we hadn't floated away and wished us well as we headed off for the days 21.7 miles, proving to us once again what a truly kind and generous lady she is.

As we were hiking down an access road that parallels Hwy 1 just outside Monterey, we saw a green car parked on the side of the road with its flashers on. As we cautiously approached, the passenger window went down and we stopped to talk to the lady behind the wheel. She said that she had read about us in the paper and that she had been driving up and down Hwy 1 looking for us and she had seen the American Flag flying and knew it was us. She told us she was born at Camp Pendleton and that her father was a Marine. What she told us next let us know that we were talking to a true hero’s daughter. He served 32 years in the Marine Corps, retired as a Master Gunnery Sergeant and had fought on Iwo Jima during World War II, at Inchon during the Korean War and did two tours in Vietnam before being forced to retire in 1978.  We were humbled and honored to be in her presence. As it was a bit windy and cold and we
were wearing only long sleeved t-shirts, she offered us the jacket and scarf she was wearing and a couple additional she had in the car. We declined and informed her that in spite of the weather, the fast pace we kept allowed us to stay warm. As we were departing, she reached into her purse and handed us a generous donation. We thanked her, told her what an inspiration her father was and pushed on. As we were moving down the road, we discussed how much our morale had risen and the fact that we could hike forever as long as we keep running into the caliber of people we have been as fortunate to thus far.           

          Thomas Muir                   

Spartan Hike - Day 4

Update from a hiker: Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011

Day 4 started with Dan reminding me that I needed to be prepared to slow my pace down today. The reason being is that we were going to be spending the day hiking the majority of our 19.7 miles through the city of Santa Cruz and we were looking to engage as many people as possible as we had just made today's issue of The Santa Cruz Sentinel. We decided to delay our start time in an effort to maximize the amount of people we would encounter. So we decided to have a nice sit down breakfast at the Santa Cruz Diner. The eggs were mighty tasty, the coffee was strong and we were serenaded by The Stones, The Beatles, Slowhand, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Simon and Garfunkel. There wasn't a complaint from the group as we left full and happy, setting out for the days miles. As we pulled up to our start point, we were greeted by a couple of guys who were taking their dogs for a walk in hopes of meeting us as they had read about our cause. After a few minutes of conversation, they gave us a handsome donation and wished us well and with that, we were off.  

With ear to ear grins and our American flag blowing in the wind, we received many waves, horn honks, donations and well wishers along our route. As we closed in on our days stopping point, we were approached by a genuine lady who stated that she had read about us while drinking her morning coffee and that she was a supporter. She then told us that she had dinner covered and would personally deliver it to our campsite at Sunset Beach State Park around 5pm. Staying true to her word, she arrived  just before 5 as we were just getting our fire going. She had prepared a fine and filling meal of Mulligan Stew, a hearty ensamble of meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, peas, corn and a gravy type broth that her great-grandmother had given her the reciepe for years ago. Over the course of more than two bowls a piece, we enjoyed each others company and conversation. She was the mother of a former Marine and a physical therapist who had previously worked with disabled service members. She had an inspirational tale of how she and some co-workers had helped a pilot facing a difficult challenge back into his cockpit. As we thanked her, she went further than we could have ever anticipated and she reached into her pocket and gave us a very generous donation. We snapped a couple photos, gave her a hug, thanked her again and waved as she departed, truly affected by her generosity.

Thomas Muir

Spartan Hike - Day 3

Update from a hiker: Monday, Feb 14, 2011

Day 3 began at 5:30am on Valentine's day with the pinging sound of raindrops impacting the rainfly of the tent I was so grateful to have. I had an instantaneous flashback to the summer of 2005 in Quantico, VA when I wasn't as lucky. It was June and we were in the field doing live-fire squad attacks. We hit the rack, a sleeping bag in a "gore-tex" bag on a foam mat under the stars, after our final night attack at about 1am. At about 1:30am, it started raining.  This is when I found out that the Corps version and my version of gore-tex is very different. After about two hours of a good steady northern Virginia rain, I was shivering in a three inch puddle of water in my sleeping bag, listening to the sound of raindrops impact my "gore-tex" bag. Either way, there's a nice saying in the infantry, "if it ain't raining, we ain't training." None of us know what that means, because we've done loads of training without it raining; either way, that was said a time or two.

We quickly set about our morning routine and moved to the days start point with rain hitting the windshield the entire drive. With a quick look at one another, we all pretty much said, "at least we aren't being shot at" and began taking the first steps of the 17.8 miles facing us on Day 3. The rain yielded quickly, but was followed by chilling 10-15 mph winds - which failed in stopping us, if that was their intent. We made it to the days stop point and moved to camp at New Brighten Beach, where we comensed to drying out the gear and cooking a hot meal, readying ourselves for the miles in front of us.

          Thomas Muir
            

OUCH

Spartan Hike - Day 2

Update from a hiker: Tuesday, Feb 13, 2011

Day 2 began with the team getting out of our tents to see a layer of frost covering everything! We found out from a fellow camper, albeit one in a motorcoach, that the temp had slipped to 28 degrees overnight. We quickly consumed breakfast and started in on the 19.7 miles we were facing. There are few things that can rival getting on the road and pushing a 4.2 mph pace to warm onesself up.

Upon the completion of the miles, we moved to the new campsite for a nice dinner of cheeseburgers and canned green beans mixed with corn. After an ample meal, we began surveying our feet and there were a few hotspots reported. Necessary action was taken, phone calls were made to wives and children and then it was back into the tents.

I was laying on my back and looking up at the roof of my tent reflecting on the breathtaking beauty we had the privilige of taking in over the last two days when it hit me: as last night was the first time for us to ever have a fire in the field, this was my first time in six plus years that I'd ever had a roof over my head in the field. With the one exception being when we were conducting mountain warfare training in Bridgeport, CA. As you're at pretty high elevations amongst the snow and elements in the Sierra Nevadas, that's when the Corps says you rate a tent.

           Thomas Muir

Spartan Hike - Day 1

Update from a hiker: Saturday, Feb 12, 2011

Day 1 kicked off at 7:08am on Saturday, February 12th, just as planned.  Seven men with a common goal and purpose on their minds took the first steps of a 425 mile journey. Today’s 19.2 miles went by quickly and pain free. We got to our campsite at Half Moon Bay and built a fire to prepare dinner and stay warm. As boys from Southern California, the 30 degree evening temperatures of Northern California at are not pleasant. We all commented that through the 60 plus years of infantry experience in the Marine Corps, this was the first fire any of us had ever seen in the "field".

         Thomas Muir

            

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