Stages 4 and 5 – Crater to the coast

These two stages are one story because the darkness and the silence of the desert took us into a world of surreality.
A stunning canopy of stars was the only feature through seven hours of trekking when you see the world by the light of your head torch and are guided by tiny glow sticks placed along our route far away in the distance.
For us this was a journey of almost total silence and the high points were a glimpse of light that always seemed impossibly far away.
On and on and on. This was the greatest test. There was nothing to talk about apart from the sheer hell of what we were doing.
There was nothing to consider but going on. We went through check point four at 1.20am unsure whether we would make the distance in the 24 hour limit.
My blisters were beginning to burn and even taking my shoes off to change my socks became a major decision.
The pain of putting them back on again is indescribable. Many times before we have discovered the only way is to keep going, so keep going we did. At about 3.30am we get a boost.
Our silence and determination has paid off. A passing race official tells us we have nine kilometres to go before check point five.
We quickly calculate that if we can cover this distance in 90 minutes it will give us four hours to complete the last leg. We both drop into the zone and stretch our pace not forgetting to keep taking on water and calories in the form of nuts and handfuls of jelly babies.
For the first time in hours we cracked a joke. We knew we could do it.