Water cache near redline 13.7 to 30.4 Bonus miles: .2 miles from water cache to trail. Wildlife: nothing large, no snakes

A windy night! After a calm sunset and moonrise the winds picked up and blew all night, with strong gusts. Add to that a bright full moon and sleep came sporadically. Welcome to the CDT. The worst part was actually the fine gritty dust that would whirl around with the strongest gusts and get into everything, in particular my eyes and face. The winds made breaking camp tougher as I couldn’t let go of any light items at all until stowed away.

The good news was that the forecast called for less wind during the day. This also brought cooler-than-normal temperatures, only into the 70s. After breakfast and packing up, time for plans. What path to take? The water cache was on a road that parallels the main route to the next water cache. Many people elect to walk the road since it has several water sources and comments in Guthook indicate there wasn’t much to see on the trail. But I knew there were going to be lots of road walks in New Mexico so decided on the trail. How much water to carry? The next water cache was only 10 miles away. Based on the day before, I estimated 2.5 liters. Then some stretches and off to hike.

I had to use Guthook to figure out getting back on trail. Remember how the CDT is not well marked? The map clearly showed how the trail turned from a wash to follow along the bottom of the mountains we were paralleling. But where? Using Guthook/GPS, I found it. It wasn’t obvious. Helpfully, some hiker had built a small cairn to mark the spot. Lesson learned: look for clues from other hikers. The trail was more just looking for a worn footpath. The markers here were more sparse and didn’t have the blue CDT signs. Instead, they were simply large wooden posts held up by a pile of rocks. Navigation was a combination of following a semi-recognizable footpath or footprints, reaching a post and looking for the next one, and occasionally looking at Guthook to make sure. The posts were sometimes very obvious, but sometimes not. It was easy to confuse some with a yucca-like plant that grows a long and tall stem. And sometimes they were just poorly placed to be able to see the next one, due to terrain or the plants.

I made it sound more miserable than it was to find my way. It actually kept me on my toes, always watching and predicting where the trail should be. I deviated from the red line several times, but not by far and was able to easily correct. And from some footprints of those ahead of me, they did the same thing.

The morning was sunny and windy, but the winds were lighter than the night before and mostly at my back. The terrain was more tricky than the map showed. Since the trail followed the base of the mountains, there were numerous washes/gullies/draws to cross. The contour interval on the map was larger than the elevation changes on many of these so they didn’t show on the map. Lots of little ups and downs. And very rocky. It looks like a geologist’s dream here. Lots of varieties of volcanic rocks, quartz etc. Every wash seemed to expose a different kind of rock of different colors.

Remembering the previous day, I took a sit-down break about every 1 1/2 hours and snacked. I saw no other hikers and made it to the next water cache. Decision time again. The next water source was a little over 13 miles away. There was no way I was going to cover 23 miles on my second day on trail, so that meant camping before that water, which is known as dry camping. So, how much water to carry, considering water for cooking etc. at camp? I took a guess. I also looked at the map for a general area to camp. I thought I could do about 16 to 18 miles total on the day. There was nothing obvious in that area, so I just hoped for the best. And Roadkill, who had initially taken the road this morning, said he was going for about the same distance.

The trail just before the water cache had turned away slightly from the mountains and now was more rolling terrain. Rain threatened several times but I never got more than a drop or two. It was exciting to see two A-10 fighter planes flying at very low level across the desert and then through a gap in the mountains. Being a pilot I couldn’t help but think how turbulent it must have been for them with the strong winds and rain clouds in the area.

The trail mostly followed a Jeep trail at this point. The goal was just whatever I could do to setup camp before sunset or before rain threatened. Around 6 PM I started looking for a place to camp. The only good areas seemed to be in low areas or washes, both to get out of the wind and because the area had lots of small jagged rocks. The washes had some open sandy areas with higher compact dirt areas. I found a promising one, partly motivated by a dark set of clouds west of me. My first spot turned out a bit small for my tent, but another spot nearby worked. Then something odd happened. A four-wheeler came by with two guys in it who waved hello. It is hard to describe how remote this area is, and the trail/Jeep trail had gotten progressively worse, rutted, and partially washed out at this point. And it was nearing sunset. Well, I guess it was weird for me to be there too.

I crawled into my tent just in time for a light rain to start falling.

From redline mile 30.4 to a water tank/well at mile 49.5.

Despite the light rain both when I went to sleep and just as I woke up, not much rain actually fell during the night. The ground was just damp as I crawled out. But, there were dark clouds just to the west and the forecast called for possible rain. So I hurried through breakfast and packed up. Just in time; a light but steady rain started as I put on my pack. Since it looked like it would pass quickly I used my umbrella and wore a light wind jacket. (Even ‘breathable’ rain jackets can get sweaty very quickly when hiking.) it was enough. About a mile into the trail I saw Roadkill just starting to hike. Despite not seeing any hikers the day before, we had camped within a mile of each other. He had a goal of a water tank/well just short of 20 miles down trail. That sounded good to me. We both had plans to stop at the next water source about 8 miles ahead as well.

The rain stopped not long after, but with more dark clouds to the west. With the morning sun shining back on them we got a beautiful rainbow. We came upon two women hikers packing up who started the same day as us, Abigail and Kitty. Though they hiked faster than me while on trail, they had taken longer breaks and stopped sooner in the day. We all decided to try for the same camp spot that night. Though I passed them as they finished packing, they passed me as I took my first break later.

It is really amazing how much the terrain, plants, and geology can change over short distances in the hike. It is interesting if you pay attention.

I got to the water tank behind the others. One of the annoying things about hiking is having to pack up wet gear, which we all had to do with our tents this morning to get going. When you do, the plan is to unpack it during the day to dry it out. When I arrived at the tank, they had their tents draped over posts and fences flapping in the wind. I did the same. It didn’t take long in a dry New Mexico wind to dry out, and was a good chance to take a longer snack break. As we were there a herd of cows approached expecting to get their drinks as well. They were obviously annoyed at finding us there with tents snapping around in the breeze. Two were brave enough to approach one spot to drink, but the rest waited until we left. (Thank you to the rancher providing an easy to reach and use spigot with instructions for us humans! It was great water straight from the well.)

Not many pictures for the next couple of hours due to stormy weather. Roadkill and I were hiking near each other as the wind picked up and a storm approached. There had been rain storms in the distance around us but now one nearby. It looked like we would be in the midst of it, but we lucked out and just had to deal with the edge of it. That still meant sideways ‘stinging rain’ (Forrest Gump reference) for about 20 minutes, enough to drive some rain behind my wrap-around sunglasses. Ouch. There was no lightning so to keep warm the best thing was to keep moving.

The rest of the day storms threatened but stayed away from us, execept for some wind gusts. Good water sources were more common, including another water cache. Making the planned distance looked good. The trail took a more westbound turn in the afternoon into some high hills. With storm clouds to the west it was beautiful. With our different hiking speeds we were separated at this point. I got into a head low just-keep hiking mode at some point and realized I could make 20 miles for the day. What I failed to realize was that would put me past the planned stopping point about a mile. Well - stupid me blew past the water tank we had planned to stop at, just looking at my mileage and trying to beat a storm bearing down. As I stopped and looked at Guthook I discovered my error, about a half mile late. I quickly turned around, hoping to beat the rain back to our campsite. Almost...... Just as I got there, it started raining heavy. All I could do was hunker down with my rain gear on and umbrella out, hoping it wouldn’t get too muddy for setting up. All I could do was laugh at my ego getting me in the situation. Though the rain was heavy, it didn’t last long so it wasn’t too bad. Oh well. It turns out the others hadn’t set up before the rain hit either, so fun for all of us. Luckily no more rain that night and a light breeze means a dry tent in the morning.

Water tank at redline mile 49.5 to camp at 70.4.

A day of variety. I got up early and started hiking before Roadkill, Abigail, and Kitty, expecting them to pass me during the day. Only a little dampness on a couple of items from the rain last night, so no problems. I had set a goal of reaching a good water tank source at about 19 miles.

The morning started cloudy with almost no wind. We had camped in a hilly area, so the trail was winding with short ups and downs. Several miles from camp I heard then saw a Border Patrol helicopter flying and hovering very low in a valley ahead of me. He made several vey low passes in a particular area, then left. There were no ground vehicles seen nor did I see anything when I reached the spot. Maybe just training; there is a Border Patrol training facility nearby.

The terrain was really varied throughout the morning. Several hours into the day a hiker passed me that had started a day after me. He was moving fast. An hour later a another hiker we hadn’t seen passed me going even quicker. She will be half way through Colorado by the time I finish New Mexico at that pace! About the time she passed me the wind started picking up and occasional rain drops could be felt. No obvious downpours around me, just a few persistent drops.

I reached the next water cache seven miles in. It was 52 degrees with a strong steady wind so I put on my wind jacket and hid behind the cache box to eat a snack. Since I was near a paved road, I tried and found I had service! Of course I called my wife for a couple of minutes and my oldest son. That was cool! I could not see my unofficial hiking buddies behind me on the trail so pressed on.

The terrain changed dramatically literally crossing the road, from hilly and rugged to just mostly flat and arid. The sun came out too, but the wind kept on blowing. Across the flat valley I could clearly see Pyramid Peak which is a navigational landmark on this section, since the trail eventually goes through the valley to the west of it. Good news for navigation, but also morally depleting since it felt so far away.

Then something literally magical happened. I first saw a white SUV parked on a low rise about a mile ahead. Odd, but there are dirt roads around the area. Then I came across a small sign saying there was trail magic ahead, hikers welcome. Here in the middle of the desert? Sure enough, several hundred yards later I saw a man standing next to a small hexagonal framed shelter waving at me. Pinch me, someone. His name is Apple, from Ohio. He loves to help hikers as a Trail Angel on the Appalachian Trail and the CDT. The framed shelter he sets up is meant to attach some fabric to for shade, but with the wind today that would become a sail. So we sat in lawn chairs in the desert in a small hexagonal dome, bufetted by the wind, eating a small packaged apple pie, drinking Gatorade, and chatting about life. Amazing! Apple well deserves the title Trail Angel. What an uplift. THANK YOU APPLE! I found out this was his last day here. He was going to travel a little and go to Colorado to do the same thing in July on a section of trail shared by the CDT and Colorado Trail. Hope to see him again.

Re-energized bodily and spiritually, I took off again across the now mostly flat landscape, with Pyramid Peak in sight. But the trail doesn’t aim straight for the peak, taking a more northerly course before turning northwest towards it. Even with this seemingly easy setup, the CDT reared its head again with some sections well worn and/or marked and others not.Though flat, there were areas with more high plants that made it hard to see the next marker, when there was one. Multiple times I found myself off trail and correcting back. With the flat terrain the corrections were easy, thankfully. It is hard to describe how easy it was for this to happen, and it happened repeatedly this afternoon. As before, it was obvious others had made the same or similar mistakes from footprints I was following. They would all merge back together at an obvious sign post or fence crossing.

Fence crossings. There is something I haven’t talked about. Since they were more numerous today, here is my chance. Since this is cow country, there are fences, and the trail crosses them. There are one of three varieties. The first is a gate, which ranged from a professionally installed one with hinges (only one I saw like that) to the more common large sticks strung together with barbed wire, held closed with a loop of wire put over the top of the last stick. The next, and more common so far, was a sort of turn stile installed. This consisted of a narrow path at an acute angle that cows could not navigate. The problem was that due to the narrowness and the barbed wire you still had to take off your pack and either drop it over or hold it over your head. The third kind of fence crossing is everyone’s favorite — no gate at all so you roll under or hold wires apart and crawl through. More CDT fun.

I have used a lot of words, so quick summary for the rest of day: trail turned west, sunburned face, excellent water tank at 69.5, still no Road kill, Abigail or Kitty, pushed on to camp at 70.4. Could see Interstate 10 and some lights way off along with a very distant train noise when calm. Civilization near.

Redline mile 70.4 to Lordsburg Econo Lodge, redline mile 84.

Town day! That puts a little pep in your step. I got up easily, ate, and packed up. My campsite was several miles from the valley next to Pyramid Peak, so off that way. Winds were very light and the day started off cool.

Pyramid Peak looked less like a pyramid the closer I got, now looking more rounded and cone like. Odd. More cows in this area, very healthy looking ones with very young calves. In the valley next to Pyramid Peak I saw a herd of seven deer on a hillside. Very cool. The trail had lots of little ups and downs and mostly followed a rough dirt road. Mostly. Suddenly the trail would veer up a wash away from the road only to rejoin it shortly. Sometimes it made sense, other times not. In one case the trail veered sharply right from the road (not marked with a post again) to go uphill when the road took a lower curved path. OK. What I didn’t see was that the trail made you go through a steep and very rocky draw before rejoining the road. Just not necessary in this case.

The last remaining water cache was only several miles ahead so I needed only a liter of water at a solar well where I could collect the water straight from the pipe and not the cow tank. Nice. Not long after the trail veered sharp right off the road for the last time and crossed a fence. There was a marker, but facing the wrong way. Sigh.

The next 5 miles (including the last cache) were beautiful and rugged, with lots of moderate ups and downs and lots of volcanic rock. There were signs of previous small mining operations scattered around. (I will have to find out what was mined later.) As normal the wind started picking up, but not much, with moderate temperatures. It seemed to fly by. Before I knew it I could see parts of Lordsburg. I finally made it the the paved road going to the Econo Lodge, and to the hotel.

Though it was before check-in time, they had a room available and I quickly went to shower. Lots of dirt came off. I decided to zero tomorrow. Though I feel good and only a little sre I feel it is best to let my body recover before pressing on. First segment done!

Just a quick recap of a town day/zero day.

• Shower
• Do laundry
• Eat real food
• Gear explosion in room to clean, air out, and assess everything
• Charge phone, battery bank, SOS device, headlamp
• Eat real food
• Call family
• Catch up on news
• Figure out how long next segment is
• Buy food and any other essentials for next segment
• Check weather
• Update Guthook with latest information, especially regarding desert water sources
• Be lazy and let your body recover.

Quick assessment of myself: I did better than expected so far. Sound funny? Well, this was a new environment in a lot of ways so I really wasn’t sure. Physically in good shape. Calves a little sore. Feet in surprisingly good shape with no blisters, which are common for thru hikers. I credit that to a combination of my shoes, wearing Injini toe sock liners, and lightweight gaiters to keep most of the dirt and dust out of my shoes.

(Second picture - is that really me?)

Next stop is Silver City, NM, about a three day hike.