Day 28 (May 23, 2021)

563.9 to 586.1

No wind last night! After nearly 36 hours of gusty winds, it was a nice break. I slept very well.

My first target for the day was a water source about 4 miles ahead. Given the difficulty collecting water at the previous source, I didn’t have any extra. Bad idea. The first water source was not good. First, it was in a small volcanic rock depression/wash that required some scrambling to get to. Second, it really was just a muddy cow poop shake. I passed. But that meant seven more miles to the next source on a half liter of water.

The Morning trail was dirt roads that were mostly level.

I was thirsty but otherwise fine reaching Indios Springs, the next source. (I think my thirst was as much psychological as physiological.) Indios Springs is a great source, but it is interesting getting there. It actually sits 0.3 miles off trail at the bottom of a small canyon. The side trail descends steeply down to it. But well worth it! The spring is piped two troughs and is easy to reach. From the pipe it is cold and clear. Perfect. I spent time there to get caught up on hydration and eat some. Ahhhh.......

The hike back up the steep side trail wasn’t as fun, carrying water out. The trail changed from dirt road to trail at that point for the rest of the day.

There were several great views in the afternoon. The first one was surprising because it revealed I was on a plateau/mesa, which hadn’t been obvious without studying the map.

The final part of the day was the big descent off of the mesa to Ojo Frio Spring. This spring had some algae in water, again clogging up my filter so took a while. There was still some daylight left so I hiked on another couple of miles

I tried something new for supper: Beef Ramen with peanut butter — yum. Sort of like Pad Thai.