674.0 to 688.5 (14.5 miles) Highway 84 for a hitch into Chama, NM.

I slept great last night. It was the combination of just being able to hear the river and another hiker camping close by that showed up right at sunset (Moose from Maine, whom I have been seeing off and on since Doc Campbell’s Post). He was up early and gone.

Another gorgeous day to hike. It was chilly this morning, which was perfect for the climb up into the mesa that started almost immediately. The Chama River Canyon is just beautiful.

Despite a large climb, the trail was well designed, making the use of terrain contours well to get up in the mesa. Despite nearly two hours of ascent, I felt only slightly winded at the top. Then the views started. The trail followed right along or very near the edge of the mesa, looking down on the Chama River and a reservoir it feeds. Just amazing all day. I ran across two mountain bikers about lunchtime also enjoying the views.

The trail was mostly flat until the last three miles, which made use of a drainage/wash to descend to Highway 84, in a canyon. Some of the descent was steep and rocky, but nothing too bad.

Now the actual hard part. My plan was to hitchhike into Chama, approximately 35 miles to the north to spend at least one night and resupply for the next 92 mile segment (which crosses into Colorado!). It is a Saturday on Memorial Day weekend in an area known for outdoor activity. Should be good odds, right? Not so much. Despite lots of cars it must be that an old guy with dirty shirt and hat with a beard must look creepy. After an hour-and-a-half, another hiker named Feral (whom I had met the day before and recognized from YouTube videos) also showed up. About 30 minutes later a car pulled over finally. He had room for both of and was headed for a hotel in Chama himself. We asked why he picked us up. He said that growing up in Mexico he liked to fish and hike and hitchhiked to do so, so he understood. Thank you Sergio!

Feral and I agreed to split a room. Not many were available due to the holiday weekend and numerous hikers in town. (I will describe in tomorrow’s post why there are a lot of hikers here.) We quickly discovered Chama is quite spread out and was going to take some walking to get everything done. Oh well. Some mileage while in town.

Side note: Feral is a great individual to get to know. He is 63 years old and accomplished the PCT and AT in the same year several years ago. He is a strong hiker but has had to slow down due to shin splints. I encourage you to check out his YouTube channel, Feral Hikes.