I slept in slightly, but managed to get on the trail by 7:30. I talked to John for a moment, an older CDT hiker who had camped nearby. He didn’t look close to being packed up, and I didn’t see him again.
The trail in the upper part of the canyon crossed the river less frequently, often preferring to climb up a steep embankment and back down again on the other side of a river bend. I had some flashbacks to the Snake River in Wyoming.
A couple of miles down, I passed a pair of old guys packing up. I took a break shortly beyond them and one caught up to me. They were leaving off at Snow Lake.
An hour or so later, I started climbing over the canyon wall and up to the constructed berm that kept Snow Lake from draining into the Gila. As I walked around the reservoir, I could see a car parked in front of a pair of privies. I assumed that was theirs.
I woke up with the wild birdsong alone 5:40 and immediately started work on writing the previous day’s long blog post, filling in the details from the outline jotted down in the last few moments before sleep the night before. It took an hour and a half to finish, and so I didn’t get back on trail until 8am.
I assumed the trail would continue to be relatively easy, but it did get a little more wild with the crossings becoming more frequent. The cliff walls slowly got shorter and the river smaller over the course of the day. The multiple options for trails and crossing locations, steep rocks, and deadfalls all increased in frequency. As such, my pace was limited.
I saw more people than I had been. I passed a southbound hiker on a cliff overlooking a steep rapids. I tried to tell him about the cool snake I found but he wasn’t interested in chatting. (You can see a picture of the location below, but the guy took so long to start crossing I ran out of patience to get him in it.)
Although I slept in until nearly 7, it still didn’t feel like enough sleep somehow. I started packing in spite of the drowsiness and residual soreness. It was a cool morning with the smoke of the Black Fire hanging low over the campground.
I needed some water for my breakfast drink, and the lady who had checked me in was cleaning out the pools when I went over there. I asked how they cooled the spring water for the “cold” spigot and she explained it was a loop of thin pipe that went down into the earth and back up again, dumping excess heat into the ground. I had expected that would dump the heat into the river since it could move a lot more heat away with the flow. I figured the ground would equalize at a much higher temperature. And sure enough, the water marked “cold” was still slightly above lukewarm. But I was feeling very hungry and tolerated a slightly warm breakfast smoothie.
It was easier to pack up with a picnic table to arrange things on, even in spite of the chill air and my awkward stiff sore muscle motion. I had my pack ready to wear by 8:00 and started walking up the drive to the highway. Even with a break to read a historical sign, I made it to the Post before 8:30. When dumping my trash in the trash trailer, I met the lady coming in the back to open the store, and soon she informed me I could come in. She was studying the latest information on the fire, which was now only 7 miles from the area. She was annoyed at the lack of agreement and communication of the ranger district and other officials in charge of deciding how to handle the fire and whether to close the forest or which kinds of restrictions were in effect. She said I shouldn’t stick around too long or they would close the forest on me. But I had no intention of sticking around more than a couple of hours.
I bought a microwaveable breakfast burrito and a sandwich for later, both if which she had condiments for, two sodas, and some small supplies I had forgotten. I ate at the back picnic table and just as I was packing up to go, Lumberjack and Bucket rolled in, a day earlier than they had told the campground they would come and a day later than they told me. Despite getting there so early, they intended to stay the whole day and start hiking the next. But they didn’t want to hold me up and I started walking down the highway a few minutes later.
In great contrast to yesterday, I woke up feeling everything. I took a naproxen then dozed for another hour, finally starting to get ready at 5:40, getting just enough water for breakfast from the river, and finding the trail by a little after 7.
I didn’t have much hope to reach Doc Campbell’s to see if they had any trekking poles for sale before they closed at 4, but I set it as a goal anyway. I intended to stay there anyway, so might as well push hard and spend more time at the destination.
I got a really good night’s sleep, and the soreness was mostly gone when I woke up. Maybe it was the naproxen I took before bed, or maybe I’m just good at sleep posture.
Although the bright moon woke me a couple of times in the middle of the night, I figured it was time to get going when I woke at 5. While packing up, I got just enough water for my breakfast shake from the stagnant pool down the hill. It was covered with tiny water bugs, but I hardly scooped any, and the filter took care of them.
I also noticed a cabin up the hill but didn’t investigate. There was a CDT trail register just around the bend too, and I saw only one other name coming through a day ahead of me.
It was a mile down to Sycamore Creek. It was not much of a creek, a narrow rivulet of water, but it was cold and flowing so I stopped and filled my bag entirely before going up the canyon.
And just a little way up the trail, there was a spot where the dirt was soft and crumbling down the side of the hill. My lower foot started sliding down. It didn’t feel like an emergency, like I wasn’t going to call, but before I could consciously act, my upper trekking pole snapped clean in half.
Since I went to sleep at 7, I woke up at 2:30. And I was already starting to feel ever so slightly hungry. But the hotel continental breakfast didn’t start until 7:30, and Walmart didn’t open until 6.
So I got up and showered and got ready to go out–and then just tried to go back to sleep. But I kept getting too hot even with the A/C turned down, so I never really dozed off.
At 6am, I left for Walmart with an empty pack. The first thing I did when I got there was buy a protein smoothie and drink it. I figured that would give me enough calories to get the shopping done.
I didn’t sleep all night. I did try, but it wasn’t working. I didn’t want to employ any chemical help because I needed to be functional at the airport early, so I got up in the middle of the night and had a big breakfast, showered, then just watched some shows until it was time to leave.
So, I got to sleep far too late and woke up to the wake-up call at 4am. Maybe 4 hours of sleep. Ouch.
What with the bathroom visit and repacking a few items for the plane I had out, I could see I wouldn’t make the shuttle I had scheduled for 4:30, but I didn’t need to leave for the airport that early anyway so I didn’t worry about it.
I ended up going down to check out around 4:45 with my two microwave breakfast croissants in hand. I left behind in the room my last root beer and my last beer and the remnants of my carton of iced coffee.
The shuttle driver was in the lobby and said he could take me right away. So I popped into the breakfast lounge to nuke the sandwiches and hopped straight into the van. He had me into the airport by 5:30.
I was able to walk right up the counter and check my backpack, but they said I could not leave my butane lighters inside. I had flown with them in a checked bag previously without knowing, but I was good and took them out. They said I could carry one of them in my carry-on, so I tossed one and kept the wolf design one that had consistently worked the best on the trail.
ABQ is not a particularly large airport. It’s one of the bigger ones in the southwest, I think, but at that hour, there was basically no wait for security either. I was through security and headed to my gate within ten minutes. Said gate was all the way down at the end of the terminal, of course. I sat down and waited 45 minutes to board and totally forgot to go to the bathroom before getting on.
I didn’t go on the plane either. It was a five hour flight back to Atlanta, so there was only one full drink service, unless I slept through one. I tried to work on this blog at first, but ran out of steam. I had downloaded some shows, but fell asleep before I could get to them, or watch any of what was on the seat-back entertainment system. The lack of sleep during the night just caught up to me all at once.
I woke up before the final trash collection and descent. Right before landing, I joined the multi-seat game of word scramble being played just ahead of me and absolutely crushed them in the two rounds we got in before the plane parked.
ATL is, of course, home ground and deeply familiar. I could get home nearly on autopilot. I had to ride all the way from concourse E to baggage claim, so of course my bag well and truly beat me there.
I got out my coat and put it on because it looked like a cold, rainy day out, then went to the MARTA station. I could get halfway home on the trains and save a solid 50 bucks. It would just take a little longer, and I was in no hurry.
An hour and a half later, I was getting into a Lyft and heading home. My mom must have been watching out the door like a dog with separation anxiety because she was coming out to get pictures the moment I arrived in the driveway.
I was very sleepy, and I only got a handful of things done before I fully ran out of steam and headed to bed. You’d think my sleepiness would compensate for the change in time zones, but daylight saving time undid that and I would end up being up late for several following nights. And there was just so much to be done with regard to upcoming life events but also finishing these trails off.
Firstly, some things need fixing. I need to fix the zipper trucks on my tent. I checked out the website for my tent, and it looks like I can do that repair myself in a few minutes.
My sun gloves need stitching. Again, I can do that by hand in an hour or so.
I need my Darn Tough socks replaced. I’ve already got the warranty slip for that, but I need to mail them.
My old Big Agnes sleeping bag could use restuffing. I’ve got to pay them for that service. But they’re pretty good to hikers and they’ll give a reasonable price. Still, it’ll be a lot of shipping cost.
I really want to look into some alternatives to my gear I’ve heard about on the trail that are much lighter and smaller than what I carry. Obviously, summer packs are already lighter, so I think, with a relatively small expenditure, I could end up with a much lighter pack next year.
Next year? I hope to get back out there next year. What do I have left on these trails? Let’s see…
358.9 miles of official CDT in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico
349.5 miles of official CDT in southwestern Montana and Idaho
29 miles of PCT in Socal (east of LA)
86.5 miles of PCT in Central Oregon
I’d also like to do the Gila Alternate of the CDT (105.2 miles)
That totals 928.9 miles. At an average pace of 18 miles a day with a 3 day transition time between trails, I can get that done in 61 days. Here’s how I would choose to do it IF the sections in question reopen. I don’t know why they wouldn’t reopen the PCT sections next year, but there could be parts of the Montana section closed:
Start with the Oregon section in mid-June, maybe flying into Portland or Butte or Eugene
Head out to Montana (method to be determined) at the end of June. Section should take about 3.5 weeks
Fly Bozeman to Silver City (or to somewhere with bus service there), do the Gila River (about 6 days)
Hitch, etc. through ABQ to Ghost Ranch and hike north at the end of July to catch the tail end of the nobo season. Actually, the bubble will be way ahead, but the weather through the San Juans should be the best it gets all year (about 4 weeks).
Hitch etc. from Monarch Pass, fly out to LA to finish off the PCT last at the end of August (about two days).
This is just an ideal scenario, and there’s a lot that has to happen between now and then for it to be possible. Most of it is on me. Mostly, I need to raise the money. And to do that I must work and not hike. Which means no more daily posts for a while. Doesn’t necessarily mean no posts. I may throw up some random unscheduled things related to these trails, but the daily thing is on hiatus as of today. Thanks for reading this far!
(NB: Day 171 failed to upload for some reason and I only just realized it a couple of days ago. If you were looking for it, go back and check. It’s in the timeline where it should be now.)
I didn’t manage to get to sleep until like 4am, but then I couldn’t sleep in until 8 because my roommates got up and started talking and making breakfast and such. So, I got up and started getting ready myself.
This mostly meant packing while my frozen breakfast sandwiches warmed in the oven. (The hostel, running only on solar power, lacks any microwave ovens, so I needed a good hour to defrost them through.)
Margaret and Anna Grace arrived a little after nine as I was taking my clothes off the line. I got them some of the bacon my roommates were cooking and hurried to finish packing so we could get started. Because Anna insisted my mustache was wrong, I took a few minutes to wax it, then all that was left was loading my stuff in the car and taking my bedclothes to the washer.
After a couple of wrong turns, we got on the highway headed out to the eastern side of El Malpais. Our first morning destination was La Ventana Natural Arch. It was an easy stroll from the parking lot to the base, no need to stock up on snacks, though Anna insisted on carrying a banana (and on not being called Anna Banana). I made a very difficult climb onto a tall boulder for a photo so that I had to jump off. Anna pretended that a sloped section of ground was equally treacherous. Kids, eh?
After Anna ate her banana at one of the picnic tables, we set off for the bigger adventure. A few miles south, we turned down Pie Town Rd, then a mile later, hung a left onto a ragged sandy road out into the prairie. Margaret said it was still a better road than the one to her house. We couldn’t go all the way down the single lane road because a truck was parked in the middle of it, but we just waited a couple of minutes for the coyote hunter driving out to walk back across the country. He stopped to tell us about the bear sign he had seen, and Margaret decided to carry protection as a result.
We couldn’t drive much further anyway. The trail into the canyon was blocked to vehicle traffic. So we parked and got snacks and lunch packed up to walk 2.5 miles into the canyon.
It was a pretty easy hike all told, basically level ground. But it was tough for Anna because the sand kept getting in her shoes (no gaiters) and the thorny sticker plants kept leaving pointy bits in her socks and pant legs. Being a child, she found this absolutely insufferable and had to stop often to pick at her socks and shoes. She also did not want to wear her sun hat, preferring to risk a scalp sunburn over getting hot from the lack of airflow over her head. Plus, a two hour walk in the desert is not super entertaining by itself, so she entertained herself by picking bouquets of grass for her mom or just to throw in the air. Eventually, I got bored with holding back my pace, put on some music, and went ahead at a slow but comfortable speed, only stopping to wait every ten to fifteen minutes.
The last break, less than a half mile from the destination, took a lot longer than expected, so I just gave Anna a piggy back ride the rest of the way there.
We had lunch in the dilapidated house (with an oddly new metal roof) we encountered there, then I went on alone to track down the petroglyphs that were supposed to be carved in the canyon. There were supposed to be many more than the two I found on a boulder right nearby, but although I found some areas interesting from a natural beauty perspective, I couldn’t find any other petroglyphs.
So as soon as I got back to the house, we headed out again back to the car. The way back proceeded largely as before with Anna causing delays in the same ways and being just as unwilling to wear the hat. She tried hard at the prospect of the holiday Oreos I had stashed there, but again, over an hour of walking is not the most engaging prospect for a child. So I carried her most of a mile on my shoulders.
It was about a 5 hour little hiking trip by the time we got back to vehicle and started rolling toward Albuquerque. I was out really starting to feel the lack of sleep, so we stopped on the way for a bathroom break and got me to grab some caffeine.
An hour later we cruised into ABQ over a rousing game of I Spy. Despite the 5 mile walk in the sun, Anna did not sleep a wink on the car trip. Our destination was a small Mediterranean restaurant in the Brick Light District. After some running about the parking lot where Margaret was paying the fee and I was injuring myself falling down in a gambit to entertain Anna, we made it safely into the restaurant.
As far as the Greek food went, mine was great. Souvlaki and Dolmades were exactly the reason I had chosen the place. The baklava was about average… neither great nor terrible. Margaret’s kebab was a bit below average in my opinion while Anna’s cheeseburger seemed to be way above average as kids meals tend to go. Although she had no interest in anything but the bun in the long run, they did actually include onions, tomato, and a sizeable serving of melted cheese.
After dinner, we crossed the street for the Insomnia Cookies. I got a regular chocolate chunk cookie I found to be not even as enticing as the one I could have gotten next door at the Jimmy John’s. Not bad, no. Margaret got an enormous peanut butter cup cookie which was equally okay. Anna’s strawberry ice cream, on the other hand, was pretty great.
My hotel was five minutes down the road, and that’s where they left me around 8. I scheduled a 4am wake-up call and a 4:30 airport shuttle when I checked in, then spent the rest of the night in my room hanging on with a friend online while drinking one of the remaining beers I had brought. I should have brought one in with me at dinner because the other one I was never going to drink.
I got to sleep around midnight following a long relaxing shower/bath. Not much time to sleep, but it wasn’t like I would be having a big hike ahead of me.
Tomorrow will be my last daily post for the season. Believe me, I’m as sorry as you are to be back in the real world.
Miles hiked: 5
petroglyph
petroglyph
an island of tall rock far from the mesa…how did that happen?
