15-05-27.     Day 46.    Wet Snow – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

The wind blew and the snow fell. #2 and I packed up and put on our snowshoes. I have never hiked all day in snowshoes and it was exhausting.  At first the snow had a nice frozen crust with a inch of new snow. By 8:30 am the sun was up and the new snow was clumping under the shoes. By noon we were sinking in and the wet snow was on the shoes adding to the additional two lbs on each foot. We found some water and took a break.

This was real flowing water… Very rare at 11,500 ft. As we climbed,  It would thunder, the wind would blow, a little snow, and the sun would come out. We climbed to 12,000 ft with #2 doing a great job navigating. As the day went on the snow got heavier and made the hiking harder. At 7:20 pm we had hiker 13 miles…. I made a snow box for my tarp and went to bed. To tired to make dinner

Below 11,894 ft peak,  13 miles

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15-05-26.     Day 45.     Got to Go – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

I needed to hike. I didn’t care what route. The high route, the low route, or road walk. It didn’t matter. We came into town on Thursday, hiked 9 miles out and back (18 miles ) and here it is six days later and we are at the same place.

I openly told my plan. If I go alone I will walk the low route. If someone goes with me, the high route. #2 said he would go. Sooo.

We said our goodbyes with everyone going in different directions. Alice, our wonderful Trail Angel Mom, drove #2 and me to Cumbres Pass for the third time and at 11:30 am we started north. Like before we hiked on trail and could hear the steam engine train from Chama huffing and puffing up the pass. As we hiked the trail went from dirt to snow. Now I had another SIX pounds of gear. Snowshoes, MSR Pocket Rocket Canister Stove, and neoprene socks. This is in addition to the extra sleeping pad, Microspikes and Black Diamond whippet. Winter camping…humm.

After hiking past the campsite we stayed at on Saturday night, we dropped down, thinking we would go around the peak in front of us. We ended up scrambling up to the top of the ridge…  Wow I was exhausted. We found a nice spot in the snow and stopped for the day.

Flat Trail Intersection. 10.2 Mile

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15-05-25.   Day 44.   Indecision. ..   Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark CDT 2015

I was exhausted. Really tired.. Morally tired. Eighteen miles and no advancement. The inner drive to hike and the weather and mountain conditions were in conflict. What to do? Flip to Wyoming where there is “Better” conditions, Wait for the snow to melt, Hike the high route, hike the low route ( forest service roads) or just hike the highway…. How am I going to make it to Canada by the 15th of September?

BirdDog and Raven doing some customer service

Andy’s Mom, Alice was at the outfitter in Telluride, getting snowshoes, and buying equipment. Great, more gear to carry. I needed a stove and snowshoes. She arrived at 5:00 pm just in time for a hiker cookout. We found a grill and had meat and vegetables roasting. Yumm..We were all talking of the options on the table. It felt like no one wanted to split up but change was coming.

Cookout  at the Y Motel with #2, Alex, Alex, and Trail Angel Alice

Still in Chama.   0 miles.

15-05-24.    Day 43.    Retreat….  Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

I tossed and turned all night. I wondered if the tarp would stay over me as the wind blasted. We were at 11,500 ft sleeping on snow. Once the wind stopped, it started to snow and I could feel the cold snow under me. I had all my cloths on. Everything. What were we in for?

#2

Birddog

I got up at 7:00 am and there wasn’t a sound. I put on my micro-spikes and gaiters. As I crawled out from under my tarp it was still snowing. An inch or two had fallen. I walked from tent to tent to check on everyone. We had some problems. The number one issue was water. We had no idea how far it was to water. We checked on a pond a quarter mile away and it was frozen. My alcohol stove would not stay lit. There were other concerns as to the weather forecast. Since we were climbing it looked like the conditions would worsen. After a loooong discussion we decided to turn around and hike back the 9 long miles to Cumbres Pass and Chama. The snow continued to fall and the snow turned slushy as we approached the pass. We were post-holing and slipping. It was a chore to hike.

Back to Chama

BirdDog

All seven of us crammed into the back of a pickup truck for the ten mile ride to Chama. First stop, Foster’s restaurant. Second stop, The Y motel. Third, The High Country Restaurant. Finally bed.

Hikers: Wagon Wheel, Alex (Vanilla Face), Andy, #2, Birddog, and Me.

Back to Chama,  -9 Long Miles

15-05-23.    Day 42.   Snow Shoes ? – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

Eight of us hikers slept in a small cabin with no snoring…Amazing. Everyone was packing up so we could be at the opening day of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.  The town was also recognized as a CDT gateway community. It was another magic moment of being in the right place at the right time.  Singing, Praying and Boy Scouts. A big community event. At 10:00 am the conductor said ” All aboard” . The train whistles, black smoke blasted from the steam engine, and off it went.

We got our packs and headed up to Cumbres Pass to start hiking to Pagosa Springs. It wasn’t long until we were at 10,500 ft and we were on snow. Andy put on snowshoes and broke trail, Grits packed it down and Birddog and I brought up the rear. We climbed from 10,015 ft to 11,500. The highest point on the trail so far.. At 6:00 pm we began to look for a Campsite blocked from the wind. We hiked down looking for a pond since we were low on water. It was frozen over so Alex and I built a fire to melt snow….. IT was fun and enough for the day. I tried to boil water on my alcohol stove but no luck. Sausage and crackers for dinner.

Near Flat Trail Intersection 9 miles

15-05-22     Day 41.     Chama – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

Bacon and Fried Eggs with Coffee.
What a way to start off the day. Sourdough had made his exit plan to ride the 3:00 pm bus to Santa Fe to see some friends, then fly out to visit family before returning to Alaska. We were planing the next section of the trail.

As we were coming down to Chama from the pass I was busy trying to find a way to get some hiking boots in two days. My Walmart Ozark Hikers were having problems from the daily grind. This was a big problem.  I ordered capilene long underwear from Backcountry that wasn’t at the PO. I called customer service and Jacob Wilbanks answered. ” No worries, we can overnight the order. Is there anything else I can help you with?”. “Well actually yes there is….”. At three o’clock my Keen Voyageur boots and Patagonia capilene underwear was delivered to The River Bend Lodge. Thanks Jacob and Backcountry! Great customer service!

Alice, Andy’s mom, was the best trail angel, driving us all over town doing our errands. Thank You so much Alice.

We made spaghetti dinner and eight of us crammed into one cabin for a cozy night.

River Bend Lodge.   0 miles.

15-05-21.       Day 40.      Colorado – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

It was Sourdough’s last morning on the trail so he wanted to sleep in. At 6:00 am he came over to my tarp. “Can I borrow your pot?”. “Sure. Are we starting at 6:30?” I asked.  “I’m making hot water and leftovers”. Ok.. Great…..Leftovers…. I like to hike a little and warm up a bit before I eat in the morning but this was a big day. Completing the CDT in New Mexico, 650 miles in 40 days.. Wow.

Time to celebrate.

As we were approaching the state line, there were Wagon Wheel and Alex…. Amazing. They were two hours ahead of us yesterday and the only humans we have seen in five days.. We started at the border of Mexico 40 days ago and we are going to cross into Colorado together. We took some pictures and hiked on.

The route we took had a small section along the narrow gauge railroad to Cumbres Pass. We all Choo Chooed along. I checked the GPS and we were a half mile away. Fifteen  minutes later I checked it again and we were walking away from the pass. What’s up?. The tracks were winding up the pass. Sourdough and A and W were ahead so I turned around and cross countryed up to the pass.

Shortly we all made it and started hitching into Chama. John picked us up and promptly took us to the Box Car Cafe for the daily special, Fish and Chips…..

Alice, Andy’s mom came to be our town trail angel. Well that’s our story. She drove us to the River Bend Lodge where we cleaned up and did the town thing. Eat, Shower, Laundry, Resupply, Eat, Rest. W made Mexican dinner for us and Ice Cream for desert.

Hikers : Sourdough, Wagon Wheel, Raven, First Man, Andy, Birddog, Grits and #2.  and of course Alice our Trail Angel

Chama, New Mexico   6 Miles

But really Colorado

Saw a Coyote or Wolf.

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15-05-20.   Day 39. Slip Sliding Away – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

I woke up at 5:45 and we were starting at 6:00 so I had to hustle. We we dropping from 10,200 ft to 9,500 ft along a road bed. I remember growing up enduring the mud season. Lingering snow and melting frost heaves. I talked about mud previously but this was different, much different. I could do the moonwalk sideways, front-ways, and back-ways.

It was crazy. My legs were moving but I wasn’t. As I was attempting to walk, I wondered how the trail kept pounding away at me. Nothing personal, a quiet pounding. Just when you thought you could deal with something then ….. Wow I never thought. ..

We dropped to Rio San Antonio stream and stopped for breakfast with hot chocolate. …and coffee….

The sun was shinning and it was one of those moments that it’s all about.  It was wonderful.

Back to the trail and soon we were in breaking trail in three foot drifts and searching for the trail at the same time. It was another challenging moment. We were hardly moving and there was an alternate parallel trail on a  dirt road a quarter mile below us. After a short discussion, we headed down. There it was a beautiful muddy dirt road…..Humm here we go again.

We climbed to 10,900 ft and decided to stay on a road trail even though it was covered with snow drifts. We could follow a snow covered road, a snow covered trail is a different story.

We were also following Alex and Wagon Wheel’s tracks who were two hours ahead. They hike later and we get up earlier. Usually we see them by ten o’clock in the morning, but not this morning. Maybe they were trying to make it to Chama today. Either way we will see them in town.

Osier Mesa  17.8 Miles

Saw A Heard Of Antilope

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15-05-18.    Day 37.    Choices – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

After having a restless night I knew I had messed up. Everything was covered with frost. The top of my sleeping bag was wet and the sides frozen. I thought I was under enough tree canopy, but I was wrong.  Another lesson.

Sourdough and I started at 5:45 am. The mud was caking and I wasn’t going to complain since the last time we ended up wading in snow melt for two miles.  I started to hike cross country and as usual headed in the wrong direction. Eventually I got back on the “Trail”. Well….. actually there were a lot of options. Old Trail, New Trail, Red Trail, Purple Trail. Cross Country, Purple Dotted Trail. A wonderful dirt road trail appeared and I checked the GPS and it was the trail… GREAT.. No more mud. Fifteen minutes later I checked the GPS again………um…ah…On the Purple route that ended with a mile of cross country hiking… Snow, Blow Downs, Up hills and Down hills.  I started to question my ability to navigate until I saw two Bud Light cans. I was assured I knew I was getting close. Back on the Red Route, Alex and Wagon Wheel showed up just in time for breakfast.. Already a fun packed day. We worked our way north. Cross country, red and purple routes. Wagon Wheel started the don’t care walk and walked through the puddles and small streams. We dogged the puddles and rocked hopped the streams but eventually my boots were soaked. Late in the day we crossed the Tres Piedras Rio by log that was the excitement for the day. The sun was setting and the drops of rain began to fall….

Saddle Below  Deer Park Tank  23.3 Miles

Saw eight Elk

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15-05-17.    Day 36.      Going up!   –  Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

Hiking day so I was up early to pack the food for the next five days, Mail the cards, and take a refreshing HOT shower.

All packed up, we went to “The Last Breakfast” having the feeling of wanting to get back to hiking and at the same time knowing we will have memories and the sound of Bluegrass dancing in our heads for a long time.

We started out gradually and climbed from 6,500ft  to 9,300 ft with the tempeture dropping. As we hiked you could look to the east and see the snow capped mountains… Humm. Then when we turned a corner, you could see north and yup, you guessed it…. SNOW….  it was here and there with an occasional drift. The roads and meadows were wet and muddy. After hauling five days of food and two liters of water I was ready to camp at 7:30 pm.

FR724   16.5 Miles

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15-05-16.    Day 35.    Bluegrass Camp – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

Ghost Ranch

Breakfast isn’t till 7:30 am so it’s a good reason to sleep in and rest our bodies. The breakfast was eggs, hash browns, and oatmeal. I passed on the oatmeal and loaded up. Even after two meals, I could feel my body bouncing back from the pressure of the daily mileage.

   I worked at uploading the blog and writing some Georgia Okeeffe post cards, going through the food for the next five days to Chama. Wow, soon we will be in Colorado.

As I walked the campus of Ghost Ranch, I imagined what a special place it is. Rich in South West history.

Grits and Birddog

Hikers at the Ranch are: Sourdough, Alex, Wagon Wheel, First Man, Hanatizer, Andy, Birddog, Grits, She-ra, and #2. A real hiker hangout. Hikers Ahead are Ltd Dan, Lion King, and Frenchy? Not to sure of any of that info.

Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese and Cole slaw with Watermelon for desert…  Yum.

The students of the Bluegrass Camp practiced all week for the Saturday Night Grass Band Hoopla. We were entertained as each group played a few songs. Then the Teachers got together and let loose. It was perfect timing for an amazing evening of Bluegrass Music… Wonderful Talent.

Ghost Ranch.   0 Miles.

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15-05-15.    Day 34.  Ghost Ranch – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

Since we had a relatively short day we made hot water at 6:00 am. We took out time trying to empty our pack of food. Shoving in the last crumbs of crumpled crackers and nuts. Whatever we had to eat. Yumm.

We packed up and headed to the Ghost Ranch Living Museum. As we walked up to the doors you could tell there was nothing living at the museum. It looked like one day someone locked the doors and never come back. The weeds were growing up through the pavement and the front sign was removed. We looked around for the “Nature Trail” we were supposed to follow to the ranch. We found the trail on the right side of the building with all the signs still identifying plants sometimes that were there otherwise, long gone. It was spooky… Get it…. “Ghost Ranch”….OK.

As we hiked the temperature dropped. I looked over my right shoulder and it was coming. I put on my pack cover and rain coat bracing for and racing for the ranch. The rain started to really come down as we reached the registration building. “What do you want to do? Camp?” I asked. “Get a room if they had one” Sourdough said. I was all in. The rain poured as we arrived just in time.

We split the room four ways and bought lunch and dinner tickets. We quickly took showers and was at the front of the line for lasagna and the salad bar… Oh Boy…..It was great. My body craved fresh greens and I was more than willing to shove it in. I ate for the full lunch hour…

Susan, one of the Ghost Ranch Staff asked us if we were hikers. Of course, come sit with us. She offered to take us to buy some beer for us on her next break… What a wonderful place.

Sourdough had food for two since Phil went home so I lucked out. Sorry Phil. I forwarded my food I sent to myself at Ghost Ranch to Lake City, CO since it was the next stop that needed 5 days of food.

It was Bluegrass Camp this week at Ghost Ranch, our lucky day. We listened to the students play and it was wonderful. After the show, there was a impromptu hiker party back at the corral dorm rooms. Yippee….

At 10:00 I drifted off to sleep…happy I wasn’t in the rain or snow.

Ghost Ranch.  8 Miles.

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15-05-14   Day 33. Overcast All Day. – Mark Trail CDT

The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

Since yesterday was a challenging day we knew it had to be a real easy day to make it to Ghost Ranch as planned. I left at 5:40 am and said I would stop before 2 hours. I paralleled HWY 96 for three miles and stopped for breakfast and wait for Sourdough, W and Alex to catch up.

After we crossed the highway, we climbed from 7,400 ft to 8,500 ft. to Camino Mesa. We crossed the San Padro Wilderness, Rio Chama Wilderness and the Chama River Canyon Forest Wilderness  We then hiked the Ojltos Canyon to the Chama Grant. It was a chocolate river, thanks goodness I got water previously.  We found a great place to camp next to the Chama River at The Whirlpool Dispersed Campground,  privy and all . Once again, we went through our packs, eating everything and anything. The wasn’t easy enought to make it all the way to Ghost Ranch. No Worries…. The food in our packs will keep us alive but we need real food to thrive. Tomorrow will be a day to thrive.

Whirlpool Campground. 21.7 Miles

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15-05-13.   Day 32.     Oh My – Mark Trail CDT

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail 2015 CDT

The forecast was for storms and snow. The rain stopped at 1:00 am and no snow. Actually it was warm. We were hiking on the FS95 at 5:37 am. As we walked the mud caked to the bottom of our shoes. I would step forward and slide back 1 inch. After the mud would pile up, clumps would fall off to start the whole process again.

We had breakfast at the Los Pinos Trail Head (CDT) and we were happy to be done with the mud. We climbed to 10,000 ft noticing beautiful snow along the trail. By the time we reached 10,500 ft the drifts were 2 feet deep. Alex and Wagon Wheel (The Boys) were breaking trail for the senior generation..

At lunch our boots were damp. Some might even say they were wet. I thanked the boys for a great job leading.

As I surveyed the meadow, I could see the trail markers in the middle of shimmering ICE COLD lake of water. No… Can’t be. Well Be… I danced from clump of snow to clump of snow trying to avoid the water, when I gave up and started to run. The water went from 1 inch to 2 inch to ankle and then calf deep…..Oh That’s Cold. As if that wasn’t enough, the trail was under water off and on for a a few miles….. I would wring out my socks only to come to another meadow crossing. We crossed San Pedro Peaks and started down the north side. The snow faded away and……..  The blow downs began. NO WAY…….Yes Way. Blow Downs as far as you can imagine. .

When we arrived at the Cecilia Springs we had our fill of another special day on the CDT.

Cecilia Spring.   16.5 Miles

I never found the spring..

And my camera broke…

15-05-12.     Day 31.     The Nero – Mark Trail

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail 2015 CDT

Mrs. Yang, the owner of the Del Prado Motel had errands to run so she said there was no hurry to be out of our room by 11:00 am. After hiking 5 20
mile days in a row I needed rest. We slept in till 7:00 am and went to Mc Ds for first breakfast. It is 3 Days to Ghost Ranch so I didn’t need to buy much food at the grocery store. We did have to buy 2 bottles of heet to get us to Chama which was a bummer.

We ate again and went to the Post Office to send some cards and gear I wasn’t using back home.. I also contacted Bront to send the ice ax, (black diamond whippet), micro spikes, and gaiters, to Chama. I ordered some capline long underwear from backcountry to be sent there too. Lots of busy work at it was time to leave town at 4:00 pm.

As we hiked out, one last stop at Subway for a sub. I couldn’t resist to buy an extra for later. Sourdough looked at birds and W and Alex cough up to us….

There was a storm forecast-ed with rain and snow. We could see it coming and as soon as the lightning started we stopped to camp.

Sourdough and I shared the sub and it was off to bed as the sound of rain hitting the tarp lulled me to sleep.

FS 95.  5.1 miles

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15-05-11.  Day 30.  Celebrate

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail 2015 CD

We were in the middle of the 30 mile stretch of little water and all I had left was the water from the How Now Brown Cow Tank. Humm…..Maybe I can make it to the next water without drinking it. We got started at 6:30 am and had a beautiful hike along the rim of La Ventana Mesa.

The boys were already at the Jones Canyon Spring when we arrived. Since we were close to town, it was a feeding frenzy. Sourdough was eating a dinner for breakfast and I made the Ramin that I have been carrying since Silver City. To bad it was low sodium, just wasn’t what I was looking for.

When we stopped for lunch we had a little over five miles to NM 197 and then a five mile road walk into Cuba. We didn’t know if we would make it but the chances of camping along the road didn’t look good. At 5:30 pm we all walked into Cuba together.  Alex’s friend Alex met us as we walked to Mrs Yang’s Del Prado Motel. We all showered and Alex drove us to El Bruno’s Mexican Restaurant to celebrate one month on the trail….I had one to many margaritas. Another Great Day….

Del Prado Motel, Cuba. 22.1 Miles

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15-05-10      Day 29.     This is it!

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

I slept great under my tarp for the first time in a long while. It was cold but not enough to freeze my water or sleeping bag.

I was on the trail at 6:00 am to clear skys. We  dropped down to 6,100 ft to the Arroyo Chico wash. Water was running as this was the second river we have crossed on our way north. Well it wasn’t a river. Maybe two feet wide… We had “30 miles” of “NO” water and already there was water in just a few miles. I was already loaded with three and a half liters so the water really wasn’t needed. It’s been cool so maybe the three liters will last.

We then climbed 300 ft to Mesa San Louis where we could see back where we climbed down the day before. We crossed the  Los Cerro Colorados where we saw all kinds of sandstone formations. We weaved in and out, up and down amazing scenery. This is what it is all about. Days like these make it all worth it. We stopped at several old windmills looking for water and settled on a water tank full of cows. The water made me gag… But I needed it. I ran it through a coffee filter and my Sawyer filter. Then treated it with aqua mira. Hopefully it will keep me from getting what Phil got.

Since we weren’t hiking a road, the pace was slow but we worked hard and I was exhausted. Alex and W had finished  dinner as we arrived and hiked on. At 8:00 pm as the sun was setting we found a spot off the trail to sleep for the night….

Along the Mesa San Luis  20 Miles

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15-05-09.    Day 28.    It’s Snailing!

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

Back to our old schedule.  Up at 5:00 am, hiking at 5:30 am. We watched the sunrise at 6:17 am. By 6:30, it was hailing. Sourdough and I caught up to Wagon Wheel and Alex at 7:20 and stopped for breakfast. By the time the water was boiling, it was snailing.. (snowing and hailing). We packed up and hiked till 9:30 for second breakfast. Again it started to snailing. There was a spring where we needed to get water but it was a half a mile off trail. When we got there, W and Alex had already loaded up on water for us….. So Nice.

We found a spot out of the wind for lunch and thankfully no Snow. We were at 8,500 ft crossing a high mesa. At the end we could see the whole valley as we began to decend. We dropped to the valley floor where it began to rain…… And hail. I guess that would be railing.. What a day.

We arrived at the Ojo Frio Spring at 6:00 pm. As we were making dinner…… You guessed it…. It began to rain. We called it a day and set up camp. Sourdough,  Wagon Wheel, Alex and I.

Ojo Frio Spring.  21 Miles

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15-05-08.   Day 27     Phil

Hiking  The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

I was frozen. Alex came over to see the sunrise. I stayed in my sleeping bag waiting for Sourdough and Phil to climb to the top. They showed up a little past 7:00 am as I was packing up. The wind was blowing cold. My hands were so cold, I had problems stuffing my pack.

When I caught up to Sourdough and Phil, Phil was still sick from the day before..  After all the blisters now this. After a few miles he decided to turn around and go back to Grants to see a Dr.. He is the toughest man I know. I would have stopped after the second blister. He had so many blisters and new ones every day. He bought new boots in Grants and seemed to help. Now this….

A truck came up the road and we told him about Phil. Hopefully he picked him up.

We hiked till 6:30 pm and found a place out of the wind to cook and camp. I needed some sleep.

1 Mi. Past Ranger Water Tank. 20.4 Miles

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