15-08-17  Day 128  Ultra Lite

Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

Another long Trail Town night. I just can’t get to sleep. I wasn’t till 1:30 am till I fell into deep sleep.

I had a new plan. Hanging with Lint, Peaches, and Grapenuts, I thought I would lighten up and try ULTRA light backpacking. If they can do it, I can do it.  I took everything out of my pack. The Sawyer water filter, pots, fuel canister, spoon, knife, deet, first aid kit, extra phone batteries, charging plug and cables, Black Diamond Spot headlamp, and all extra clothes. The only cloths I took were on my back. All that was left was the Zpacks 10 degree sleeping bag, Zpacks hexamid tent, Thermarest, two water bottles and my spoon. I took two packages of oatmeal and two packages of tuna. A few crackers and two snickers to eat.  I believe my pack weight without water was around 10 lbs.

The pack didn’t even feel like it was on my back…Wonderful. At 9:00 am I boxed up all the gear and took it to the PO to mail up the trail to Benchmark Ranch. Paul and Bridget sent me a Trail Magic Box that was much appreciated.  THANKS Paul and Bridgett!!!

We stopped by the forest service office to check on the local and the Bob Marshal wilderness fires. No worries about trail clothes due to fire till after Benchmark.

We reached the trail head at 11:00 am and off the guys went. It took me a while to warm up. Soon it began to Rain…Hail,and Sleet.

I pushed hard. The trail was hard but I soon could see the guys. Just after Lewis and Clark Pass, I passed the guys, ….Going up hill. I gave each of them their own Hostess Twinkies. They looked in shock as I hiked ahead of them.

The skies cleared and it was smooth hiking the rest of the day.

2/3 of the way to Benchmark. 42 Miles.

…………………..and then,  I woke up.

15-05-19.     Day 38.    Snow. – Mark Trail CDT

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail
Mark Trail CDT 2015

I set my tarp up off the ground to allow air to flow so maybe I might not get a lot of moisture on my sleeping bag. It was drizzling lightly so no worries. I woke up at midnight with hail bouncing up under the tarp and piling on me. I pulled up the polycro ground sheet to block the hail. My backpack blocked the other side.

When I got up the ground was covered with snow/hail. I packed up the wet tarp and hiked to water. Alex and Wagon Wheel were camped and we hooted as Sourdough and I passed. The clouds were getting thick and we were in a full blown snow storm by 9:30 am. After an hour and an inch of snow, it stopped and the sun came out. The whole ground was a sloppy, muddy, snowey mess. I tried to dodge the water as best as I could but my feet were frozen.

We hiked to Hopewell Lake Campground where the water was on and the pit bathroom blocked the cold wind. All the stoves came out and Sourdough made potato soup. I boiled water for coffee and hot chocolate.

We hiked on and crossed HW 64 and found Trail 41. It was great until we turned right and began to cross three foot snow drifts.

Alex and Wagon blazed the trail as we decended to Spring Tank were we crossed a swollen stream.  The meadows were all under water and made crossing unpleasent. Well maybe just wet. As we hiked to end the day the sun was shinning and snow flurries were in the air. Amazingly wonderful. ..

Murphy Tank.     24.2 Miles

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15-05-07       Day 26        Mt. Taylor

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

W made arrangements for the Carrot Express to give us a ride to mail our boxes ahead. Dennis our driver was patient as we waited for the PO to open then dropped us off at the Ranger Station on the edge of town.

After a short road walk we were on trail headed for Mt. Taylor. At 11,300 ft it is the highest point so far on the trail. You could see it in the distance getting closer as we hiked. It reminded me of hiking the PCT. After looking on the maps I could see that I might be able to make it to the top before sunset. At 7:00 pm I had 700 ft to climb. W, Alex and Grits were on top. Sourdough and Phil stopped just below the peak.

The sunset was the entertainment for the night. After the sun set so did the tempeture.  It was the coldest night yet. I couldn’t get warm. Frost formed on my pack and me. Oh.

Taylor Peak 11,301 ft. 21.2 Miles

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15-05-06.    Day 25.    Grants

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

We were up early to eat the free breakfast at the Travel Lodge.

I rushed to Walmart  to buy boots before the Mumms picked us up at 9:30 am. They gave us a ride back to the RV park so we could hike the CDT back into town. At McDonald’s we had the BIG breakfast as second breakfast. The goal is to get a mix of as many calories and  fresh vegetables into the system as possible.

            We stopped at the mining museum where we learned about the uranium mining around Grants. The town was also noted for carrot production until someone opened their refrigerator with a broken light and the carrots were glowing as bright as can be. Humm, didn’t they say to eat your carrots so you can see at night?

The Smiths Grocery had wonderful salad selection for lunch and finally we made it to the ranger station to complete our days hike through town. We hitched back to the Travel Lodge to complete packing a box of food to send ahead to Ghost Ranch Resort and the next 5-6 days to Cuba 105 miles away.

As I was working on the upcoming maps in the lobby of the hotel, Evey, the front desk clerk, shared her home made vegetable stew with me…. The nicest addition to a wonderful day in Grants

Grants.     4 Miles

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15-05-05    Day 24.    Tevas Toast

We are in the middle of The Malpias Lava Flow…. THE BADLANDS… It doesn’t take 8 miles of hiking in a lava flow to realize why no one lived there. The Zuni-Acoma Trail was a way natives crossed the lava flow. Humm, It must have been a good reason to hike the trail.  It chewed up my Tevas to the point I had no cushion left….. Not Good. We actually were happy to hike on a dirt road.

We walked north west up Bonita Canyon, with high cliffs to the east. Then turned east on a gravel road going down the tight Zuni Canyon to Grants. While it twisted and turned, the gravel ground at my feet. I took Advil to give me some relief which helped. I had enough of the trial of hiking in sandals. The best feature of sandals are that they are light, cool, dry and don’t get smelly. I can adjust the straps as my feet swell. The bad part is that the foot bed is thin and you can feel all the rocks, big and small.

As we got closer to town we realized we could make it by 6:00 pm so Grants here we come.

We made phone calls as we hiked to use our time wisely as town days are busy days. Carol and Hugo Mumm are trail Angels. Bront, my Boulder supply angel, sent a package with the next section of maps and food to them for the next section. They picked us up at the edge of town at the campground and dropped us off at the Travel Lodge to clean up before dinner.

Problem Bear, Raven, Wagon Wheel, Phil, Sourdough and the Mumms all went to WOW for a delicious dinner.  Time for bed since we have a full day tomorrow.

Grants, NM.          26.4 miles

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15-05-04.    Day 23.    Highs and Lows

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

Since we were next to the solar tank with plenty of water we made hot water. There was frost on the ground so our sleeping bags were wet from condensation as our sweat hit the cold tops of our bags. We will dry them in the sun at lunch.

After a four mile road walk on NM 117 we had breakfast at the trail head for The Narrows Rim Trail. There was a picnic area so Sourdough went all out and made potato soup.. Delicious.

We have been road walking since Mangas Mt Fire Lookout so being on a trail was nice. The rim trail was amazing. With great views of our next section The Malpias Lava Fields, we could see for miles.

We even hiked cross country and climbed down a dry creek bed between the tall cliffs. When we arrived at the road again, Phil decided to hitch into Grant to get some new shoes and let his blisters heal. I have no idea how he has walked this far with ALL his blisters. Off to the road and he was gone.

Sourdough and I hiked along the road till we came to Zuni-Acoma Trail Head. It crosses The Malpias Lava Field for eight miles. The trail was on lava up, down, over and through. Very slow going.  We stopped for dinner and at 7:30 we camped.

Half way across The Malpias. 15 Miles

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15-05-03.     Day 22.     Road and Water

The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

5:40 I awoke to be ready to hike at 6:00 am. We hiked to the Corner Well for breakfast. Commando was there camping and left as we were eating. We hiked north then east to our next water.

I carried a liter since it was only eight miles to the next water. Armijo Spring is a half a mile up Armijo Canyon. There was suppose to be water but only a four inch pipe with water in it, but it was not flowing or dripping.

Although it was a very historic site, I was bummed. It was getting hot and I only had a little water left and 10 miles to the next solar well. I flicked the water with my finger into my bottle for twenty minutes and only got two  dirty cups…..There were a few water tanks along the way but most were dry. There was a windmill six tenths of a mile up the trail but I didn’t want to hike it as I was pooped from scrambling a mile up a canyon with no water.

As Alex and W started to hike cross country to the windmill, we found a muddy water tank with water next to the trail. Sourdough waded out and filled our bottles with sand brown water. I doubled filtered. Once with a coffee filter and second with my Sawyer Mini. The water came out of the filter clear.. Yes…

We ate lunch and hiked another 9 miles to highway 117 and a Solar Well. It was flowing and was great water. We ate dinner and camped by the tanks. The sunset was awesome and the moonrise better….

Solar Well at 117 and Sand Canyon. 17.5 miles

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15-05-02.  Day 21.  On The Road….Again.

The Continental Divide Trail                                                                                   Mark Trail CDT 2015

5:45 am the Coffee Pot was on. I made the Toaster Special, Fried butter with a couple of eggs with bagels.

We ate a big breakfast as we prepaired to head out. There is never enough time to Eat, Rest, Catch up with email, and Pack for the next section. We left at 8:00 am as there was a new batch of hikers coming in

Hikers Ahead that we know of: Dan, Problem Bear, First Man, Michele and Jamie

Behind us: Commando, Lion King, Bird Dog, Grits, Boston Bones.

We hiked 15 miles to the Thomas ‘ home. It is a must stop for CDT hikers. We caught up to Michelle and Jamie, so there were seven of us at there home.

We had a great time listening to family stories of days long gone by. The wind blew and a short rain passed and it was time to go. We filled our water bottles and off we went. We had dinner next to the road and camped 2 miles before the Corner Well. We set the tarp up but there wasn’t any rain. A long day walking on road.

2 miles before Corner Well.   22 Miles.

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15-05-01.    Day 20.     May Day

Hiking The Continental Divide Trail

Mark Trail CDT 2015

The dogs took turns barking ALL night. My pinky toe on my left foot did the same thing my achilles on my right foot did in Silver City. Very frustrating and painful. No sleep that I really needed.

I made coffee and started on the chores. The Toaster House is a place for hikers hiking the CDT and Bikers biking the Great Divide Trail,  to stay while in town. There are showers down the street at the campground..       The Pie-o-neer Pie Shop didn’t open till eleven so we had time to clean and repair some equipment. My thermarest had gotten a leak for the second time so we patched it then patched Phil’s Neo Air sleeping pad.

We walked to the Pie Shop for some lunch and pie. The vegetable Quiech was wonderful. I ate two. I needed to pick up my resupply box,  three miles east at the Top Of The World convenience store.  I walked about half way before I got a ride to the front door. Vickie retrieved my box and looked for any other mail I might have. “that’s all” she said.  ” Do you need a ride back?” .  “Sure” and back to the Toaster House I went.

I rushed to the Pie House to have a piece of pie before they closed. Kathy spoiled us with conversation and a scents of home, we missed. I had a piece of  Apple Pepper, Their last piece..

We had multiple dinners including Wagon Wheel’s spegetti with special sauce. It was a great day of rest and food. We had some tea and bed at hiker midnight. ( 9:00 PM ).

Toaster House. 0 Miles

15-04-30.    Day 19.      Road Rally

Since the way we were taking into Pie Town was total road, we wanted to start at 6:00 am. To bad we had hot drinks and breakfast to enjoy. We could eat ALL the food left in our packs so we were eating. At 6:20 we had enough light to start hiking, enjoying the sun rise. .. The road had lots of rocks and gradually got better on our feet. We took turns listening to music to make the walk more enjoyable.

We arrived at the only water for the entire walk into town. Gene came out to show us how to operate the well and to share some time together. He owns the property that has the well and is a Trail Angel to CDT hikers. He said he had the water tested and did not need to be filtered. It was cool and refreshing. Sourdough cooked lunch to get rid of the now excess food we were saving to get us into town. Gene commented that ” Maybe you guys won’t get to town today” . That reminded us that we still had 16 miles to town to hike and off we went.

At 1:00 pm we stopped for second lunch. We cranked up some tunes to get us in the mood for the road walk. Many hours later we were rushing to get to town before the store closed. Alex set the pace and we arrived in Pie Town at 6:15. Just a little to late for pie.

Pie Town.     22.9 Miles

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15-04-29.       Day 18.       Crush

The coyotes were right on time howling to wake me up at 5:50 am. We were having COFFEE Time !!!!!  before we started hiking and it was awesome.  We are two days from Pie Town resupply so we can start to eat all our food and burn the fuel. The timing was perfect since it was the coldest morning yet with frozen water bottles. At 6:35 am we were hiking and at 6:50 we were off trail…Not lost, just off trail. The start of another wonderful day on the CDT.

We crossed highway 12 where “W” hitch hiked last night  into Reserve NM 10 miles off trail to resupply some food  and hoped to catch us in Pie Town. As we left the road, there was TRAIL MAGIC!!!!  past the gate under a tree. Orange Crush…Yea!!  Thank you who ever you are…..You Are Very Wonderful..

We had two choices of trail to take to Pie Town. The “Official” red route that goes through Pie Town or the purple that evolves a 8 mile hitch into town. We chose the red route thinking to avoid the hitch. We found the trail well marked with new signs and a nice tread. At 10:30 am I looked for our position on the map and couldn’t find our position. “Oh no..” We are on the purple route which is the official route. I was crushed again. Twice I have led us the wrong way this morning…. Since the trail is in the development stage, there is a lot of choices as to what route to take. We reviewed our situation snd made a plan. Hike on and hike cross country for a mile or two to get back on the red route. We had lunch and was looking for our turnoff when the Official trail turned straight up a steep incline. The trail builders installed rock water bars and all. I was gasping for air and again, Crushed… When will be able to hike without getting winded? We were at 8,800 ft so maybe I need a little more time to aclamate.

We all had our compasses out as we hiked cross country. We would take a bearing, pick a tree or rock, hike to it, and repeat. This is just what we learned in Boy Scouts. We come out exactly where we wanted, and headed to Valle Tio Vinces Spring to get much needed water. After much searching, the spring was dry. Another 3.7 miles to Mangas Mtn Fire Lookout for the next possible water. The lookout is 9,691 ft and manned by Dave. He gave us some of his personal water and gave us a tour of the tower. Another amazing day.

FS Road 4914U.   16 Miles

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15-04-28.   Day 17.    Three Hands

The ice on my tarp cracked and shattered as I stuffed it into my pack. It was cold. Real Cold. I had to get moving to warm up. It was 6:38 am and we reached tank no 2 or the Farm Tank just below John Kerr Peak at 7:30 am  for water and breakfast.  Alex was there waiting for us. He was ahead of us when we decided to stop last night.

There was First Man Camped next to the trail. He started a day behind us and passed us somewhere. He got sick and slowed down enough for us to catch him. We shared our past hiking experiences and reinforced that most hikers on this trail have a lot of experience.

It was “9” miles to the next water. Unfortunately that was as the crow flys. We hiked along forrest roads and brand new unfinished trail. It ended with some pink flags guiding us through the woods.  We hiked  “cross country” down to the old trail along a dirt road. At one point I had a map in one hand, a compass in one hand, and a GPS in another hand. What a feat!!!

First Man came along and showed us how he could have passed us.  With legs up to my arm pits we said “HI” and zoom, he was gone.

I was getting a little nervous as the miles wore on with no water. We passed one green tank but my stomach couldn’t take it. At 6:00 pm we arrived at the Aragon Well, Windmill and tank. It was a beautiful sight with great water. We loaded up and found Alex next to an old buss.. Shelter!!!

As we made dinner, Dr. Sourdough performed surgery on Phil’s blisters…. It was hard to look at. I don’t know how he is hiking…Great dinner of White Bean Chili.

Aragon Water Well.      19.1 Miles

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15-04-27 Day 16.    The Divide

It was cold, very cold, not freezing, but cold. I had all my cloths on except for two extra pair of socks. It rained a little, Sunshined a little, and hailed a little. We headed to Cox Canyon between Eagle Peak and Pinon Knob.

We first climbed to 8,400 ft. then up to the Divide at 9,023 ft. There was still snow on the ground from falling the day before. Chef Sourdough made a wonderful freeze dried pasta salad for second lunch. The sun came out and we dried out our sleeping bags. We left the dirt road and hiked along the Divide on trail. It felt really good to be on trail. It was short lived as we soon were in a burn area with no trail. We looked at the map and GPS and headed cross country where we picked up the trail again. It was 6:30 pm and hungry. We didn’t make it to the next water but made due with what we had. We cooked over fire since we were low on fuel. We saw Elk, Mule Deer, and lots of birds.. Sourdough knew them all, especially the robins… Nice Moon…

Tularsa Mtns.     29 Miles

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15-04-26. Day 15.   Snow

The drops of rain gave me enough time to run a string and set up the tarp. It was 11:58 pm. Alex having sent his tent in for repairs jumped under. By 6:00 am the rain turned to snow. Not a good time to be stream crossing. At 9:00 am the snow/rain stopped and it was time to go. The rain and snow and sun took turns, changing from one to the other.

At 2:22 pm I crossed the Gila River for the last time. As I sloshed on with my soaking wet feet, I reminisced of the past 6 days. The Gila was at one time a great hike. Since the flood it is different. It is river crossings, rock hopping, sand grinding, willow wacking, tree climbing, trail finding, snow raining, four alarm adventure. As Moonwalker would say, ” I’m done with that taste”…. Next…..

The birds we saw or heard were Canyon Wren, Common Merganser Duck, Mexican Whip-por-will, and Zone-taried Hawk. Animals, Elk, Bear, Beaver and Turkey Prints

We are a little short of food and hoped to mooch some at the Snow Lake Campground. Alex and WW hauled out a chair and stainless pot from  “camp trash” they found in the canyon. We saw some campers and brought them “Gifts”.

Suddenly WW had four hot dogs on the fire. Brothers Bobby and Gilbert were at Snow Lake to hunt turkey. They told us the whole story of how to grab us a turkey. All we need is another 20 lbs of gear.. The hot dogs were fantastic along with mustard and buns. Where they turkey dogs? Humm….. Suddenly you could see the rain comming over the mtn. We quickly  thanked them and ran back to move our packs as we were again rain/snowed on. The bathroom sheltered us from another wave of weather. At 4:20 pm we needed to move on to Gail Tank where we had dinner and watered up. What a day…..

1 mile past Gail Tank. Xx Miles 7,920 ft. Snowing again…

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15-04-24  Day 14  Little Things/Big Things

What is a cup of hot water? The notes on the map said we had 85 more river crossings. By 6:45 am I had already lost count and we weren’t even at the point where the note stated the counting started. My feet were numb and the rocks were like 80 grit sandpaper gringing on my feet. Every time I entered the river I would shake the sand and stones out from between my Tevas and my feet only to have them fill up again as I climbed out. By 8:00 am I was being tested.

Off in the distance we could see a person. As we approached we could see a fire and a “Hello”. Do you want a cup of coffee? ”

Do you really mean it? YES!. Burny, Rick and George from Tucson, Az were out for week. They asked a lot of questions while we enjoyed drinking hot coffee by the fire. We were all warmed up and it was time to go. I said ” Little things to Through Hikers are big things and this is a really BIG Thing”. It was. Thanks so much!  I was ready to hit the river again. As amazing as it was, it was challenging as well.

At lunch we reviewed our progress and realized we underestimated how long it would be till we get to Pie Town, our next food stop. Maybe we can get some food from the campers at Snow Lake tomorrow.

Along The Gila River near Swinging Cross Canyon.   15 Long Miles.

Oh, Phil fell today…….Sourdough fell in the river…..

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15-04-24.  Day 13.  Gila Cliff Dwellings

It sprinkled as we were going to bed and it started to rain at 1:00 am for a few hours.  I was suppose to get up at 5:00 am. but at 5:30 I was still in bed. It’s hard to get up when it’s been raining.

We packed up and hiked to the porch of Doc Campbell’s so we could get out of the rain and eat breakfast. The rain was off and on as we road walked to the Gila Cliff Dwellings.

They are about a mile off the trail but a must stop on our way north. Sourdough filled me in on the history of the 40 year time frame when the (pre pueblo) cliff dwellers lived here.

As we walked to the Little Bear Canyon trail head we met a group from New Mexico Junior College.  They rolled out the first trail magic for us, Little Debbie Snacks… YUM!

It was Friday and the first time we saw hikers on the trails. We hiked to the Gila River and headed upstream to Jordan Hot Spring. When we arrived there was a group from Arizona taking a Leave No Trace and Leadership 18 day class. To bad we were hiking to Canada. We still had miles to hike weaving in and out of the Gila River. I found my Darn Tuff wool socks did the best to hike in. The nylon and Seal Skin socks attracted every stone in the river bottom to lodge between my foot and my Tevas. Ouch…

The first day on the Gila River I said, “this is the best”. That was then and this is now the best. The canyon walls were mesmerizing.  I am so blessed to be able to hike this trail.

2 miles Before The Meadow on the Gila River.      12 Miles

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15-04-23.    Day 12.    Hiker Trash Tour

Crossing the Gila in the dark at 5:30 am was to much to digest so we settled on 6:30 as the sun was coming up. We woke at 6:00 and needed to start in shorts. Oh boy… It was cold. Phil decided to have the best sleep he had ever had in two years, he slept in till Sourdough served him coffee at 6:20 in bed. I got back into my Zpacks 10 degree bag to wait till the last minute to get out. Since we were in no hurry, I boiled water.  The Via coffee that Phil brought made my hot chocolate taste much better. Off we went at 7:00 am for our first crossing. Oh …..Oh that’s cold. By 8:00 am I had lost count of the river crossings but knew it was more than I have ever crossed in all my backpacking experience.

By the time my feet thawed, it was time for another crossing. At one point I had to wrestle my way through 20 feet of thick willows.  As the sun came up the water warmed quickly. We settled into bushwack, cross and bushwack again up the river gorge.

W, Alex and I come across two old rafts and some trash. Decision time. W and Alex are Eagle Scouts and get it. We all took a load and carried it out on the tradition of the Hiker Trash Tour.. CDT 2015.

As we hiked we found two hot springs on the side of the Gila river. We stopped at one and soaked our feet.

We came to the Gila bridge and on to Doc Campbell’s to get our packages. Too much food. Really?…..yes really!. We loaded the hiker box with all our extras although we have 7 days of food to get to Pie town.

Off to the Hot Springs for a soak. Dinner and Sleep…

Gila Hot Springs. XX Miles

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15-04-22.      Day 11      The Gila

Sourdough woke us at 5:00 am a healed man. Not perfect but much better. 5:30 am we were headed to the famed Gila River.. Up we climbed Sheep Correll Canyon to 6,900 ft along the Sapillo Trail before dropping to 5,200 feet to the Gila River.

We stopped on our way for breakfast and Alex and Wagon walked up. Somehow they took the long cut out of town and had great stories of their adventure. We all hiked together to the river for lunch. Eats and his son Ents joined us for a true hiker feed. They moved on quickly as they were doing big miles having started 3 days behind us. Everyone hikes their own hike.

The trail got washed out in 2013 so it was SLOOOOW going. We crisscrossed the river walking on sand and rocks. Ouch… My feet took a beating in my Tevas that I have hiked in since the border. I have Keen Voyager boots and Topo trail runners ready to switch to when I am ready.. I might be ready.

Along the Gila River  Miles. ?

15-04-21. Day 10. The Eye

The eye looked bad. Real bad. It looked like an old faucet with a constant drip. Sourdough tried to sleep in his contact in one eye. He knew he made a big mistake… Decision time. Head to a Dr. or head to the trail.. Tough it out and head for the trail was the decision. We packed up and headed to the Food Basket Market to get Smartwater bottles of water and Fritos. We just needed the bottles the water came in since we were hiking long streches without water.

On our way we met up with Avelino from the Silver City Daily Press. He is the Editor and was tipped off that there were some CDT Hikers in town by a lady we met while walking through town. He knew the trail out of town so he guided the way for us telling us the history of the newspaper and his years growing up in town. Hiking through the Little Walnut Park added to our great stay in Silver City.

At the end of the park we said our goodbys and hiked on. As we climbed out of town, Sourdough’s eye continued to water and was a big problem for him but he continued on. We crossed our first running water of the entire hike as we crossed Bear Creek. At Moore Canyon Creek we ate dinner and camped below Big Trap Spring.. As we fell asleep we prayed Sourdough’s eye would heal.

Big Trap Spring.     18 Miles

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15-04-20.  Day 9.    Silver City

A Zero Day….  Eating, Resting, Eating, Computer work, Eating, Shopping, Eating, Resting… Thats all…. Well not actually. I couldn’t get to sleep last night. My achilles was throbbing. It felt like someone putting out their cigarette on it, taking a puff, and burning it again. At 1:00am I got up and took some ibuprofen. At 2:00am I wrapped it with a towel filled with ice. I finally fell asleep.  when I woke up my feet looked like they were in a 9 round boxing fight and lost by TKO. Mr. Puffy has arrived. Between my tendon and swollen feet, I was a mess. The feet OK, the tendon hurt… Really hurt. I iced it and massaged it. No improvment. After walking (Limping) around town doing the P.O. and the grocery thing, I took a shower. On closer examination it looked like a blister. Well a blister is much better than an injured tendon. Hydrogen Peroxide followed by moleskin was my treatment.

Phil, Sourdough’s friend from Alaska arrived  at 7:30 pm. He is a trail runner and has never backpacked long distance. He and Sourdough planned to hike New Mexico together and I invited myself to join them on my way to Canada….. Now there are three.  There, Done!

Silver City.  ZERO Miles.

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15-04-18.     Day 7    THE TRAIL

Awoke at 5:13 and hiking at 5:41. For the past six days we have been hiking either cross country or dirt road. After a short road walk we were hiking on trail. Maintained trail. YES!

We headed towards Goat Camp Windmill, climbing all the way..I took a lot of wrong turns including walking a half mile down Knight Canyon Road, two miles short of Goat Camp where we needed to get water. Sourdough, the scout, used his Etrex 20 and Bear Creek Maps to get us back on track.

While we were having lunch, Bill Grubbs walked up. He was the first person we have seen on or near the trail other than Alex and Wagon Wheel.  Bill’s daddy purchased their property in 1959 when Bill was 9. He has been a rancher ever since raising beef cattle. Sourdough showed him his aqua mira to purify the water. Bill wanted to make sure we didn’t get sick from the water in the cow tank.

After lunch we climbed Jacks Peek to 7,919ft. I huffed and puffed all the way up and was rewarded with a great views. We could see all the way back to Big Hatchett Mtn. where we started 7 days earlier. We found the next water along Deadman Canyon. It was late so we ate dinner and camped. Before bed we treated 3 litters each for the next 22 miles into Silver City tomorrow.

Along Deadman Canyon. 19.5 miles

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15-04-17      Day 6.    Sharing

The plan was to get up at 5:45 am and leave by 6:30 am. Like all good plans 6:30 came and went. The lodge was bustling with 10 hikers going over their last minute plans and gear adjustment. The shuttle left at 6:30 and calm returned to the breakfast room. Sourdough made some delicious waffles fresh off the griddle. He has a special recipe he wouldn’t share. What a sour puss. He did load fresh strawberries on top with lots of syrup.

Hiker boxes are located wherever hikers overnight or resupply. If you have to much oatmeal you put the extra in the hiker box. As an example, If you need some ziplock bags that someone didn’t need, you help yourself. Alex said there was a headlamp exactly like the one Sourdough lost in the box…Humm strange coincidence. Another example of trail magic.

We talked with Peru and Radar who are active in the hiker community and are supplying the water caches and helping the CDT Hikers in any way needed.

We said our goodbys to everyone and hit the “trail” at 8:00 am. Walking through town we stopped by the Western Auto. Bernadette was most helpful in showing us her large supply of Yellow Heet used for alcohol stoves. I promptly put the word out on the CDT facebook page helping the hikers behind us.

As we hiked we could see Apache Peak, Gold Hill, and Walker Mtn. The trick was to find Engineer Canyon to hike up. Not being creative in our route finding today, Sourdough took lead in navagation.  By 4:30 pm we were at Engineer Windmill.

Most water sources are water supply for cattle. This was a classic source. The cows lined up one by one, taking turns at the watering hole. There was water for everyone including us hikers. One BULL was upset that we were there but calmed down after displaying a tantrum of stamping his feet and snorting very loud.

We packed up and hiked to the Coop Solar Well about 3 miles farther to camp. As we were hiking we were thankful of the ranchers supplying great tasting water. Sourdough even commented the water had a slight flavor of steak.. YUMM…

Coop Solar Well. 17.5 miles.

PS… Passed the 100 mile Mark today! Yes!!!

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The rain stopped around 9:00 pm. and the wind howled till 10:00. My tarp only blew off twice. I was to tired to put it back up until I had to get up to pee.

After tossing and turning all night we got up at 6:00 and hiking at 8:00 am. Kinda late start but it’s only our first night. Sourdough and I took turns getting lost, found, and lost again. Well actually we wern’t lost. Big Hatchet Mtns were on our right and there isn’t a trail. There are 4X4 wooden posts placed to show you the way….. If you can see them. We used the gps to guide us. Hey it’s over there. Now it’s somewhere over that way.

Sometimes  the markers were blown over. Sourdough needing to do a good turn for today put up three and packed rocks around them. We zigzaged 12 miles to the next water cache arriving at 3:30. 7 hours to hike 12 miles.. Humm. It’s going to be a long day. After we filled up with 5 liters of water and drank 2 20s (Gator Aid Bottles), we hiked on. Sourdough looked for birds while looked for the “way”. I started to use my compass to guide us from post to post…

Sourdough found 7 birds, 3 from Mexico. A Fly catcher, Black Throated Sparrow and a Scale Quail.  Nice.. At 6:30 we stopped for the night.. Oh I forgot. I Fell!  Way to go..

4 miles north of Hachita Peak Road . 16 miles.

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Fool of Dreams

Springer fever is in the air. It’s an exciting time for starting a life changing adventure. For thru hikers of the past it is a time of reminiscing of memories so vivid, emotional, intoxicating and addicting. What is my life about here in our culture? How do I make this or that decision? Where do i fit? There is another life, Another person, with another set of values within me. Trail Life.

For sometime now a new dream has been swimming upstream. Wrestling with our culture as to what, when and how. Now is the window in time to hike the CDT. Once again all the small ardous details that are involved in a long distance hike are coming together. The timeline is making the planning stage come to an end and I rejoice in it. The first post of the journal is another step closer to Crazy Cook, one of three northbound starts to the trail…. Admittedly I have been contemplating all the negative aspects that go along with a long hike. It’s a lot to digest. It’s time to go with the flow. I am ready for some desert and the dessert…. Here we go……
If you would like to read the Story from top down, paste this link into your browser:

Marktrailrocks.com/category/hiking-the-continental-divide-trail/? order=asc

Thanks  Mark Trail

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