CDT Day 5
Day miles: 6.6
Trip miles: 90
Today was a lot of lounging around and drinking water. I woke up early in the Econolodge out of habit, but went back to sleep. In my previous post I think I mentioned hiking out of Lordsburg that night, but I really meant “tomorrow night,” as in the night of day 5.
Once I was up, I made a few waffles with the waffle maker that was part of the free breakfast, then got my things ready to check out. Check out was at 11.
A hiker named Blueberry arrived in Lordsburg this morning. She is French Canadian, as is a guy going by the name Business, who roomed with Storm Trooper. The five of us – myself, Storm, Towely, Blueberry and Business all decided to hike out in the evening to avoid the day’s heat, and just hike 6.6 miles to the first solar windmill that had water.
It was going to be 99 degrees in Lordsburg during the day. Trust me when I tell you, standing in the afternoon sun just felt like our brains were cooking. The Reagan era came to mind. “This is your brain. This is your brain in the afternoon heat of the desert (egg drops into frying pan). Any questions?”
We all spent the day hanging out and eating. I caught up on my blog and learned a bit about my fellow hikers. I ate some delicious tacos from Los Victor’s right next to the Econolodge. They were really sublime. I made multiple trips to the Circle K to get cold Gatorades and Polar Plunges. I ate the sandwich I had purchased the night before when I thought I would hike out in the morning.
The gang spent a lot of time talking about fire closures and scenario planning. I feel kind of bad because I have already hiked New Mexico, so it is much easier for me to just roll with the punches on this one – I’ll do what is required. They haven’t seen the trail here yet. But that’s how the CDT is – brutal, imperfect, and impossible to time everything. There’s no use in willing it otherwise.
The walk out through the basin adjacent to Lordsburg was beautiful. It is flat as a pancake, and I arrived at the water tank just at sunset. I had the sunset behind me, and the lunar eclipse just beginning to line up in front of me.
I grabbed some water from the tank as a heifer tended to her calves, licking them clean. Usually cows keep their young away from us hikers, but this group didn’t mind our close proximity. A small deer, what I believe was a mule deer, came by the tank as well.
I pitched my tent while watching the lunar eclipse. It was incredibly cool to see it happen over the basin. Once the moon was covered, the surrounding stars became more visible. There was some light pollution from Lordsburg, but even those lights were dazzling, flickering and glimmering like some kind of magic light display. When I wake up at night, the moon is normally the extrovert, shingling so brightly that I don’t need a headlamp at all. The eclipse gave the rest of the stars their moment to shine, which they did.
I went to sleep grateful for the lunar eclipse and to be well set up with water for the next day. And, naturally, for the tacos as well. Tomorrow I plan to get up at 4am. It’s about 21 miles to the next water source, and I will be climbing most of the way. I should have more options for shade, but it will be in the mid to upper 90s again, hence the early start.
CDT Day 6
Day miles: 21.3
Trip miles: 111.3
I woke up bright and early at 4 as planned, and was on the trail by 4:45 with Storm Trooper and Towely. We hiked with our headlamps, as it was still dark. Cacti of various sorts made this more challenging. I kicked one and got a prick, but fortunately no barbs remained in my shoe.
We booked it. We probably hiked at consistent 3.5 to 4mph pace until about 8am or so. We slowed down a bit after that as the sun quickly warmed the sky. We were starting to climb up into some mountains now. We began to see the first signs of larger trees and shrubs.
The ecology changed fairly rapidly between Lordsburg and Silver City. It became easier to find shade, the hiking was more rigorous with climbs and descents, but the heat just seemed to stay.
There was a lot of soft, mushy sand on one dirt road we walked for awhile. It is very hard to walk in because it slows you down and forces your feet to exaggerate their natural step movements. I developed a small heel blister as a result. I stopped to have a rest, tape my heel, and enjoy the shade of a large tree with interesting, Lego-like bark. I think it is a juniper.
The blister wasn’t too bad. I have a small family of them now. I just tape them and have been changing out my socks regularly. I put on a dry pair of socks, replacing my now sweaty ones, and hit the trail.
I met up with Storm Trooper again near an old abandoned prospector cabin. Around the bend from this, Storm spotted a faint trail and we followed it to an old mine shaft. It was barred up, but still cool to see. We found another shaft on the other side of the road, along with an old building foundation and washed out bridge. My assumption is that it was likely a gold mine at one point. I love discovering things that speak to the history of the trail areas.
The rest of the afternoon was just good hiking on single track (mostly). I officially passed the 100 mile mark today, though I think less in terms of those milestones these days than I used to. I had enough water to get me the 21 miles to the next water source. I arrived at 1:45pm. Storm and Business were already there.
The others arrived in time and we all spent the rest of the afternoon there. I found a spot in the shade and sprawled out in the dirt with my pack for a back rest. I tried to nap, but the flies kept strategically dive bombing my ears just as I dozed off.
We discussed the water situation on trail. Our next source was 11 miles away, and then the next was 22, and then a 13 mile road walk into town. None of us liked this plan as carrying 6 liters of water today in the heat had been quite strenuous. The source 11 miles away was Burro Mountain Homestead, a mile off trail. The store there doesn’t open until 10am, so it would be impossible to arrive very early to get water and leave, unless they leave a spigot on. Towely, however, presented us with a plan.
Having seen a comment in FarOut (map app), he said that others had been dealing with this by taking a road walk alternate into Silver City. The route goes through Burro Mountain Homestead, walks dirt roads out to highway 90, and then highway 90 into town. It’s 18 miles from the homestead. Given the official route has a 13 mile road walk, this wouldn’t be too bad and would solve our water availability problems.
We all decided we liked this plan and are meeting at the Homestead tomorrow. I went to Burro Mountain in 2019. They are very hospitable and have food and a community center. The plan is to go there and nero (hike “near zero” miles, though it will be 10 – still half a normal day), then leave quite early the next day and reach Silver City.
All of us are eager to get through New Mexico as quickly as possible because the whole state is like a giant tinder box right now. Currently, trail closures are pending from Cuba, NM to the Colorado border, and the fire in the Black range jumped forest road 150 and spread into Aldo Leopold Wilderness. I was planning to hike the Black Range instead of the Gila, but that will not be possible.
Honestly, I was still going to change to hiking the Gila due to 30+ mile spacing between water sources in parts of the Black Range. I’m realizing now that it will be too hot yet for that, and carrying more than 6 liters of water is fairly painful. That section of the CDT is probably best reserved for earlier spring in wetter times.
So, I will bump the resupply box I sent to Winston for the Black Range ahead, probably to Grants. Day after tomorrow I’ll be in Silver City, and then probably hike out the next day. It might be fun to zero there (I really like that town) but I feel like I should hike while I can and move quickly to pass through sections before they get closed off.
This plan is all still a bit fluid, but that’s the gist of it. It will also be nice to hike the same route as the others. I don’t mind hiking alone, but we are fairly sure we are the last northbound hikers except potentially for one guy from London, who I have not met yet but is allegedly behind us. I believe that the two others we saw and passed in the desert might have quit due to the heat. It’s nice to hike around others while I can – so much of this trail is solo!
Ok, time for bed – I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m looking forward to a relatively relaxed day at Burro Mountain Homestead tomorrow!
CDT Day 7
Day miles: 10.9
Trip miles: 122.2
I had a lovely little campsite with a view of the hills below me. I’d say a view of the valley, but there was really only a wash that led down to where we got water the night before. The water source was actually pretty clear, even though the tank was filled with algae, vegetation, water bugs and dead bees. Maybe it was vitamin and protein infused!
Tiny rabbits hopped and poked about in the bushes around my tent at dusk. It was incredibly quiet until the sun went down and a few small birds began their evening songs. The sunset was blocked by the mountain to my rear, so I just enjoyed the soft glow of light fading from the valley.
I woke up early even though I didn’t have to. It’s easier to stick to some routines out here. Since it is very hot and dry, getting up at 4 to 4:30 is fairly typical. Yesterday I hiked the day’s miles by 1:30 or 2pm. It’s good to move when it is cool out.
The morning’s hike featured lots of rabbits. They looked smaller than jackrabbits, but I am not sure what they were, other than adorable.
I came across a loose dog crossing through a campground. The owner had carelessly left it off leash and was crawling around in her van. It came over fairly aggressively at me. I yelled over to the lady, “is this your dog?”, but she was lost in her own world. The dog seemed jumpy, so I took a risk and got down on one knee and set my trekking poles down and called it over. It came and sniffed my hand and let me pet it. Good. I then stood up slowly, and as soon as I started to lift my trekking poles it bit my shoe. Fortunately it didn’t bite hard.
I shouted “NO!” and it stopped. It then eyed my poles, so I set them down and picked up a stick and threw it for the dog. This worked. Now it was a game. I walked and threw more sticks to keep it running after them. The lady finally pulled her head out of her, er, van, and said “thanks for being his friend.” I almost went over and gave her a piece of my mind. No, your dog off its leash running up in me isn’t cute or fun. It’s irresponsible and selfish. But I didn’t because I knew it would be futile and didn’t want it to take up space in my day.
I hiked on and started the climb up Burro Mountain. It was long and steep. It’s really the first solid climb north bounders have on the CDT. The summit of Burro is just over 8000 feet, still in the high desert and already much higher than any peak on the Appalachian Trail.
The views from the top were clear and far – just what you would want them to be. Storm Trooper (we are calling him Stormy for short, so I am going to shorten his name from here out) caught up to me and I discovered that he had an interesting skill: he talks to crows.
As we were walking, a crow flew overhead and Stormy let out the best imitation of a crow’s caw that I have ever heard. As he did it again, the crow circled back and began looking for “the other crow.” It was fascinating to watch. He told me they have a lot of crows where he lives in Wisconsin, so he developed the skill for fun. He can also simulate a dying, or injured crow sound, which gets them further riled up. I have tried to imitate cats before with no luck. They just stare at me confused. Dumb human.
We made it down to Burro Mountain Homestead and signed in. If you ever hike the CDT, this place is great! They have free camping, a store with food, friendly people, showers, bathrooms, laundry, and an activity room with ping pong and pool tables.
I spent the day eating, playing ping pong and pool with the others, and planning next moves. The Black Range is closed, but the Gila is open, so I plan to stay in Silver City tomorrow night, then hike out the next morning. I would love to spend a day hanging out in Silver City, but fire closures are happening fast and I want to get through as much of New Mexico as I can. Some of them are just preemptive (no actual fire). I can speculate as to why, but I don’t actually know.
So far, we know that Cuba to Chama is closed. The Mount Taylor alternate north of Grants may be closed. So decisions will have to be made in terms of how to handle those miles. Right now I’m just focusing on the next leg, which is Silver City to Pie Town via the Gila, and then Pie Town to Grants.
I sat outside the activity center and watched a herd of deer come right up to the steps. I extended my hand and one came right up to sniff it! I have never been this close to deer, but clearly these are used to getting fed and pampered. We watched as the stood on their hind legs to eat berries off what I believe were juniper trees.
The Burro Mountain Homestead was such an incredible refuge! Today was a lot of fun. Good hiking, good hiker camaraderie, and a full belly. Tomorrow we will all meet at 5am to start the road walk together.
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