Today was another big road walk, but we had a bit of fun in the morning. We scrambled up the escarpment opposite La Ventura Arch and then followed a short trail down the other side. The early morning views of the arch as well as out across the lava fields were neat. After that we had a few more feet torturing miles on the highway, then onto dirt roads for the rest of the day.

We had a bit of trouble with water, as the first windmill we ran into wasn’t running. We ended up having to hike another few miles before we got to another one that was going. Apparently there are no more natural water sources on the trail. It’s going to be all solar wells and windmills. So far everything has been quite convenient, with water sources being available around lunch and dinner, minimizing how much we have to carry.

The roads are pretty rough on my feet and ankles, I was definitely hobbling towards the end of yesterday and today. An odd new plant we’ve run into is a little guy that has somewhat dandelion-like balls on it’s ends, but the stems are very sharp little spikes that work their way into your socks. We all got tons of them on us as we were off the road checking windmills. I’m talking hundreds, can’t see my sock through them around my ankles. Painful and hard to get off.

Today was also pretty hot and even a bit humid. We all had a bit of a zombie-shuffle afternoon, but perked up once the sun started going down. We hiked sans-headlamp for a bit into the night just because it was so pleasant.

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 15, 2011
Day 114
Daily Distance: 29.3 miles
Trip Distance: 2266.4 miles

It was a great night last night. I stayed up awhile watching the stars, and I think some Milky Way. We were probably 20+ miles from any light pollution. I fell asleep barely under my bag, and only woke up briefly at 5am to pull it over me, but the moon was out by then and shining brightly.

We were up and hiking well before the sun, on a road that led all the way to Pie Town. My feet were not very happy by the time we arrived, but it was early afternoon so lots of time to recover. We dropped by Nita’s Toaster House, which is a house available for hikers to use anytime. The owner is rarely around, so you just help yourself to everything.

There’s only two businesses in town, both pie-focused cafes that generally only open around lunch time. We went to the one owned (?) by Nita and spent the whole afternoon until well after closing hanging out. We talked with people that came in, the chef (Cathy?), and staff while eating lots of pie.

We ordered a pie to go and headed back to the hostel in a car thanks to one of the Pie-o-Neer staff. We slowly found our way around the hostel, including finding the beer, wine, and coffee fixings. Megan, the waitress from the cafe, came over later and brought us ice cream. The people here are really nice if you didn’t figure it out yet 🙂

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 16, 2011
Day 115
Daily Distance: 22.7 miles
Trip Distance: 2289.1 miles

Our morning goal was to be at the Post Office when it opened at 7:30am and then get hiking as quickly as possible to beat the heat. I had the least to do, so I got going fastest and didn’t end up seeing anyone the rest of the day. It turned out to be only warm, with a nice breeze, so I never really overheated. At lunch I actually had goosebumps sitting in the shade!

After lunch I got to an electric well, where you had to flip a breaker in a panel bolted onto the power pole, and then poof, water starts flowing out of a nearby pipe into a trough. It feels pretty magical when there’s just no flowing water anywhere. The rest of the afternoon was more roads with a climb over a mountain. The views were blocked by trees though, so I barely even noticed the summit. The long descent afterwards tipped me off 🙂

Later in the evening as the light faded, I confidently took the wrong turn at a junction and wandered a mile off course. Argh. It’s really nice night hiking, but this is ever the danger, especially when I don’t even get my headlamp out, and just walk by starlight. I think my brain is tired by the evening too, and I just tend to zone out a bit more.

I passed some hunters driving out of the junction I had missed and after they killed my night vision with their headlights, I had a nice chat with them. I camped soon after as I was stumbling around a bit. They said they’d be back before dawn to hunt. Great.

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 17, 2011
Day 116
Daily Distance: 31.2 miles
Trip Distance: 2320.3 miles

The boys never caught up to me last night. This morning the same hunters that blinded me yesterday drove by and told me they had all camped together and “finished a bottle of tequila”. So maybe I won’t be seeing them until the next town 🙂

The hiking started with 3 hours of descent and then a big climb after lunch up Wagontongue Mountain. The rest of the day was up and down on pretty rough terrain, sometimes with a trail, but often just cross-country. There were lots of trees to shade me but it still got rather hot.

When I got to my afternoon water source (a pool deep in a canyon), I discovered that one of the parts of my chlorine mix had sprung a leak. The stuff only works when you mix two parts equally, so that was it, no more treating water in this section. With visions of Giardia dancing in my head, I gathered the water I needed from a trickle above the pool, and then hiked off. It probably took an hour before I took a sip.

I think I’ll be OK, I’ve drank a lot of untreated water on this trail. The only thing is that southern NM has a reputation for poor water quality, so this really isn’t the place to be without a treatment method. I’m not sure how I’ll get something at the next “town” either, as its really just a tiny store. Problems for later I guess!

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 18, 2011
Day 117
Daily Distance: 32.6 miles
Trip Distance: 2353.9 miles

Very cold morning, which I attribute to camping in a canyon. I had condensation frozen on the foot of my sleeping bag (which I also later forgot to air out at lunch). The first three hours of hiking were very chilly. I had to stop and get water out of the ditch by the road, as the next source was 20+ miles away. Tasted fine (I’m so getting sick at some point).

I ran into a couple hunters as I was finally taking off my warmer clothes, and they gave me a sandwich and some chips. My new best friends? They were out for a 5 day hunt and hadn’t even heard an elk bugle (nor had I). Bad luck.

Then there was a bunch more road walking until finally I dropped into T-Bar Canyon and bushwhacked down it a few miles. It was quite nice really, and I was mostly able to follow cow paths. When I popped out of there, I was by the foot of Snow Lake, an artificial lake at the foot of the Gila.

The trail follows the Middle Fork of the Gila River as it winds through a canyon. It’s about 30 miles of trail and supposedly 70 crossings of the river. I’ve done 12 so far. Apparently the river can get quite deep, depending on conditions, but right now it’s barely getting my ankles wet. The canyon has been nice so far, if only because it’s a lot cooler. I will probably regret that tomorrow as I crash through ice to cross 🙂

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 19, 2011
Day 118
Daily Distance: 34.8 miles
Trip Distance: 2388.7 miles

Quite a day! I hiked another 13 miles of the Gila, as the walls of the canyon grew. Eventually, they were 1,000 feet tall! I know this because after lunch I had to climb out of the canyon and back into desert.

I think I did get in the 70 crossings, and the 13th was the most memorable. It was the first of the morning, and my socks had frozen solid over night, to the point where I couldn’t even contemplate getting them on my feet. So, first I walked a bit in just my shoes, not done up (laces frozen too). At the 13th crossing I washed everything in very cold water, which got them moving just enough to achingly put everything on properly. There were some grim, cold crossings early, but as the morning progressed it got much better. By lunch the cold water was a relief.

There were so many cool formations in the canyon, giant spikes, tons of nice little pools, and caves scooped out of sheer walls by flooding waters. I was somewhat sad to choose the Cliff Dwellings route rather than just continuing down the canyon to it’s end.

The Cliff Dwellings are these interesting pueblos built high into canyon cliffs. I was there towards the end of a windy, hot day and the caves were cool and quiet. Standing on one of the cave porches, it seemed like am awfully nice and peaceful place to live.

I had lots of time to think about that last thought while I walked the side of a highway 4.5 miles to Doc Campbell’s, the store where my next resupply is being held. It was closed (somewhat expected), and had a hand written note saying it’s closed til noon tomorrow (nasty and unexpected). It’s mostly annoying because there’s nothing else here.

Or so I thought! There may be no food or phone service, but I camped at a spot that has a natural hot springs. So I may be stuck here, but at least I’ll be comfortable!

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 20, 2011
Day 119
Daily Distance: 27.3 miles
Trip Distance: 2416 miles

I had trouble sleeping last night, tossed and turned quite late. The stars were nice though and I had a fly buzzing round my head for company. In the morning I passed by the spot where the Columbus route splits off, so that’s the last I’ll see of Chance, Kevin, and Piper for sure. Right after that though, I finally caught up with ET. I last saw him in Sula, Montana, but I’ve been following his footprints since before Grants. Apparently he was at various times only 30 minutes ahead of us.

We caught up and talked the morning away, and by late afternoon made it to Pizza Hut in Silver City. Probably not the best choice of late lunch, considering we still had hiking to do, but so tasty.

My big news of the day was that I figured out how I’m getting from the border home! Sam Hughes, a trail angel is picking me up at the border in his truck, Wednesday night. Thursday morning I’m catching a bus to Phoenix. Friday morning I fly home!

In less good news, I lost my SPOT Connect last night or today, so no more nightly GPS coordinates until the end :(. Also, the Hut did not agree with me and I regretted it all the way out of town. I’m now camped 20 feet off the highway south of Silver City, hoping for a relatively quiet night! ET decided to stay in town when we ran into Moneyshot, who is biking New Mexico rather than finishing it as a hike.

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 22, 2011
Day 121
Daily Distance: 28.6 miles
Trip Distance: 2467.1 miles

Well, I basically didn’t sleep last night. Every car woke me and dogs barked all night, making me think they were coming for me :). So that made the hike today painful. Pizza Hut was still disagreeing with me too, so I barely ate all morning.

I walked past this giant mine for about 2 hours in the morning, it was just a mountain or a pyramid maybe, of tailings. Then I climbed the only mountain around and on the way up got my first real desert water. It was out of a cow trough and the pool feeding it was totally fouled by cows. I took as little as possible.

At lunch I realized I had made a horrible miscalculation about how many miles it was from Lordsburg to the border. I thought 60 miles but when I added it up while looking at the water situation, I came up with 85. So my leisurely finish is now going to be a sprint! Also, the water looks pretty terrible the rest of the way.

In the afternoon it got really hot and my lack of sleep and food caught up with me. I had a little nap at the next water, another trough but this time at least the water was pretty clear even if in the trough it looked bad (lots of things alive and huge algae blooms). Then I used a Gatorade powder packet and that helped me push the rest of the evening.

I hit a solar powered water tank right after dark, and it still worked! Best water since town and I guzzled a litre and wetted my hat, bandana and shirt. I really hope today us just an exception and I get used to the heat or it gets cooler. As it is, I’m going to be up well before dawn to try and beat the eat a bit… And then walk 35+ miles, while stopping in Lordsburg to buy food.

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 23, 2011
Day 122
Daily Distance: 34.8 miles
Trip Distance: 2501.9 miles

Well, good and bad day! The start wasn’t great as I woke up in the middle of the night to puke up my dinner. I was also having ridiculous dreams about not being able to progress in my walk until I “did it right” (not clear who was telling me this). When I was able to sleep, I was dead to the world, catching up from last night. In the morning, I’m not sure how to put this delicately, I shit my pants. Something is definitely going on, but I’m still hoping not Giardia!

Onto the good – I made great time into Lordsburg, including a nasty bushwhack through the desert, where even the meanest grasses had it out for me in some way. In town I got everything done and then thundershowers rolled in! So I got out there and enjoyed the rest of the day sun-free. Knowing I had to make miles these last days, I sadly wasn’t able to do laundry, so I will be one stinky dude by the end.

I could barely eat in town, no appetite, and it all came up rather quickly after town. I think I may have to go the rest of the way on Gatorade and Jolly Ranchers, because everything else upsets my stomach pretty badly. I also took some Immodium, fingers crossed on that one!

I hiked well into the night, following a “hard to find in daylight” cross-country route. So I mainly just checked my GPS regularly and followed vague compass readings in between (hard to dead reckon with no landmarks!).

So the good news! I’m still on track to finish Wednesday evening! Keeping that in the forefront of my mind 🙂

Daily Summary
Date: Oct 24, 2011
Day 123
Daily Distance: 37.6 miles
Trip Distance: 2539.5 miles