Follow Strider's Rambles

Day 110

Quick Draw and I went to the Cuban Cafe for breakfast. We barely sat down when Chris & Mallory walked in and we invited them to join us. We met them for the first time at Ghost Ranch. They are section hiking the CDT; part of Colorado and all of New Mexico. They have a Jui Jitsu gym in San Luis Obispo. Along with plentiful coffee, I enjoyed a large veggie omelette and hash browns.

A Dollar General was across the street from the breakfast establishment. I finished the resupply that I’d begun at Saveway and Quick Draw did most of his resupply. We headed back to the room to organize our food and pack our gear. At Saveway, we encountered Freebie, a Japanese hiker, and Quick Draw ran inside to grab a few things. One more stop at a convenience store, to use the restroom, and we began the 4.2 mile paved road walk out of Cuba. Freebie attempted to hitch it.

Slightly beyond the road walk, we veered 600 ft. off trail to access a large circular trough filled by a solar panel powered pump. Quick Draw relocated a large, upside down bucket and fetched us clear water. Cows looked on curiously as we filtered it. After walking a short segment of dirt road, the trail veered into the desert. Slowly we ascended in elevation, taking a break on top of a cliff that overlooked lumpy, rounded foothills and a flat desert floor.

New Mexico felt like paradise; I loved both the terrain and sunshine. Another five miles of hiking and we claimed a small campsite, then walked 0.2 miles to a trickling spring tucked into a sandstone grotto. After fetching water, we set up our tents facing one another. Quick Draw shared hot water so I got the treat of a warm ramen dinner. We chatted while we ate, then I slipped into my sleeping bag as the desert chill grew.

Day 111

It was a chilly night and morning. Though we were up early, we lingered in our tents before reluctantly packing our gear. Then we stopped by the spring for more water. It tasted strongly of cow, yet it was 14.6 miles to the next water source. I’d put citrus salt electrolyte in one bottle before realizing there was a taste to the water, citrus cow was kind of gross, though it grew on me.

For the first five miles, we hiked many small ups and downs. The dips contained sandy soil and spiny plants. The tops were smooth rock plains where the trail was marked only by cairns. They reminded me of the needles area in Utah. Junipers thrived throughout, occasionally with twisting trunks and tufts of green reminiscent of bonsai. We stopped ~10.2 miles along to sit and eat lunch on a shaded rock bench.

The 14.6 mile water source was three large tanks and a spigot. It was good, clear water with no taste so I carried a little extra. We did a lot of cliff top walking, the trail stayed up high to circle around valleys and offered sweeping views of distant rocky knobs. Occasionally there were sandstone towers or flattish rocks balanced upon soft, weathered stems that gave them the appearance of mushrooms.

The day’s final water source was a giant tire with several inches of clear rain water. From there we hiked another 1.5 miles, the clouds turning pink on the horizon. It was another small campsite so again we set up our tents facing one another and ate a warm dinner. It’s been awesome to have a hiking buddy for this section of the trail!

Day 112

A handy thing about tight tent spots is that you can hear when the other person wakes and time your morning activities appropriately. The goal is to synchronize tent take down so that neither person has to wait in the chilly morning air. We were out of camp at 6:50 am. Early on there was a cute cow group with white faces and brown bodies. It was an easy 4.5 miles to a wide wash which looked intimidating at first with rippling mud and a thin, chocolate colored stream, however, I led us across a weaving route that kept our feet dry.

A chill wind blew crosswise to the trail so I up layered, adding on my rain jacket. I saw a large jack rabbit, my first in New Mexico! Seven miles along, we came to a giant tire trough brimming with clear-ish water. Then came a 1700 ft. climb, which I enjoyed as it was mostly short, zig-zagging switchbacks. Looking back from 2/3 up, I had a sweeping view of knobby escarpments rising from the desert.

Following the climb, the trail was super flat, though still windy. We sat in a juniper nook to eat lunch. A short time after, I saw a couple hiking towards us. They were trail maintainers, with a section that covered 12 miles between two springs, and they opened daypacks full of trail magic snacks, many GF. While Quick Draw and I snacked, we chatted with Christie & David. Meeting them was such a nice and unexpected surprise!

We were saved the off-trail hike to the next spring as there was enough water in the nearby road junction cache. Afterwards, the trail became a dirt road along which we made excellent time. We covered 25 total miles before setting up our tents atop soft pine needles. Since I’d eaten all my M&Ms, Quick Draw shared his bag of peanut M&Ms. He also loaned me an inductive cell phone charger when my iPhone cable failed to charge my phone.

Day 113

It was chilly in camp, though we shared a cup of hot coffee, which warmed my hands. Once we started hiking, it was even colder. My half empty water bottle began to slush. A too short 1.3 miles and we reached our water source, a large pool of brown water with frozen edges, accessible via an easy lava rock down scramble. When my fingers got really cold and I crouched to warm them behind my knees, Quick Draw kindly finished filling my water bottle.

Once the sun lit the landscape, the day warmed quickly. This time there was no wind and I basked in the warmth. After 6ish miles, two elk hunters rode by on 4-wheelers and invited us to their campsite for trail magic. Another mile later, we entered their camp. While I drank a hot cup of coffee and Quick Draw had a beer, Roy, the older man, cooked eggs and sausage on a camp stove. It was his 30th year hunting in that spot and Ray, the other man, was his son. They were using muzzle loader rifles to hunt elk. I told them that I saw an antelope earlier. Roy said antelope were recently introduced to the area. Quick Draw joined the guys in eating breakfast burritos and I had eggs with green chilis and cheese. After profuse thanks, we headed out.

In the early afternoon, I was excited to see a metal gate that looked like those on the AZT, though lacking any trail emblem. Then Quick Draw spotted wild horses and we watched the four of them gallop past, all black, and one was a foal. They circled to the east before they stopped amongst trees. A short while later, I spotted three deer. It was a large critter day!

In FarOut, I found a campsite near a privy and we got excited to camp there. However, the privy was locked and the campsite was in use by car campers. We continued a short distance and found a site near a fenced pond within a green pasture. My iPhone cable decided to resume operation. After dinner, I was journaling in my sleeping bag when I felt the beginnings of a nosebleed. I caught most of it with my handkerchief and was able to clean the initial drips off my sleeping pad.

Day 114

The morning felt warmer than the last couple and started with a semi-steep uphill. The terrain reminded me of an Arizona sky island, heavily forested with spruce and fir. We were on the slopes of Mt. Taylor, a dormant stratovolcano, the explanation for the large amounts of volcanic rock that I’d seen the past couple days. I saw a fox or coyote run across the trail.

Soon we reached the day’s high point and begin a long descent towards Grants. Slightly past a dirt road, there was a spigot on a plastic pipe that protruded several feet above ground level. It had a high pressure, clear flow and we mused over the water’s origins as we filled our bottles. With 16 miles to town, I filled two liters; they’d be fast, downhill miles.

As we dropped in elevation, the terrain transitioned to piñon and juniper, with large patches of bare, brown soil. It was a long, gradual descent to Lobo Canyon and the paved highway that we hiked into Grants. Though Grants was a good-sized town, population ~9,000, it was only 4ish miles to the hotel area on its southern end. We checked into the Best Western then went to Dairy Queen for dinner.

Day 115

The hotel’s dining area had a decent breakfast with plentiful coffee. Quick Draw meant to take the Greyhound bus to Albuquerque to pick up a rental car, but he mixed up the departure and arrival times. After he had no luck getting an Uber, he decided to pick up the car tomorrow. We walked to Walmart and encountered Flavor Town, who was also there to resupply.

Back at the hotel room, we ate bagged salads for lunch. I made two signs, one for Quick Draw’s finish and the other to hitch five miles. We walked to Rte 66 and got a hitch in 10 minutes. The kind hispanic lady was curious why we wanted to hitch to a Subway five miles away when there was one across the adjacent overpass. When we explained that Quick Draw was finishing his last five miles of a hike from Canada to Mexico, she was psyched to be included. The Subway was his technical finish so we took pictures there.

We walked the highway to a railway overpass and took a gated dirt road to the rails, disturbing a sunning garter snake. A cargo train whipped by, then we hopped on the tracks. I hoped to see a rattlesnake or other snake species sunning itself on the tracks. Instead we saw miscellaneous items that apparently fell from the cargo containers. These included dozens of dog chew toys, a dozen HDMI cables, and a couple of power tool battery packs. Back in the hotel area, we cruised by Walmart so I could get some sauerkraut. On our way out, we ran into Stripes. I like how I went to Walmart twice and each time saw people I know. That doesn’t even happen in Colorado!

Top Shelf hiked into town in the evening. Quick Draw and I met Flavor Town and Stripes for dinner at Taco Bell. It was fun to catch up with Stripes. I hadn’t seen him since the Butterfly Hostel; Quick Draw hiked a bunch with him and Phoenix early on in the trail. Flavor Town took off and Top Shelf joined us. Then Top Shelf, Quick Draw, and I headed to Dairy Queen for further food items. Afterwards, we headed to our separate hotels to make the most of town luxuries.