Follow Strider's Rambles

Day 116

Again we ate breakfast at the hotel. I was excited for the omelettes until I realized they were filled with American cheese. Still, I ate two, hike hunger is a thing! Quick Draw caught the Greyhound bus to Albuquerque to pick up his SUV rental. While he did that, I hung out at the hotel and drank lots of coffee. In my email, I found approval to enter the NDA that was established when the federal government gave the Army a chunk of land along the border. This happened back in May and only recently was information released on how to apply for access as the area includes the last 1.1 miles of trail and the border monument. I submitted my application yesterday.

After we packed our gear, we returned to Walmart. Quick Draw bought a one burner stove that attached to a Coleman fuel canister, a frying pan, grilled cheese fixings, eggs, chips, soda, and water. He also got a couple camp chairs and a cooler; basically all the trail magic essentials. I saw and chatted with Burger King, Safari, and Ruby Red plus met Ghost, another thru-hiker.

Since I’d already hiked to the Subway, Quick Draw dropped me off there. I left my pack in the SUV, taking a small bag of items that I wanted for the road walk. En route to the gas station we’d seen Stripes walking the road so when I set out, Quick Draw went back to check on him. Less than a mile into the road walk, I was offered a ride. Later a different guy stopped to check on me. I saw a herd of ~40 elk in the distance. Over time, off to my left, sandstone rock grew into cliffs.

I slack-packed 15 miles to the Acoma-Zuni TH. Top Shelf texted that she was at the Subway and hoped to reach the National Monument. As I sat on a fence and journaled, I heard footsteps and turned to find Butter. He’d taken the blue line out of town and visited both an ice cave and volcanic crater on his way to my location. We chatted about our preference for Grants over Cuba.

Butter set out along the road and a short time later Quick Draw pulled up. As he drove us to a pit toilet, located near an awesome rock arch, we stopped along the way to give trail magic to Butter. We found a camp site off a long, dirt road; Quick Draw slept in the SUV and loaned me his tent as there was intermittent light rain. While I ate dinner, he told me about the 60 sodas plus water jugs that he left in cache locations.

Day 117

I woke to find condensation on the tent walls. Happily we drove to a picnic area and I got to eat a hot breakfast! There was coffee and egg & cheese sandwiches, plus sauerkraut (I got a huge bag in town and put the leftovers in the cooler). Unfortunately, Top Shelf texted that her Subway sandwich made her sick and she was still in camp trying to recover. Quick Draw dropped me off at the Acoma-Zuni TH then went on an epic quest to cache water – for Top Shelf & I – on the red line south of Pie Town.

Okay, the PCT had a lava field, but with an actual well worn trail. Not long after setting out, I was walking across hardened lava mixed with trees and shrubs, the route marked only by cairns. There were chasms of varying widths and in areas with lots of rubble it took a stop & scan to pick out the next cairn. Early on I caught my foot on an attempted jump and fell, gaining a couple small scrapes. As a result, I took off my sunglasses and proceeded more carefully. All in all, it made for slow going.

Several miles into the lava, I encountered Mallory & Chris. They were drying their tent and felt slowed down by the lava, though they’d taken the blue line so they had much less to traverse. Their plan was to continue east and take the brown line. Top Shelf and I appear to be the only ones sticking to the official CDT through this section. After I left them, I saw a tarantula. One benefit to the slower pace was a meditative connection to the landscape.

Much much further along, 15.4 miles, I reached the El Malpais Information Center. I looked about with a lost expression and a ranger directed me to the water spigot. He even ran it to flush any stale water. Then I set off along Hwy 53 with a little under four miles to the intersection where I planned to meet Quick Draw. Top Shelf texted that she still felt like garbage and was going to set up her tent ASAP in hopes of sleeping it off. I reached my goal, the Co Rd 42 intersection, and soon Quick Draw arrived and whisked me off to a flat spot where we could camp together.

Day 118

When I set out, the shadowy portions of the landscape twinkled with frost. A speedy 5.7 miles of road walking brought me to an information board. I topped off my water from the cache, carrying three liters as the next 20 trail miles were dry. Apparently the trail followed the Chain of Craters, a line of more than 25 cinder cones.

The trail wound around, between, and a couple times over the outer slopes of the cinder cones. They were really just mounds of rock covered in trees so not too impressive. I found a campsite with a bunch of thru-hiker trash and filled a plastic grocery bag, hanging it off my trekking poles, still in my pack. The terrain was fairly flat and cruisy. A lizard scurried under a rock, which I lifted to look at its speckled back. It ran off before I could snap a picture. For a couple minutes, I watched a tarantula.

One of my water bottles was full of Limoncello Bubbly, my trail magic drink request to Quick Draw. Definitely a treat as I usually drink only water and LMNT. After several hours of music, I started an audiobook. The terrain became repetitive so after 16 miles I took a dirt road that intersected Co Rd 42. A couple miles down the county road, the trail crossed near a parking area with a water cache. I looked inside the cooler and found snacks & sodas, courtesy of Quick Draw. He’s a generous and busy trail angel.

Quick Draw picked me up slightly south of the water cache. I navigated as he drove to fetch Top Shelf, some 16 trail miles behind me and still struggling with low energy. We found her and drove a short distance to a large flat area. She and I set up our tents. Quick Draw assisted me since his Zpack Solo – which I’m borrowing for the remainder of the trail – has finicky guy lines. We all ate a hot meal, which Top Shelf said felt good in her stomach, then chatted for a bit before heading to bed. It was already cold so I put on my down hood and booties before snuggling into my sleeping bag.

Day 119

I woke to a tent covered in frost. When the three of us ate breakfast inside the car, the temperature was 27 degrees. Top Shelf commented on the car’s luxury compared to the Honda CRV that she lives out of when off trail. Fueled by car warmth, we shook out frosty tents and packed gear. Quick Draw drove Top Shelf back to where we’d picked her up. I’ll see her in Pie Town in a couple days. Then he took me back to where I got off trail.

Jenn, the local trail angel who regularly stocks the water caches, stopped her car to chat with me. In the afternoon, I met Bryce, a Great Divide Trail cyclist in a bright, shark patterned shirt. Quick Draw stopped on his way to Pie Town and I snagged a few pieces of candy. Otherwise, not much to report, the day was all road walking with one tarantula sighting.

I hiked 26 miles and was 2.6 miles north of TLC Ranch when Quick Draw picked me up. Originally, I’d thought to hike into Pie Town and hang there until Top Shelf caught up. However, since I’d be killing time anyway, it made more sense to zero with Quick Draw the following day, his last full day in New Mexico, then continue my hike to Pie Town. So he drove us to Grants and we decided to stay at the Quality Inn.

We dropped our gear in the room and went to Teppanyaki Grill. It was all you could eat, made to order plates. The atmosphere was a bit sad; the food was tasty and filling. After dinner, we returned to the hotel room and chilled. Quick Draw put on the Big Bang Theory and I half watched as I added pictures to a blog entry.

Day 120

I woke with a headache and took ibuprofen, but an hour later it was still there, though dulled, so I went to the breakfast area for coffee. Who was sitting at a table other than Swampy! She yelled “Strider!” and we hugged. Then I joined her and several others – Bird, Knotty, Pig Pen – at a table. Swampy and I caught up on the last couple months. Eventually Quick Draw realized I wasn’t coming back and came out to hang. All of us chatted and snacked on breakfast offerings.

Quick Draw took Pitch Perfect, Knotty, and another hiker to the blue line trail intersection, while I hung with Swampy and others in the couch area. When he returned, I went with him to drop Pig Pen, Bird, and Swampy at the same spot. Then we picked up Pop and Rally and he drove them further up the blue line, to where the first three had hiked since being dropped off. The first portion of the blue line was not exciting (suburban neighborhoods) then it got scenic with rocky cliffs and trees as we drove several miles further to check on a soda cache near a huge, circular tank full of clear water. It was neat to see a large portion of the alternate that I did not take upon leaving Grants.

Top Shelf, who had felt well yesterday and hiked 26 miles, texted that she felt crappy once again. Quick Draw and I decided to go rescue her. To give him a break, I drove, and he put on a Billy Joel playlist; we both sang along. On the way, we saw Safari & Ruby Red and stopped to see if they needed anything. Ruby drank a soda. Usually diligent red liners, they took three zeros in Grants and were skipping the lava field/ cinder cones to make up time. We said goodbye and found Top Shelf a few miles down the Pie Town road.

Quick Draw drove to Pie Town, where I picked up my two boxes and pre-ordered GF tart cherry pie. Then we headed 40 miles south, all three of us singing along to his Billy Joel playlist. At an entirely empty water cache near Hwy 12, we cleaned up trash and empty bottles before leaving 10 full gallons.

Quick Draw had an idea to cache further water for Top Shelf and I. He drove west along Hwy 12, then took dirt roads east toward the CDT. We reached the Gila River alternate junction. He wanted to drive further along the CDT, however I noticed that we were getting low on gas. The three of us hiked into the woods and hid two water gallons and several beverage cans in a stealthy spot. Mission accomplished, Quick Draw drove to Quemado for gas. We made it with 10 miles left on the tank.

At that point, we were all getting hungry so Quick Draw drove paved roads back to Grants. Top Shelf commented that he and I bantered like siblings. The two of them have a great dry sense of humor. Back in town, we went straight to the Asian buffet. There were nine other hikers there, people I hadn’t seen since Colorado like Roadrunner, Lark, and Dusty. I was most surprised to see Steam Engine, who I heard got off trail. Apparently he did for a time, went home and changed out gear, and got back on in New Mexico.

The Asian buffet was next door to the Quality Inn. I gave Top Shelf half of my queen bed. The three of us stayed up chatting until midnight, while Quick Draw & I drank hard seltzers and I slowly ate about half my 6” cherry pie.

Day 121

During the night, I realized I could ship gear from the Grants post office (I’d originally planned to do so from Pie Town). Upon waking, I put my tent, bear spray, old pair of shoes, and misc. other items in my large resupply box. The front desk even had packing tape! The three of us got coffee and a few breakfast items before we headed out the door. Quick Draw dropped Top Shelf at the clinic and then took me to the post office. After I shipped my box, we headed back to the hotel to pack.

Quick Draw and I made a quick Walmart stop. I got a couple food items – not sure how long I’d be waiting for Top Shelf – and he got a shirt for the plane ride. Then he returned me to the exact point where I got off trail. I gave Quick Draw a big hug goodbye, I’ll miss him! Then he drove towards Pie Town, to drop my resupply food and some other items at the Toaster House, before he headed to Albuquerque to return the rental car and catch his flight home.

At the clinic, they took Top Shelf’s condition seriously. The doc gave her IV liquids and took a stool sample. Her bloodwork showed her to be healthy so the doc said everything pointed to Giardia. He wrote her prescriptions for a Giardia specific antibiotic and a probiotic. She shuttled to the south side of town and got a room at the Quality Inn to begin healing.

Where I found the first part of the road walk dull, I really enjoyed the remaining miles. I felt contemplative and listened a diverse selection of music. Eventually I returned to my current audiobook. In the late afternoon, I arrived at the Toaster House, a free hiker hostel that runs on donations. When I walked up, Burger King yelled out a welcome.  In the kitchen, I happily found Safari & Ruby Red and met Long Stride. The four of us ate dinner and chatted. They were all in the downstairs bedroom. I ended up selecting a bed in the upstairs space, along with Burger King and Flavor Town.