Follow me on the CDT: The Great American Southwest

The road to hell is not in fact not paved. It is a rutted, dirt road called Forest Service Road 239. Calling it a road is an elevation to its actual status. The previous day we made it 8 miles on this muddy, ankle twisting excuse for a path before camp. Today we have to finish out the remaining 8.6 miles. 

No CDT hike is complete without road walks. In many sections of the New Mexico trail thus far, Forest Service or BLM (Bureau of Land Management) roads double as the trail. The more remote, 4×4 roads are essentially wider versions of the trail. You are still in the "woods" and there is little to no traffic. The closer you get to towns the more maintained the road and the more traffic. The worst type of road walks are paved, highway walking. It's just you on the shoulder with cars flying by 60 mph and not bothering to give you a little bit of space. 

I normally don't mind the dirt road walks. On a decent road we can easily keep a 4 mph pace compared to 2.5-3 mph on trail. However, the past week has been more road walks than trail. Since leaving Pie Town, we had 83 miles to the next resupply in Grants, NM. Only 16.3 miles of the stretch was on a trail. 

It was disheartening trudging along on road after road. Cars passed us heading to Grants in less than 30 minutes for what was taking us 3.5 days. The weather was not helping matters either. The storms that plagued us into Pie Town continued to chase us. It was taking special planning to find a long enough sun window during the day to dry out tents before the rain would start yet again. 

That rain was what made our current road so disastrous. Trucks had clearly continued to use the road in a muddy condition and now the ruts were 8 inches + deep. As I stepped in and out of the tire tracks, I couldn't help but feel that it would have been easier in the dried version compared to the slipping footprints of hikers who came through in the fresh mud. 

We were a day out of Grants. Blessedly we got some trail miles around the base of Mt. Taylor before our fate on 239. Despite having gone from desert to Gila oasis to desert, I am still surprised in the quick changing diversity of the CDT. Around Mt. Taylor we climbed to over 8,000ft and found ourselves in towering pine trees. 

By 9:30 am I saw a barbed wire fence ahead and knew we had finally made to the end of FS road 239. It also marked the junction to the first water source in 24 miles. Comments on our navigational app indicated the water was 0.25 miles down a side trail in a ravine 200 ft below us. The distance might have been correct but the descent and then ascent were definitely not. Jinx and I were breathing heavy by the time we hauled our water back to the trail. 

Unusually, Jedi was 15 minutes behind us. He is normally the faster hiker between the 3 of us but today he was not feeling great. I had suffered some intestinal upset from growing mold in my water bottle and it seemed he was on the same route. I knew getting off 239 was going to lift his spirits at least. 

All of our spirits were lifted a few hours later when the trail abruptly led to the edge of a mesa. I had no idea we had even been on a mesa! Standing on the edge with a pine forest behind us, we overlooked what can only be described as The Great American Southwest. Red and orange sandstone bluffs; drastic ravines carved by water long gone; flat top mesas dotting the horizon. Breathtaking! This. This was what I thought New Mexico was going to be and it was stunning. 

The trail weaved down the mesa, dropping a couple thousand feet to put us right in the middle of the picture I saw from above. Jedi was grinning through it all, but I knew he was hoping to make camp soon. Being sick is never fun, but on trail the discomforts are augmented. You need to keep eating to sustain your activity and yet the preservative heavy food in your pack sounds as unappetizing as it gets. He reviewed the miles we had left until the next town where he could get a Ginger Ale and an orange. 

And here is a perfect story of how Jedi has the trail name Jedi. Not even 30 minutes after him fantasizing over oranges we arrived at the 2nd water source of the day. There was more than water waiting for us. A kind hearted trail Angel had staged a cooler filled with none other than Ginger Ales and oranges. How is someone this lucky without using some sort of force?! 

It definitely isn't a talent he was born with, because his sister Jinx has the opposite experience. She prefers to describe it as "interesting" luck. Interesting it sure is. A good illustration of Jinx's luck is her ongoing feud with birds. Throughout the 22 days on trail, Jinx has regularly been attacked by a variety of birds. Early on a quail attempted to land on her head twice when packing up in the morning. A few days later another bird spooked both itself and her by landing less than a foot from her dinner prep. Then yet again, a dove flew and hit the vestibule of her tent while she was getting ready for bed. This is not a normal thru hiker experience. 

The soda and oranges really did revive Jedi. We camped shortly afterwards, and the morning brought a beautiful southwest sunrise and a recovered Jedi. I can tell you right now that it took me over 72 hours to start eating normally but hey, my trail name isn't Jedi. 

I packed up the tent still marveling at the incredible spot we found the night before. Everything was feeling right this morning. The temperature was comfortable, there was no rain, actual trail, and terrific views. Spirits were soaring as we blazed through canyons, up and down bluffs, and across smooth rock faces. The mood was helped of course by the trail magic we knew was a couple hours ahead of us. Trail magic is never expected but always appreciated. The Appalachian Trail is a mecca for trail magic and set an unrealistic expectation for trail magic on the other trails. My first week on the AT there was over 4 trail magic set-ups, complete with hot food. The CDT is the opposite experience. We have received trail magic 3 times and all beverages. 

Camp CDT Oasis was a full cook out. Breakfast burritos, pastries, coffee/soda, phone charging, and even a lunch to go. It was magical! A local hiking group organizes and staffs the make shift camp for the month of May. It is a testament to human kindness to receive free of charge food and comfort on a journey towards a personal goal. We stayed for over an hour and half chatting with the volunteers. 

When we finally tore ourselves away, we had more epic trail awaiting us. The remainder of the day was trail zig-zagging through and across red rock faces. There could not have been a better 500 mile mark! It takes organization on our part to track our milage and make mile markers. On trails with one designated path it is common to see pre-made miler markers. When I say "pre-made" I refer more to rocks and sticks rather than official signs.

We gathered rocks to organize a big 5-0-0. That is a lot of miles and it felt like a lot of miles. It took us 23 days, 2 nights in a bed, 2 showers, and 2 laundry loads. I enjoy celebrating the smaller milestones. It breaks down the overwhelming goal and provides excitement more regularly throughout the hike. 

From the 500 mile mark, we have roughly 26 miles to the town of Cuba. We walked into Cuba the following morning with the standard set of chores: resupply, charge, hot food. I also had a couple extra errands such as picking up my new shoes from the post office and hopefully locating pharmacy. Over the past week it had become increasingly evident that I have a UTI. As much as I was trying to ignore the situation, the pain in my sides was starting to disrupt my sleep and make the hiking difficult. Cuba is such a small town however that there are no commercial pharmacies. The closest one was over 60 miles away. The next town was 150 trail miles away and no guarantee of a working pharmacy either. 

We ate lunch at a hamburger spot while charging our phones. I was internally debating my options: do I try to hold out for another week and find a pharmacy elsewhere? Can I even get a prescription sent to a pharmacy? As I mused over my options, Jedi and Jinx were discussing the merits of staying the night in town. Motels were cheap and given the private land right outside town we would be committed to hiking at least 8 miles out this evening. The trail is public access but it is a no-no to set up camp on private land even if you are allowed to hike through it. 

It did not take much discussion for us to stay the night... And this was how we ended up taking our first zero. My best option of getting antibiotics was to take a bus in the morning to a larger town. I was disappointed to be taking a zero and also relieved to be getting the medicine I need. Despite not working, taking a day off hiking feels like cheating. Like calling in a sick day when you aren't actually sick. Ultimately the side quest took most the day but I did return to Cuba victorious! 

We all enjoyed our stay in Cuba. Jinx enjoyed the quirky motel where she could access the sink by sitting on the edge of her bed and Jedi was enamored with the gas station Mexican restaurant (honestly I'm not sure if the gas pumps even worked.) As for me, not having to pee every 20 minutes made the stay worth it. 

From Cuba we only have only NM town left!