CDT mile 160.5 miles hiked 17.5
the boys walking the roads out of town
Town is always a vortex and pulling one’s self away from the comforts of fresh food, beer, a soft bed, flush toilet, etc…is never easy to do.
We all regrouped at Nancy’s Cafe in the morning for a hearty breakfast before we headed out. A last-minute trip to the Post Office to send off items ahead and then a visit to the visitors center. The visitors center in Silver City is a wonderful place and Rebecca and her staff are top-notch and hiker friendly, please be polite and help keep the place clean so all of the future hikers will have the same hospitality.
The walk out of town takes you along a road for about 8 miles, it wasn’t the best or worse road I have walked and we gained a bit of elevation, but frankly, it seemed to go by quickly. We left the pavement for the dirt, dirt road that is- We are doing the Gila River alternate so our path took us along forest service roads, by an old mining operation and then up into the mountains.
All of us were moving slowly coming out of town we all felt sluggish from days of lounging and eating mass quantities of food. As we worked our way up we started to hike by amazing rock outcroppings and passed the Devils Garden, funny almost every place I have hiked has had a devils garden or similar devil name somewhere along the way.
Allgood and Freefall at the start of Devils Garden
We finally made our way to water and right around the 17.5-mile mark. We were beaten and all we wanted to do was get some h2o, cook and pass out. Unfortunately, we had to get water and walk a few tenths of a mile to find a suitable camp.
I was the last one to make camp and I was exhausted. I went to the only flat area where everyone was camping and it was by Sweet Potato as I was getting ready to drop my pack and relax he informed me I couldn’t camp there because I might snore and disturb him. To say it pissed me off was an understand statement. I rolled my eyes and set off to find a flat spot so I wouldn’t disturb the princess and the pea. After crossing the trail I was still not finding a flat spot. Finally, I climbed up some rocks and there found a nice spot tucked in between rocks and trees to make camp.
I was far from the group but my nerves were shot and I just wanted to be left alone after that incident so I made camp, cooked dinner and fell fast asleep for the night.
A barrel cactus in full bloom
