Day 40-41, Chama Days
Miles hiked 0
The famous Cumbres&Toltec Railroad
The weekend was a mix of pleasure and work, even out here as a thru-hiker I have responsibilities to deal with such as speaking on behalf of the CDTC and representing ALDHA-West and the various companies that support me on trail. I spent the better part of Saturday preparing for our talk that evening about the CDT in New Mexico, which was held at the brewery in town. Due to the slow internet speeds and technical difficulties of making a presentation on an iPad I felt like my day was spent as an IT monkey more than a hiker.
At 9am on Saturday me and a group from the house that included Karate Kid, 2-Ply, Ledge, Bandit, Snorkel, Sweet Potato and a few others headed to the train station to see the start of the Chama Narrow Gauge Steam engine and to celebrate the town of Cama and the vet’s on hand for Memorial Day. The festivities were a great and true piece of Americana. The town had all of us thru-hikers come up for a photo and the town treated us like we were some special kind of explorer out in the mountains.
Big John tries out his pack with extra snow gear
The talk at the brewery started out a bit rough, in the long list of technical difficulties we experienced the TV would not work with the laptop for 30 minutes Myself, Bandit and Buttercup stood in front of the bar BS’ing our way through a talk that had been prepared and practiced. Finally, Teresa came back with a new cable and we were able to get the slide show going. We talked to the crowd of mostly other thru-hikers and town folks about New Mexico; its beauty, wilderness, and the amazing people we met along the way. Afterwards we rolled back to the rental house where we enjoyed a steak dinner to get us all fueled up before hitting the trail.
It was a great way to celebrate Memorial Day and get some well needed rest. The weekend had an air of caution to it as the next section we were entering is the San Juan mountains which are full of snow and have turned back many of our friends. We all had a few butterflies in our stomach before heading out but we rested as best we could and sorted our gear one final time before passing out.
Allgood, Let It Be, and Snorkel all catching up, I hiked some of the Appalachian Trail with Let It Be in 1996
Day 39, Back in NM
CDT mile 635.75, miles hiked 2.75
At some point in the night Buttercup heard a pop and about an hour later I awoke to drizzle on my face and a flat neo-air. I blew it up again and laid back down 15 minutes later flat as a pancake. I spent the rest of the evening tossing and turning as I lay on the frozen ground.
A stinky mess of thru-hiker shoes is best left outside
The sun finally poked its head above the ridge, we packed up and headed to the highway a big 2.75 miles away. We crossed a mile or two of snow but the cold night had consolidated it so we didn’t posthole too much.
The boys were a bit ahead, I saw the train station and given the snow on the trail I just set a beeline downhill for it. When I crested the hill I saw a large crew cab pickup parked on the side with Bandit and Freefall in the back. I started to run to not miss the ride.
20 minutes later and we were dropped off at the bar/hotel called Foster’s in operation since 1881. The restaurant was decent, we gorged on New Mexican breakfast and then waited around for our room above the bar. We finally got a room, showered and went to the post office to gather our heaping supplies of new winter gear and food.
When I gave my name the guy at the counter said man you have a lot of boxes….besides all my known boxes my friend Space Girl who also hiked the AT in 1996 sent me a big old box of candy and another friend from 1996 Sasquatch sent me a new inflatable pillow since my other got a few holes in the desert. The lady in line with us saw all of our boxes and kindly offered us a ride to the hotel so we didn’t have to schlep them back and forth to the hotel.
An hour or so later a huge storm started up on Cumbres Pass, we saw the sky darken, the lightning start and then it started to snow. Luckily we were all safe on the balcony taking in the show, but we wondered about Greg in Wild, Wildernessie, Cheezy and the French Couple. Don’t you know it but an hour later all but Wildernessie showed up at the hotel.
A nasty storm in chama
Wildernessie we were told stuck her thumb out and the second car that went by stopped. It was a past CDT hiker on his way home from hiking the Grand Enchantment Trail and he took her all the way to her destination.
We wrapped up the day with some good old-fashioned drinking at the bar, playing pool, bs’ing with other hikers and just enjoying our time in town.
Tiny likes to pet Elk in town
The next few days are busy ones as we retool our kits for the snow, celebrate the CDT at Chama days and on Saturday night Buttercup, Bandit and I will be speaking in front of the town about New Mexico and the CDT.
Historic brothel painting from the colorful past days of Chama
Day 38 NM, it’s not you its me
Crossing a recently thawed section of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness
CDT mile 633, miles hiked 26
No, no, no New Mexico you see it’s not you, it’s me. I need to go, I know you have been wonderful to me with your desolate yet beautiful bootheel, where is saw ocochita in bloom and hummingbirds feeding on them. You welcomed me into the Gila and amazed me with giant trees, cold water, and cliff dwellings. You didn’t stop there though you took me over Mt Taylor then by some of the most amazing crypto and sandstone canyons, and please let’s not forget El Malpais and Ventana Arch.
The trail angels and the ranchers we met were the best and the people of your state and are so friendly.
But you see here’s the thing, New Mexico as much as I love you and want to stay I can’t. I am a thru-hiker and it’s time for me to move on. You see there is this other girl named Colorado who is rumored to be nothing short of wild abandon and full of danger and adventure. As much as I want to stay with you my now familiar love I can’t, it’s time for me to go.
What I do understand is you not wanting me to leave, but really did you have to show me in such a harsh way.
A snowy forest service road was part of the game
It all started after we finished hiking through some wonderful meadows up some cliffs, and viewing elk. After navigating some snow and then opting for the road we came to the last option on the J Ley maps, an open and probably snow free road that went low or the official route through the forest. We left things to fate and flipped a coin, heads official, tails alternate. Freefall produced a quarter from his pack and flipped it into the air, heads it was.
High snow makes route finding hard at times
We started on the route at first it was not too bad, we took a break at 3 and ate some snacks, we saw that we were only 6.5 miles from the border so at 3:30 we set off. For the next 3 1/2 hours, we navigated snow, post-holing at times up to our crotch, getting scratched and having to constantly decide the best way either up, down or side hilling. Finally, we arrived at Dixie Creek which was snow free on its far bank.
A tiny high five to celebrate the border crossing
After a brief ten minute break to fill water bottles and rest the mind for a few seconds we, we plotted our way cross country to the border only a 1/2 mile away.
We came up the hill and there in the forest was a leaning sign and a defunct barbed wire gate, how fitting. We walked over the line and let out a cheer one state down and 4 to go. We, of course, took our celebratory pictures and then headed up the hill to make camp. The view is amazing and Colorado has greeted us with big mountains.
So you see New Mexico it was great and I will always love you and be back, but for now, the siren song of the Rocky Mountains is calling and I must go.
One state down
Day 37, Transition to the Mountains
CDT mile 607, miles hiked 26.3
A cool old trail marker in a tree
The first task for the day was to get to the river and get across it. A section hiker named Pot had told us that when they arrived the river was so high they had to turn around. The log over it was useless and he said it was too much for his wife. They also experienced much more snow in this section so we weren’t sure what to expect.
The river was flowing but not too high, the water was frigid from all the snow melt but we all crossed without incident. We saw the French couple again and played leapfrog with them all day. They are probably in their 60’s and do not speak a lick of English. But they are friendly, laugh and make an effort plus the two of them are strong hikers.
We climbed back up from the river back to over 10,000′ where we would spend the day walking through meadows and valleys, oh and getting a bit lost at times.
I missed a turn this morning up by the Vallecitos Ranch, I ended up walking to the end of the ridge by accident and having to turn around. A bonus was I saw this cool rock altar with a cool sculpture of the Madona. After sorting out where the trail was I carried on with the boys.
The altar I found when misplaced
We came to a lake that was supposed to have a water spigot but the solar pump was hit by lightning the other day so we were SOL. We used the water we had to cook at the picnic table and got rid of our trash. Man two days in a row of trash cans so great.
Actual honest to goodness hiker trash!
We lost Buttercup on the next section, we missed a turn and wound up doing about 1.5 extra miles before regaining the actual trail. We eventually found him asleep atop a climb waiting for us.
As we descend the valley we met a section hiker Purple Pants a nice retired man who has hiked the AT. We all stopped to look at a porcupine in a tree. We moved on and minutes later can across another porcupine and then another after that. We also came across a pronghorn and a 5 elk. The trail took us down a drainage in a meadow. Since the wildlife is abundant and we are all wiped out we decided to make camp.
Tomorrow will be the final camp for the 5 of us. We are only 25.6 miles from the border and the end of Freefall’s and Sweet Potato’s section hike. We plan to stop short of the border and enjoy one final night on the trail. It will be odd to not have them with us but I know that the 3 of us will carry on and watch each other’s backs as we work our way north.
Day 36, Cross Country Fun
CDT mile 580.7, miles hiked 26.5
As I laid in my Katabatic Quilt enjoying my morning coffee and granola I looked over at Freefall and there beside him was an elk and about 5 more moving in. One of the boys up above stirred and they took off. We had been awoken by their grunts just minutes earlier.
We left camp and today would be a day of many cross-country adventures either by accident, necessity or by choice.
Accident, we took the wrong road and wound up on a J Ley alternate we hadn’t planned on. We decided to go cross country for a mile or so to rejoin the trail.
Necessity, I was lagging behind and lost sight of the boys. I came to an area of blowdowns and wound up off trail in blowdown hell. I had to navigate my way back to the trail, I found Greg in Wild and then actually arrived ahead of the boys.
Blowdowns are the norm
Choice, we had the option of sticking to a road walk for 3.5 miles or taking a cross-country route to save 2.5. We chose the cross-country route and Cheezy and Nessie joined us and we had a fun time walking through the forest.
The rest of the day was spent in the high country, post-holing some but the snow is quickly melting. As of now, we deal with more ice cold water than snow. We also enjoyed seeing numerous wildlife on our cross country routes; wild turkeys, grouse, elk, mule deer, and squirrels.
Someone has awoken to spring, while we never saw the bear its tracks were cool to see
We did disappoint Buttercup today he wanted to hike 28.5 miles to the Rio Vallecitos A river which we have to cross in the morning. Myself, Freefall and Bandit were exhausted from the day. When we arrived at Bonita Canyon we decided to call it a day. When Buttercup arrived I could tell he was disappointed, his sad face was like a kid having Christmas taken away. Oh well time for sleep, I’m exhausted.
Day 35, Snap!
CDT mile 554.2 miles hiked 14.5
I awoke in the campground a bit groggy from the night before the full moon made it hard to sleep the past few nights. I packed up and was able to get a decent signal to upload my blog before others were up taking all the bandwidth in the campground.
An old home on Ghost Ranch
We rolled out to breakfast it was decent corn beef and hash, eggs with bacon toast and the usual fixings. After breakfast Buttercup and Freefall were to attend the worship at 9 am. I used the last few hours to send off some postcards and get those last minutes of Internet time in.
The box canyon
We rolled out Ghost Ranch and started up Box Canyon. We missed the turnoff and wound up at the end of the canyon. We turned around and that is when it happened I stepped on a rock that crumbled and down I went. Snap was all I heard and my Leki pole made of high-grade carbon fiber was snapped in half.
We got to the turnoff and Bandit said, “I’ll run back and see if I can get one from the folks at Ghost Ranch“. He is very thoughtful and also 10 years younger than me. He always seems to have extra energy. We sat in the shade waiting for him 35 minutes later Bandit was back with an older aluminum Komperdell pole. He said he donated $6 for it, but it works fine so we carried on.
The day was hot and we had to climb up and up over our final Mesa to finally leave Ghost Ranch and the valley below. In true fashion the CDT gave us one last desert hike before entering the mountains and leaving the desert behind.
The final bit of desert until Wyoming
We wove through various forest roads, we made a wrong turn and had to cross-country back to trail. We found our way and a mile or so later we stood in stands of aspens and what seemed like a lush forest, a true treat. Some of the best spring water yet was waiting for us and we settled in for the night close to the spring in a nice pine forest.
Aspen trees in the lush forest
Tomorrow we expect to hit our first substantial snow based on reports. Hopefully the river crossing will not be as bad as the folks a week ago had it, or this short guy is going to be swimming.
Day 34, Ghost Ranch
CDT mile 539.7, miles hiked 12.2
Mesas for days
The day started early with the sun coming up ever earlier each day, and the sun setting later telling us that summer is soon to come. We rolled out camp and shortly came to Skull Bridge and the Rio de Chama. It was running very fast, high and muddy from the snowmelt and recent rains. we marveled at the amount of water and then started down the dirt road towards Ghost Ranch.
As we walked the road the Saturday weekend warrior traffic started up. One after the other they drove by with kayak as and rafts but none stopping to offer us and soda or beer. Then it happened a white Subaru pulled over and started to chat with Buttercup we came along the other side and the vehicle behind stopped too and 4 nice ladies got out and gave us some amazing trail magic. First, it was coldCoca-Colaa a true favorite then we had homage chocolate chip cookie squares, lemon bars and some amazing cookies. After a few great minutes of chatting and snacking we moved on.
Amazing trail magic a cold coca cola never tasted so good
We hit the highway and started towards the visitor center we kept to the road until finally after a while I protested and we all decide to just go cross country to the ranch. We forded a small creek, walked some old roads and eventually made it to the ranch and visitor center.
We dropped our packs, gathered our boxes and waited around for lunch service to start. We were treated to a great meal of fish, veggies, rice, cake and salad. Man how great a salad bar is after eating carbs the past few days.
Ghost Ranch where we were treated kindly
The rest of the day was spent: doing laundry, sorting goods for the next leg, calling home and other tasks. We did take time to visits the museum on site. There is one anthropology museum that had pottery and other artifacts from the area. In the back was a paleontology museum focusing on the large amount of fossils found at the ranch.
One of the many fossils found at Ghost Ranch
We stopped by the Ghost House and learned some history of the ranch then checked out the art show where we were each given a pin to put on our packs.
Dinner was ok, they ran short on food and pulled out some chili rellano that were still frozen in the middle I nuked ours and they were fine. After dinner we attended the free bluegrass concert, it was good to see these amateurs get up and play for all of is it was a great way to wrap up the day.
Now back at camp we gorged ourselves in crack bars, pizelles, and other treats from home. We are storing all of our food down at the bathhouse so the camp raccoons don’t mess with it before we leave tomorrow. Nessie said she wanted to see a raccoon she has never seen one as they don’t live in England, hopefully, she get her chance. Well, time to turn in and try to fall asleep before the giant full moon is lighting up the place.
The Ghost House
