The Dago Diaries

CDT mile 552.1, miles hiked 24.6

A nice change was walking in the forest that reminded all of us of home

I stirred awake at dawn it had gotten below freezing last night and shoes were frozen, along with the inside of my tarp.  I sat up and immediately was rained on by frozen ice, I shrugged it off, lit my stove and ate.

We headed out for the start of the day each of us anxious to get moving and get warm. The first mile or two had some snow but it was hard and consolidated so we only post holes a few times.  The trail dropped us into a nice pine forest and meadows.  The walking was easy and we made great time.

We took a break by a stream I grabbed 2.5 liters and the others a little less.  We discussed where the next water was, the map showed some streams along the way that were seasonal, however, no one of considered the fact they were at 6500′ and that we were back in desert territory.

Enjoying our favorite trail snacks streamside

As we started the climb up from the highway we talked about the seasonal stream 5 miles ahead, it was noon so we stopped for lunch and siesta.  By the time we left it was 1:20, we each had the least amount of water possible. Funny one day in the high country with snowmelt and water everywhere and all of us get cocky and figure there will be water ahead all day and didn’t bother to read the water report.

After making the climb I was strolling down an old dirt road the water was a stream off the trail about 2 miles ahead.  The road ran parallel to a creek but I saw it was dry.  Figuring there would be no water ahead I was stunned when I went for the hose of my hydration pack only to take my last sip.  The recent rain has had left a few puddles of muddy water in the tire tracks.  I figured what the hell and grabbed a couple liters to be safe.

A mile down the road I was looking for any sign of where to access the stream.  I saw Bandit’s pack them Buttercup’s, I gave a shout and we soon realized Freefall and Sweet Potato had each missed the stream.  They each had packed out enough water for everyone, we packed out extra in case we found them and then to Bandits amazement I chugged down a liter of the puddle water to get hydrated.

The trail quickly began to descend to Ocilto Canyon, off in the distance we could see large mountains covered in snow, is that Colorado we wondered?  We eventually found Freefall and Sweet Potato by a stream at the bottom of the descent, we snacked and then headed on.

More amazing scenery

Our camp tonight is in a pine and sage forest about 1 mile from the Rio deChamaa, and only 12 miles from Ghost Ranch.  I am sure I’ll be dreaming of town food tonight it seems to be the case every time it’s town day eve.  I look forward to visiting the ranch and opening all the boxes waiting for me there.

The ever import at sock drying

CDT mile 527.5, miles hiked 17

I stirred bed not wanting to wake up, I had such a great night sleep the night before dreaming of the ocean and fishing, I guess all this time in the dry Rockies has me missing the ocean a bit.  I finally got up showered in the crappy low water pressure shower at the hotel and started to pack. Suzy and I chatted for a bit she had arrived in Boston on her way to Virginia To see her mom.  I packed up and then a pile of us headed next door to have breakfast before hitting the trail.  About 13 hikers sat together enjoying a hot breakfast and sharing tales of the trip so far.

Buttercup and Freefall battling it out

We headed down the main road and then turned onto a smaller road that would take us to the trailhead.  As we walked the road it turned from pavement to dirt and there we saw a 4′ bull snake laying in the little bit of sun we had.  We carried on and came to the trailhead where Greg on Wild, Cheezy, and Nessie were eating lunch.  We ate and then all of us started up the climb of 2000′ we had to climb to reach the top of the mountain.  We encountered some snow patches and we walked through the forest, and soon came to a meadow that was more of a marsh.  For the rest of the day, we slogged through wet meadows in water and mud up past our ankles.

We met 3 ultra-runners out on a long trip from the Ghost Ranch area.  The 3 of them stopped and chatted with us.  One guy knew my good friend Bobcat and one other was on the Altra team with my friends Anish, Snorkel, and lint we chatted for about 10 minutes and then we all started on our way.

Back in the wilderness

We came across a snowmelt stream and gathered water before going a bit farther and setting up camp early.  We had made good time so since we stopped early we gathered some dead wood and made a small fire to warm up and hang out for the evening many stores were shard and the 8 of us had some great laughs.

The group enjoying a small fire to warm up at 10,000′, From yellow ground pad, counter clockwise-Freefall, Sweet Potato, Greg in Wild, Cheezy, Bandit, Wildernessie.

The full moon is back and bathing the campsite in its soft glow.  It’s cold but manageable and I am getting all tucked into my quilt for a nice nights rest.  Tomorrow we plan to hike about 26 miles to set us up for a short 11-mile day into Ghost Ranch on Saturday.

The group is motivated to get Nessie to Cumbres pass and Chama by the 26th so she can get to Denver to meet her boyfriend flying in from London.  The two of them plan to flip up north to East Glacier and southbound the rest of the CDT together.  It will be sad to see her go as she is a great spirit to be around and keeps us all laughing during the day.  Cheezy plans to keep northbound and her and Zorro will leave Chama with us on May 29 to enter the San Juans and begin the two – three-week snow adventure that awaits us.

Alright time to sign off and get some sleep, this blogging nightly on trail is tough

Big John soaking his feet in my mini bathtub

In one month I have hiked 510.5 miles in 31 days or 16.47 miles per day average not bad considering that as of March I had been sitting in a cubicle for most of the past 16 years.  I have loads well over 20lbs and feel as fit as I was 10 years ago.
Today when I stirred I looked at the weather and saw a hazardous weather outlook for the area we were heading calling for snow and lightning so I talked with the boys and we decided to stay an extra day here in Cuba to rest and relax for an extra day.

As we lounged around the hotel watching movies and stinking the place up, we watched a sea of hikers trickle in.  First Greg in Wild showed up late last night after doing a 32-mile day, pretty good for a guy who is 62, he found my sandal along the way and returned it.  Today the following hikers arrived: Zorro, Boston Chris, Big John, The 3 girls Peg Leg, Cheezy, and Nessie (wildernessie).  Elusive, Buddy Backpacker and team, Popeye, Gnome God, Cowboy Stripper and I believe that’s it.

Dinner at Bruno’s

We enjoyed a few more meals at Bruno’s and the highlight was pilling in the boys’ room to watch Terminator together.  The rest of the day was spent soaking feet, and basically chilling out.  Tomorrow we leave for the next 3 day stretch to Ghost Ranch, we expect some snow on north facing slopes and then we plan to get a taste of Colorado on our way to Cumbres Pass.

I am happy to be giving up the extra water carries but there is no such thing as a free lunch so with the mountains comes the snow.  Oh well, the only thing to do is walk north and keep our wits about us.

Trust me it looks better at night

CDT mile 510.5, miles hiked 13.5

Tthe sign sums up this town

When I woke up I had to admit to the crew that I had been dreaming of food all night and even woke up and ate a bag of gummy bears at 2am.  My hiker hunger is real and as I lied in bed eating oatmeal and having coffee I took inventory of my food: 2 bars, a hand full of gummy bears, and some almonds was all that was left in my food bag.

Sweet Potato left before the rest of us, he wanted a head start since he has been lagging for the past few days. The rest of us walked together at the let’s get to town pace.

Morning cardio on the mesa

We climbed the last Mesa before town and enjoyed walking the rim.  We then descended a canyon that would drop us at the highway.  We found Sweet Potato sitting by the highway.  We had a short break, ate our remaining food and then high tailed it to town.

The walk along the highway went by quickly and we soon arrived at Cuba, a small town which has seen better days. We opted to stay at the Del Prado, the type of motel only a hiker or a hobo could appreciate. The owner is hiker friendly and we all settled into our rooms for showers.

Walking the canyon to the highway

Lunch consisted of a great Mexican meal at Bruno’s that included a margarita and a shot of tequila.  We bought our food, called home and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

The classy Del Prado Motel

CDT mile 497, miles hiked 26

Sunrise from camp

As we woke up we got to see the sun rise over the various mesas in the area, it was a glorious sunrise with pink skies and stunning landscape to view.  We packed up and headed out.

I had been warned that this area was dry and to make sure to stay hydrated and carry extra water, but no one told me it was also going to be some of the best scenery yet.  We walked atop the mesas weaving our way in and out of sandstone canyons with goblins and the most amazing rock formations.  This is how I envisioned New Mexico.

Bandit enjoying the stunning rockscape

We made decent time but often found ourselves stopping to take pictures of the scenery and enjoyed the amazing views.  We came to a road crossing and to our delight found a water cache with cool bottled water, we each enjoyed some, signed the register and then headed the two miles to the spring to get our fill up for the next 15 miles.  The spring was an actual faucet with cool clear water coming from the ground.  We each grabbed 4 liters and then headed out into even more amazing country.

The desert is a bloom this time of year

We all hiked to various places, I was a bit sluggish today and was behind the group.  The bonus though was I saw my first bull snake lying across the trail.  We stopped for lunch and had a brief shower. The past few days have been cool with dark stormy skies.  While we enjoyed the cloud cover we have often debated when we would get hit by the weather.

The next spring we came to was in a grotto at the top of Jones Canyon.  The water was decent but the real surprise was some ruins of an old stone Adobe.  We debated camping there as the thunder rumbled in the background but after some debate decided to go a few more miles to the base of the final Mesa before the town of Cuba.

Ancient Crypto holds the soil in place and gives the landscape a cool texture

As we left the spring Buttercup said to me, “it’s good we are not sleeping here tonight, there is ghost here at the spring and we will be safer by the Mesa”. So now it becomes clear that I am afraid of aliens and Buttercup is afraid of the ghost a fine pair to be traveling together to Canada.

As we walked the wind started to howl and we all put on jackets and moved as fast as we could.  We finally made the base of the next Mesa and tucked into some trees, as soon as I got my trap up the rain started.  I hunkered down and cooled my dinner of stuffing.

I made a quick call home, my poor wife has been having a hell of a time at work with the big office move.  She filled me in on the happenings and I could tell she was very sad.  I felt bad being thousands of miles away and not being there for her.  I long to give her a big hug and hold her in my arms.  The past few days I have thought of her often and to be honest I have a touch of homesickness.  I knew being away would not be easy but still, the reality of not seeing your loved ones for months can wear on you at times.

The love of my life and the support team back home.

Well, tomorrow is town day, luckily the chore list is short and I only have to buy some food, go to the PO and rest as much as possible.

CDT mile 471, miles hiked 30.5 (1.5 miles was for water gathering at sources off trail)

Freefall crossing a burned area of the mesa

We set off for the first water supply Los Indios spring 10.5 miles from camp, we strolled along the road making great time.  We arrived at the springs at 10:30 am and decided to have an early lunch.

I used the opportunity of fresh piped spring water to clean up and do some LNT laundry.  My socks from the past few days and my boxers were so coated with sand and salt from my sweat it was like sandpaper rubbing against my skin.  Out here our biggest fear isn’t bears or wildlife it’s getting chaffing so bad of your nether regions that it’s hard to hike.  Lately, I have been dealing with a great deal of nipple chaffing from my shirt.  Buttercup informed me it is because I have what they call in Germany “beer titties” fitting since I do drink a fair amount of beer, we explained to him in the US we call these moobs.  Luckily with a good washing and the nipple butter, I bought in Grants the chaffing seems to be getting better.

One sure-fire way to avoid the dreaded chaffing that will give you a strange gait and day of hiking hell is to try to stay clean.  My good friend Disco had a great way to do this, bring a blue sponge and use some water in a ziplock to wash regularly.  So as we ate lunch I did just that and have myself a good scrubbing and put on clean underwear, it really is the simple things in life that bring great pleasure.

A new type of trail marker along this stretch

We climbed back to the trail from the canyon and continued across the Mesa to the next water in 13.5 miles.  The pace was fast today and at 1:30 we took in a view of where we were goings and decided to push as long as we could.

We descended the Mesa to an amazing canyon area, each step taking us closer to a classic western landscape.  We arrived at Ojo Frio Springs where we filled up for another long water carry.  Since we would be dry camping we all loaded what we could, 6 liters for me and we set off to wrap up the day.  As we worked our way across this plateau we were amazed that you could even navigate such a crazy landscape.  As dusk fell we tucked in behind some hills.  Even though the sky was threatening all day most of us have decided to cowboy camp, let’s just hope it stays dry tonight.

My view from camp tonight

CDT mile 442, miles hiked 23.5

The top of Mt Taylor 11,301 included Zorro, Wildernessie, Cheezy, Peg Leg, Greg in Wild, Sweet Potato, Freefall, Buttercup, Bandit and Allgood

The day started with warm temps, it might have been the warmest night yet on trail.  Our bags didn’t even have condensation so we ate breakfast, packed up and headed to the trail for our big climb up Mt Taylor, an 11,301′ tall peak and the highest point we will hit in NM.

The climb started at a nice grade through a grove of old aspens, then at around 10,000′ we broke through the forest to meadows of grass all the way to the summit. The trail was nicely switched backed but the elevation got all of us and we moved slowly uphill each at their own pace.  Finally I reached th summit spur and saw the boys up top.  We all gathered at the summit and I let out a might shout of RICOLA to the valley below.

Shortly after making the summit Greg in Wild, Zorro, Wildernessie, Desperado (later to be re-named Cheezy), and Peg Leg all joined us at the summit. Being Saturday some others day hikers shared the summit with us and we were able to get a great group shout of all 10 of us a the the summit, a real treat.

We threw a few snowballs, ate snacks and then the 5 of us started down leaving the others to their break.  The north side of Taylor still has some snow and we had to post hole for about a mile.  This was a good preview of what lies ahead on trail.  After post holing reapeatedly I finally got a few cuts on my legs from the icy crust, my bleeding would later be good trail markers for the ones behind us. At one point many left foot went down and got jammed.  I layed in the snow looking like Ralph from the movie the Christmas story, stuck and unable to get up.  I had to take off my pack and start digging to finally get my foot loose.

American Canyon

I met the boys at the bare ground below and we grinded on.  The next climb really was the bigger, by the time it was over most of us felt out of gas.  We worked our way down a road and eventually came to American Canyon Spring.  As we ate lunch we debated if it would rain today as the sky has been dark and stormy looking.  Buttercup once again assured us all that it doesn’t rain in New Mexico.  A few hours later it did sprinkle on us.

Myself and the rest of the boys were spent and at the standard 4 o’clock break we agreed to stop hiking at 6:30 and get some rest for tomorrow.

The safe haven of my Gossamer Gear tarp

So I lay now under the safety of my tarp ready for any storms that might come tonight.