Author: kaulua26

Monday Apr 26th, 2021, 0630-1800Rattlesnake Spring to Comanche Pass, Segment 35, mm 690.523.5 miles It was another relatively warm and calm night. I heard some sort of nightjar calling but wasn’t sure what kind. While I was forcing my dinner down the night before, a single mosquito got a bite in before I could even recognize what it was. It was maybe the 4th I’d seen all trip. Flies and gnats were also a non-issue. I guess the struggle to find water all the time came with some benefits. To start the day, we walked some more ATV roads to a graded forest service road, then up 4 miles to a somewhat abused and neglected campground. It had a great[…]

Sunday Apr 25th, 2021, 0630-1930Grey Ridge cut to Rattlesnake Spring, Segment 34, mm 66825 miles The wind settled down nicely overnight but once again, my stomach did not. I woke around 1 am feeling the need to puke. I just couldn’t let that happen, so I tried some herbal remedies that helped settle my stomach and put me back to sleep. I still woke with a knot in my stomach and could only manage to choke down a banana for breakfast. I’d had no appetite whatsoever for days and my stomach was visibly distended, even though there was nothing in there. I just felt bloated. I couldn’t imagine how much longer this could last. I should have gotten better by[…]

Saturday Apr 24th, 2021, 1100-1900Johnson Hill (Socorro) to Grey Ridge cut, Segment 33, mm 64323.5 miles (plus 9 from Thursday’s attempt) I had never been so on the fence about finishing a hike before. I didn’t manage to hold dinner down overnight and the knot in my stomach felt the worst it had when I woke up. I fretted for hours overnight about what to do. I knew Tom was ready to walk again, so at least that was settled. Sam was driving to Phoenix on this day, so I could have just gone back with him and given up on the rest of the hike. Or I could hang out for a few more days, meeting Tom down the[…]

Tuesday Apr 20th, 2021, 0630-1900South Canyon to Socorro20 miles (Plus 3 days on pause following this…it’s a long post) It ended up being a lot warmer than expected overnight, but at the cost of some vicious winds. Starting around 1 am, 40 mph gusts roared down the mountains. I had to get up to fortify some stakes and even then, I worried that my tent might be ripped apart. The tension of waiting for each wave to hit, hoping it wouldn’t be the final blow…needless to say I didn’t sleep very well. My pinion pine didn’t do a lot but it was better than nothing. I guess we should have camped further inside the canyon but who’s to say the[…]

Monday Apr 19th, 2021, 0830-1900Magdalena to South Canyon end, alt to Socorro via Magdalena mountains.25 miles The skies cleared and the weather was forecasted to be great the rest of the week. Time to hike! But first we had to finish the big plate of leftovers that Osiris and Michael had given us the night before. They were going to be closed for several days and hated wasting food, so they often gave leftovers away to customers. The plate was a sampling of mostly fresh and perishable stuff like salad and slaw…. all stuff I was in bad need of. So Pro tip for starving hikers: check their hours and time your visit appropriately! Having gotten only a 2 day[…]

Saturday Apr 17th, 2021, 0630-0930Monica Tank to HWY 60, then ride to Magdalena10 miles It was so terribly cold overnight. I woke to pee around 3 am and found that all my water bottles were frozen. I made several cups of coffee in the morning to warm up, having to break ice to do so. It was hard to pack with my hands so cold and not functioning. At least I had less to pack, since I was wearing every piece of clothing I had. Even my teeth aligners froze when I took them out to eat breakfast. This was probably the coldest night I’d yet experienced while thru-hiking, well into the low 20’s. Walking didn’t help a lot. We[…]

Friday Apr 16th, 2021, 0800-1830Indian Springs to Monica Tank, alt to avoid Potato Canyon19 miles The answer to the cliff-hanger of Day 29 was that Tom was just fine, if a bit tired and sleepy. He made it back to camp around 1:30 am with water in tow. I woke up early in the morning as usual but took it easy, in case and understandably if he wanted to sleep in. He didn’t really, so we were back on trail, grinding like always. It had been quite cold overnight. The little mud puddle at the spring was iced over. So it was good that we had another big climb to a place called Grassy Lookout. There was a fire tower[…]

Wednesday Apr 14th, 2021, 1300-1900HWY 52 to San Mateo Canyon, segment 27, mm 51017 miles I woke up thinking this would be a fine place and day to take a zero… that’s how much I liked the cabin. Even though this tiny town had hardly anything, it had just enough…provided the general store was open. I was up early to get some blog work done, so I went over to the church. Pastor Jim had invited us to go inside to use the wifi, so that we didn’t freeze sitting outside. It was a lot like a library, only all the books had a very specific theme. When the long-awaited general store opened, we had 2 more surprises waiting. One[…]

Tuesday Apr 13th, 2021, 0630-1030Duck Canyon solar water tank to HWY 52, then road walk/hitch to Winston, segment 27, mm 49412 miles All was quiet overnight, save for some coyotes. We got an early start, eager to get to the road to maximize our hitching luck…perhaps we could hit rush hour into town? Sunrise over the San Mateos was fantastic. We walked a series of farm tracks and some cross country to get to the road. The landscape was open prairie, with views for miles. We saw a herd of about 40 elk along the way. They ran all over the hills, in and out of sight. We could follow their movements behind the hills by the dust cloud they[…]