Day 8: Silver City Redo

April 29th, 2019

Side Canyon tank mm 144 – mm150.6

Distance in miles: 6.6

0630-0930

It was dead quiet overnight…not even a cricket. I went to bed before it was even dark but then woke in the middle of the night, legs and hips hurting. Guess I’ve been pushing too hard. I had to take another pain killer. But then in the morning, nothing was sore. Getting old I guess.

I hiked down the canyon, enjoying the rock formations. I was hoping to see some deer, bear, etc but all I found was more cows. There was another tank that I thought of hiking to last night and I am glad I didn’t. My campsite was so nice and cozy. Plus all the cows were here, making lots of noise.

I made it to HWY 180 and started walking east towards town. It is a long road walk and the amount of traffic made me uneasy. There were lots of big trucks going fast. If a ride were to make itself available, I figured I would take it. I walked hundreds of miles on roads in New Zealand, for the sake of walking the length of the country, and I am glad I did. But I’m not sure about walking all these roads in the US. So I took a ride from the first guy, Josh, that slowed down. At least I put in a good mile and a half on the road.

I got dropped off at the RV park and was shortly taking a shower and washing my clothes. I decided that a week in the desert was enough stink. The park has pretty good rates and everything is conveniently located. The clerk at the office swore I looked identical to the only other tenter, a cute blond girl on a fat-tire bike trip around the southwest. I look nothing like her but it’s flattering.

I spent much of the rest of the day trying to get blog posts to upload. I had to copy and paste everything from the app to the webpage, which is so tedious. I tried deleting and downloading the app again, then deleting and reactivating jetpack. I even restarted my phone several times. None of my troubleshooting worked. Oh well.

I made it to the PO 5 minutes before it closed to mail all the stuff I collected at Trail Days…stickers, patches, pins, etc. None of it is worth the $8 to ship but ahh the memories. I got a CDT bandana… it’s a keeper since I never got one from the PCT. I promptly lost the PCT pin I got in Wrightwood so I also don’t want to loose the CDT pin that Capt’n got me.

I had hypothesized about checking out the shops in town, waiting to mail stuff in case I found some trinket I couldn’t resist. But who am I kidding, I’m too much of a minimalist to shop for souvenirs. Besides a horny toad or two in my pocket, I want for nothing. JK about the horny toads…and I’ll take a new Nashvillepack Cutaway pack if anyone is offering….

I finally hit the town for a reminiscent drink at the brewery and a hot meal at the Mexican restaurant. My mouth is on fire after a lot of salsa and green chile, which doesn’t bode well for tomorrow morning. I am still all by myself and somewhat lamenting being out of the bubble suddenly.  Trails, though they may be new, are still full of ghosts from the past. Speaking of ghosts from the past, I recommend following Cosmo/ Roseanne’s blog on her hike of the PCT this year. We did the TA the same year and although I never met her, I have enjoyed her blog and her pictures are very illustrative: roamingwildrosie

I ran out of steam on my dinner and was already ready for bed. It’s a good thing to have to walk back to the RV park, since my stomach is so full. I never found any other hikers in town and am ready to set out for a 180 mile stretch in the Gila, alone. There will be many river crossings. But I’m sure I’ll run into someone along the way.