Tag: thru-hiking

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.[…]

April 28th, 2019 Burro Peak Trailhead mm 116.5 – Side Canyon tank mm 144 Distance in miles: 27.5 0630-1800 I found the best frog and horned lizard today, so I called it a “herpy” day. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians. I love salamanders but also other herps. I just don’t mess with snakes. Climbing almost 2000 feet up to 8000 feet in elevation was the order for this morning. The climb went well but all the while I was dreaming about a smaller and lighter pack. Just when I thought I was pretty content with my gear, Trail Days gave me a bad case of packserexia. There were many nice views around the tops of Jacks and[…]

April 27th, 2019 HWY 90 crossing mm 108.6 – Burro Peak Trailhead mm 116.5 Distance in miles: 8 1600-1900 I got enough sleep to feel refreshed and wasn’t too dehydrated from the beer the night before. We all headed out to attend the free pancake breakfast in the park, sponsored by the Kiwanis club. Free food had attracted all the hikertrash for many miles around and it was a reunion of sorts. I ran into P’Diddy, Relentless, and Salty, who had just arrived, plus the French couple, Elevator and Dustbuster, and a whole bunch of others. I then checked out the booths, looking at mostly gear I didn’t want or need. Although I was greatly tempted by Six Moon Designs[…]

April 26th, 2019 Engineer’s Windmill mm 100.1 – HWY 90 crossing mm 108.6, then ride to Silver City Distance in miles: 8.5 0700-1100 I slept so well, way better than I would have in town. I also did a good job of exhausting myself the day before. I did have a migraine because of the dehydration. Easily taken care of but I will have to do better. The morning was very nice, with cotton candy clouds all around. I caught up to Bearman and we hiked the short distance to the road. I had thought about hiking an additional 8 miles to make it to another trailhead but there was a guy with trail magic set up at the road.[…]

April 25th, 2019 Cache 5 mm 78.3 – Engineer’s Windmill mm 100.1 Distance in miles: 21.8 0630-1930 I didn’t sleep very well overnight because my legs were hurting, mostly my hips. But I woke feeling rested. The morning was nice with the trail winding through the hills to town. There is a road walk that shaves a couple miles and avoids a lot of ups and downs…many take it. But I’m here to walk the trail when there is one and was rewarded with seeing lots of birds and rabbits. I met a really nice french couple along the way. This was their first long thru-hike and also first time in the US but they seemed to be handling things[…]

April 24th, 2019 Tank mm 50.5 – Cache 5 mm 78.3 Distance in miles: 28 0640-1900 It’s another beautiful morning and we hit the trail aiming for the 4th water cache. There have been many other water sources from cow troughs and solar faucets but so far I have been able to make it from cache to cache carrying just 1.75 liters of water. I also chug water while at the caches. It’s been nice not to have to use my filter…even though it’s easy to do so. I’m just a lazy hiker and avoid doing any unnecessary work. Up the hill from the 4th cache is a sign about trail magic in 1.5 miles. Do we risk not tanking[…]

April 23rd, 2019 Water Cache box 2 mm 26 – Tank mm 50.5 Distance in miles: 24.5 0630-1800 I didn’t sleep very well. It rained lightly in the middle of the night so I had to adjust my tent. Then I was hearing weird noises…we think the drones were flying overhead. There were also coyotes. I woke 5 minutes before my alarm at 5 am and heard a great horned owl hooting. I don’t know where they roost but there is certainly plenty to eat between the rabbits and mice. A mouse scurried right past my door in the early dawn light. I had to pack a wet tent (condensation in the desert!). We were all on the trail early[…]

April 22nd, 2019 Mexican Border mm 0- Water Cache box 2 mm 26 Distance in miles: 26 0915-2000 I woke up with a migraine, not the best way to start off a trail, but it’s such a common occurance that I just manage it. Everyone was up early for the 6:30 am shuttle. I was shocked when a strange guy walked into the breakfast room and said “hey Twig, how are you doing?” I had no idea who he was but somehow his voice sounded familiar. Then he said “it’s me, Salty!” About that time I had finally recognized his voice. We had started and finished the PCT within days of each other and hiked several times together in the[…]

April 21st, 2019 Colorado to New Mexico…by car. My parents drove me down to South Fork the day before and I spent the night there with Lisa. She was giving me a ride to Lordsburg, New Mexico – the start of the trail. Lisa is an avid thru-hiker and trail angel and was offering a ride since she was going down to visit her boyfriend Radar. He is the guy that organizes and drives a shuttle to the border, delivering hikers to their destiny. I had discovered most of this info through the CDT hiker Facebook page. Overnight, I stayed with one of Lisa’s foster cats, who woke me up many times trying to cuddle, but it was still nice[…]

So I’ve been planning for this trail for about 2 months now, which I guess is the next logical step after already having hiked the CT, TA and PCT. But it goes deeper than that. My very first long-distance hiking goal from 20 some years ago, when I first became a backpacker, was to hike the CDT through Colorado, my home state. Now that I know I can do much more than that, why not the whole thing? Yes, I will hike the whole CDT. I’m going for what I call “the Inverted Triple Crown.” The official Triple Crown amounts to hiking the Appalachian Trail, PCT, and CDT, usually in that order. I’m counting my nearly 2000 mile-long hike of[…]