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The excitement I felt the night before heading to the Southern Terminus of the Continental Divide Trail kept me up pretty much the entire night. What kind of adventure awaited me on this crazy journey? How blessed am I to be able to attempt such a trail? How will my body hold up at the start? These thoughts and many more plagued my mind as I lay there staring at the ceiling. I feel honored to be able to call this my life and explore places that I would never have seen if I didn’t fall in love with thru-hiking. But these thoughts eventually go quiet, and I am able to get some sleep before heading to the terminus with my family tomorrow.
Day 1: Goodbyes and a Rainstorm
Miles: 0 – 18.5
Driving down to the terminus with my family was an adventure all by itself. Between taking a wrong turn so we got there later than expected and the dirt “roads”, it felt like they could have gotten stuck out there dropping me off. I had prepared enough water and food for me but definitely didn’t have enough for my family. It was a fun topic to joke about as we slowly made our way to the terminus. The joking conversation allowed me to put some of my nerves away and focus on the time with family as I likely wouldn’t see them for a month or so if all goes well.
Family Photo at the Southern Terminus
After some goodbyes and last-minute jokes, it was time to take off and start my thru-hike. Watching their car drive away definitely made me miss them as I could see the dust cloud for probably the first 3 miles of trail. But then the rain came, and I couldn’t see for more than a half mile or so. Where did it come from? There was no rain on the forecast I saw, and the sky was clear until I go walloped in the side of the head by some rain drops. I laughed to myself as this was a funny start to the desert and similar to my start in the desert section of the PCT a year ago. I knew it being a “wet desert” was only temporary during this rainstorm and some really dry patches were to come. I made it to water cache 1 around 13.9 miles in and topped up on my water – shoutout to the CDTC for the water cache. Without it there is nothing around. Pushed on some more miles to set up for a nicer next two days and then made camp. Sunsets in the desert always have been stunning to me.
Sunset and Camp Night 1
Day 2: The Heat Comes
Miles: 18.5 – 41.5
I wake up from a light sleep and pack all my things to be out on trail by 7:30am. It was a cold night, but I know the heat is coming. The sun may be beautiful, but it is something I am trying to hide from as much as possible out here. Looking around however I think that might not be possible very much over the next day or so. It is flat and barren with my heart jumping for joy at every “tree” I see. They are scarce – maybe one every 4 or so miles. Shade in this stretch is a hot commodity, and I meet my 1st fellow thru-hiker in a shady washed-out ditch that we both thought was good enough for a break. Picked up water from the cache at mile 25.4 and carried that until a water tank at mile 38.3 where I could finally break behind it in some shade.
Plenty of Bones Line the Trail
The heat, lack of water, and lack of shade definitely had me rethinking my desire to thru-hike this trail. These were not feelings or thoughts I had at all on the PCT really, but I kept trying to not compare the two and treat them as two separate experiences. One thing is for sure – I won’t be calling the PCT desert section an actual desert anymore. It does not compare to the heat, dryness, and vastness of it out here. I knew the first stretch into Lordsburg would be a bit miserable for me since I like trees and water, but it was a step or two above how miserable I even thought it would be. If I went into this section expecting to enjoy it, I think I would’ve had a harder time mentally. Already being prepared to embrace the suck definitely kept my mind focused on future miles that I am excited for. But to get to those we need to put in the time and earn them here. I make camp at mile 41.5 to get away from the cows at the water tank and prepare for another hot push tomorrow. Onwards I must go.
Day 3: Am I a Cow?
Miles: 41.5 – 62.9
I wake up on the morning of Day 3 with a better outlook. Maybe it’s because I’m a little more in the routine now or maybe it’s just that I slept better. Either way the morning miles fly by as I work my way towards the water cache at 44.5. There I meet two thru-hikers who started the day before me. Maybe I’m going a bit too fast at the start but thinking about that I don’t think so. I’m taking leisurely breaks at every shady spot I can find. Shoes off, feet up, and shut eyes. The miles are just flat and fast since they mainly follow dirt roads up until this cache. After I refill my water, I take off, finally not on a dirt road but on some paths that weave through the desert. Looking down I see only hoof prints and it makes me chuckle.
Follow the Hoof Prints?
The land here is definitely covered by traces of cows. Whether it be their poop or paths they carve in the land, they are the true thru-hikers of this section. This made me have a debate in my head for about an hour – Am I currently more cow or thru-hiker? It seemed like a funny topic to debate so early on in the trail. Have I already lost my mind this quickly? But what fun is there in keeping my sanity all the time. Eventually I figured that the only real difference between me and the cow was that I was going to leave this area, and I carried my own food. We both got water dropped off by lovely people but besides that and walking through this section there weren’t really that many similarities. So I ended up calling the cows “The Section Hikers of Lordsburg” and that was the end of my debate. I followed these cow paths until reaching a metal tank for water at mile 60.8. Filled up there and then pushed on to a lovely juniper tree I spotted across the barren land. The shade was lovely and again, the sunset in the desert didn’t disappoint.
Day 4: Shady Trees and Naps
Miles: 62.9 – 79.2
The best day so far – hands down. Waking up early I pushed through a really open and exposed section. Probably no shade for 5-6 miles. But then the trail did its first climbing and rewarded us with a beautiful stretch of shady trees. My mileage slowed significantly – mainly because I didn’t need to push into town today, but I wanted to take the guaranteed shade where I found it. Took 2 breaks and two naps withing a mile of each other and never felt better. Just look at this spot and tell me you wouldn’t nap here.
We Love Some Shady Trees
Alas, I had to leave the shade at some point. Suprise surprise – I pushed on to the next water cache at mile 76.8 before hiding behind the cache in the shade for a few hours until it was cooler. From the cache it was only 7.2 miles into town, so I didn’t feel pressured to move much. But I went and put in some more miles so i had under 5 miles into town. Started thinking about the McDonalds breakfast menu and was easily convinced to close the gap on town.
Day 4: Nero in Lordsburg
Miles: 79.2 – 84
Hiked the 4.8 miles into Lordsburg and grabbed my breakfast sandwiches from McDonalds. Got a hotel room for the night so I am hanging out at the public library until it is ready. The people of these small towns are always the sweetest and make me feel really welcome. Felt like I was getting the royal treatment when I got a whole tour of the library and shown to my own corner with a computer. So shoutout the Lordsburg Public Library – loved my time there. Planning to take off out of town tomorrow morning to begin the stretch towards Silver City. Looking forward to hopefully more shade and less long water carries.
Til next time! Vibes out!
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