Days 6-8: Mountain Lions and Water Dependence

Putting the stretch from the Southern Terminus to Lordsburg behind me was definitely something I was looking forward to. It was a hot, barren stretch of trail with little to no shade and only water at the caches that the CDTC provided. As I continued north, I was looking forward to the tiny shrubs becoming trees and the water caches turning into running streams and ponds. But that may have to wait until after Silver City and I head towards the Gila. But there is a lot to look forward to in Silver City, as I feel blessed to have some relatives of Free Bird’s in the city so that I can have home-base in the area. With Trail Days for the CDT being hosted in Silver City, maybe I will be able to hang around for it!

Day 6: Mountain Lion Sighting!

Miles: 84 – 106.5

Took off out of Lordsburg on a roadwalk and then a then a long shadeless stretch across a cow pasture. I left town early knowing I had 14.5 miles to go before getting to a water tank setup for cows. With how hot it was and lack of shade, leaving early was definitely the right decision. Albeit a very hard decision leaving air conditioning for a blistering hot road walk, but even this early on trail – Canada calls to me.

Saw the Mountain Lion Here Around Mile 102.7

I reached the water tank around midday, ate lunch there, and cameled up on water. Refilling on all the energy and water I spent getting here. I felt like it was too early for me to really call it a day – even though I’d already done 14.5 miles – so I pushed on with plans to make it to the next water cache at mile 106.5 to camp there for the night. Little did I know this decision would lead me to my first ever sighting of a mountain lion! I came around a bend while near what is nicknamed “The Quartz Throne” and saw a mountain lion darting off the road I was walking on into the bushes. Immediately I was excited by the sighting but then a little freaked out! Called my parents and then Free Bird so there would be some noise while I was hiking for the next 20-30 minutes and basked in the luck of seeing a mountain lion. I talked often on the PCT about seeing one but I never would have imagined seeing one so early on on my thru-hike of the CDT. When I finally reached the water cache and got to relax I found myself quickly setting up my tent to “hide”. Funny how one thin layer of dyneema can make me feel invulnerable. I doze of reminiscing about the encounter and now wishing I got to live in that moment a little longer. Feeling blessed by this trail and viewing this as a sign of good things to come.

Day 7: Trail Angels and Water Caches

Miles: 106.5 – 128.3

Water caches seem to be the life blood of the CDT in this stretch from the Southern Terminus to Lordsburg and then Silver City. So waking up at one I took the bare minimum to make it to the next cache 7 miles away since the one I camped at was running low. I left my comment on FarOut updating the status of it to let people behind me to plan accordingly and took off towards the next water cache located at the Burro Peak trailhead. Making quick miles in the coolness of the morning, I walk up to a welcome surprise – a stash of soda next to the water cache. And even better, they were still cold from being out overnight.

Love a Cold Soda and a Stocked Water Cache

After indulging in a cold can of soda, I began up what I would call the first real climb of the CDT – Burro Peak. It wasn’t too tough but I definitely did not choose a good time of day for it as I found myself at the summit at right about noon. Boy, was it hot. I’m sure missing the coolness of that can of soda right about now as I sit there eating my lunch on the peak. After lunch I continue this usual song and dance of walking towards water. There was a spring that I filtered some water from during the descent and then pushed on towards the water cache at mile 128.3. After I set up camp there and filled up on water for the night, one of the trail angels in charge of this cache showed up to grab bottles and refill them tomorrow morning – Luddite was his name. We chatted for a bit and I was glad to be able to express my thanks to them for what they do to help us hiker trash. Without them we wouldn’t really be able to do what we do. After he took off I settled down for the night and prepared for another long stretch with no water tomorrow morning.

Day 8: Lack of Water

Miles: 128.3 – 144.7

Performed the old routine of breaking down camp, filling up my water from the cache, and planning how long til the next cache or water source. This time it seemed I had a shorter day of only 14 miles to a stash of water at a trailhead near the highway. There I would camp and then do a 13 mile roadwalk along a highway into Silver City the next day. Alas, this day did not go as planned at all. 

Dry Streams Are Common CDT Hiking Trails

It was blistering hot today – the hottest day I’d hiked so far. Luckily there was plenty of shade as with the climb the previous day came the trees. So many breaks were taken and the miles were slow. Since I only planned for 14 miles I figured I could meander today at a slower pace to keep cool. But in the back of my head I found myself worrying about the water. There were no recent comments on the stash and the last from 3 days ago had it as very low. So I pushed forward to get there at a reasonable hour in case I had to call an audible on the whole situation. When I did get there, there was no water. With how hot it was and no water until town I decided to call the audible I had in my back pocket. The water was supposed to be at this spot a mile from the highway. So instead of camping there I walked down to the highway and hitched into Silver City. After getting into town and chugging some water I’m glad I had an audible in my back pocket as I was overheating pretty significantly before I got the hitch into town. After I cooled down I bought a pizza and got a room at the Motel 6 to recover and make plans for what to to do the next few days.

Day 9 & 10: Zeroes In Silver City

Mile: 157.6

Looking back where there was no water – there was a cow tank off trail surrounded by barbed wire fence that I did not check out. Since it looked like I didn’t belong, I decided to not go over there to check it out and planned on refilling at the cache. This was likely a mistake on my part and I should have potentially been more thorough but we live and we learn. 

I’m taking two zeroes in Silver City to kind of just kill time while I have lovely people to stay and chat with. Planning to potentially hike up to Doc Campbell’s Post and then get a ride back down to Silver City for Trail Days. More to come as plans and the trail unfolds. On to more adventure I say! Vibes out for now!

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