October 6th
I cruised along in the morning. I was a little surprised to see a headlamp behind me, but it was SBJ and MLL. They easily passed me as they are great hill climbers. The morning would be spent going up an old trail.
The trail was uphill but not as bad as I had feared. It eventually topped out in the San Pedro Peaks wilderness area. It was mostly flat and had several meadows and grassy flats they called parks, for good reason. I did encounter two pairs of other hikers. Complete opposites. The first was two guys. “Hi” was the substance of our communication. The second was two ladies. The lady was very familiar with the CDT.
Descending, the trail rapidly went from alpine, to pine, to mixed deciduous/pine to, finally, shrubs. The descent was along a stream that caught the sunlight and had colorful leaves floating in the pools. Why does anybody hike this trail northbound?
SBJ, MLL, and I road walked in to Cuba, New Mexico. I stopped at the Frontier Motel where I would find my resupply and my old Granite Gear backpack. Cuba was a typical fading New Mexico town along a highway. It had some great points. El Bruno’s was a great restaurant. The Frontier Motel was pretty good, with an almost brand new bathroom and the manager (Rosemary) was great.
backpacking over the hill 