October 25th
I had reviewed the maps and determined that I could make one good push and get to Lordsburg in a day. My plan had been to get within about 10 miles and cruise in on a third day of hiking. However, I needed to figure out some logistics and thought I should just get in to town.
The early part of the day was mostly scrub oaks, pines, and Junipers. The trail went up and down a few hills, through some cattle operations, and eventually crested just above an abandoned mine. From there, I could make out Lordsburg in the distance. The best part of the morning hike was smelling the desert after the rain. It is not that organic, musty smell of a forest after a rain, but a sharper, more metallic smell. I liked it. Plus, the storm had moved to the east and the sunrise highlighted the remnants of last night’s excitement.
For your edification, hiking trails in the desert present their own challenges. If there is little tread, it is very easy to mistake a small gully for the trail. Especially after a rain. And plants in the desert have this unspoken law where they do not grow up next to each other. They usually leave space. Determining whether you are looking at open natural space or a trail can be tricky at times. I probably took about 20 wrong turns during the day, but am experienced enough at this point to know quickly I am off course.
I passed one solar well that had great water and I filled up my two liter Platypus bladder and also my one liter bottle. (In case you don’t know platypus is a brand and a bladder is flexible plastic bag for liquids….I am not using the small internal organ of an Australian egg laying mammal.) This well pulled the water right from the ground through a spigot. Later, I came across a second solar well, but the water was terrible. It was sulfuric smelling and tasted rotten. This one filled a large tank and the tank then drained down to a lower, accessible tank. As I was leaving, I figured out the large tank had no top so whatever insects or creatures that lived (or died) in the large tank were invisible. I ended up pouring that water out.
In the late afternoon sun the trail dropped to slightly level ground, it was a grueling walk of at least 8 miles across open terrain. The Continental Divide Trail Coalition had placed 8 x 10 white signs on six foot metal posts as markers for hikers across the tread-less land. Inexplicably, they only had signs that faced one way and most were positioned to help north bound hikers. Since the signs are posted about 100 to 200 yards apart, it took a pretty sharp eye to spot the next sign. On top of this, in the fall, the native grasses produce seeds. One grass in particular produces a seed that is dagger like. It went through the fabric of my trail running shoes, my wool socks, and lodged in my skin. After stopping a couple times to remove the offenders from my shoes, socks, and skin, I did the manly thing. I put duct tape over the exposed fabric part of my shoes. This did the trick.
An odd thing that happened involved grasshoppers. All of a sudden, the size of the grasshoppers doubled. These southern New Mexico insects were huge and colorful. I tried to get some up close photos, but my shadow quite often spooked them.
I ended up walking in to Lordsburg at night. On my left side, cars and trucks whizzed by on the highway. On my right, various size dogs would bark and lunge out of darkened front porches. I finally wandered through the city and found my motel and the McDonald’s next door. As I approached the McDonalds, a homeless guy was out front. He was going to hit me up for money, but as I got closer, he looked me over, shook his head slightly, and went to the other entrance. After I ordered, the homeless guy came in with a man who bought him dinner. Apparently, I look so bad the homeless people won’t ask me for money. While I waited, I looked down and noticed the duct tape on my shoes and realized I am a through hiker.
backpacking over the hill 