Our goal was fifteen miles a day to mile 75 and then a last day of nine miles into Lordsburg.
Lordsburg is 13.2 miles ahead and we have reservations for tomorrow night. Laundry, showers and food.
Silver City will be mile 157.6 or about 73 miles from Lordsburg. We will need four and a half days worth of food.
We had a great campsite last night. Woke up at five and started hiking to catch the sunrise at the saddle. Underwhelming, but great hiking in cool temperatures.
We caught up with other hikers at water tanks and caches. The last tank was our target at mile 69. Plenty of water but no place nearby to camp.
typical water tank
We hiked back to the trail after a break and found a tree within a mile or so.
So far I’ve seen a couple of horned frogs, lizards, crows, hawks, an alpha cow and her calf (bravely defending the mud and cow water) a couple bulls and more cows.
We got up at mile 36.6 and were hiking in the dark. The tread (the footpath along the trail) was nicely visible the entire way.
The water cistern, tank and pond ~14 miles from the cache were bone dry, too low to dip and not bad after filtering. Too many people skipped the pond because it looked ugly.
At the next cache we caught a ride from Radar who took us into Hachita. We ran into Tim who was on his way back to Lordsburg and he took us back.
Great place for a hot meal.
We would run into hikers we left at the cache who were amazed we caught them.
I carried an extra three liters of water from the tank to a pretty campsite.
We set up early because the other campsites were probably taken and we needed to rest for the day.
Tomorrow we get up early to catch sunrise at the saddle and need to do 17 miles because of the way water availability breaks.
We got up before 5:00 and were on our way by 5:38 and hiking by moonlight. I later discovered I had lost my reading glasses at water cache 1.
We bear the heat and some of the wind and resupplied water at the cache.
Some parts more desert than others
The other sources were dry and the wind was strong. I could feel a cold I caught last week and we camped near the road instead of at the tank 2.8 miles ahead. We will filter water there and catch a shuttle at the cache at 44.5.
The toe I stubbed around mile four is finally feeling better.
Many talk about how this day is not a favorite. It starts ok but the red line can’t be found in the dark and keeps getting lost for the first half.
Water is only at the caches. The wind can be brutal. But the day was better than I expected.
When I have more bandwidth I’ll be able to add pictures.
Walked across town to the shuttle and arrived at 6:00 and talked with the other eight people heading out.
Waiting with everyone for the shuttleLoading the trucks up with our gear
There were two vehicles full of people and we had some pretty rough roads. I was glad to be in 4X4 extended cab trucks.
The Crazy Cook “Monument”
We arrived at the terminus around 9:30.
At the southern terminus with TBD, Skeeter, and others
First thing I did out of the truck I badly stubbed a toe. That would bother me for several days. However, even with the late start we hiked 17.1 or so more miles. While we took some breaks we made it to the water cache about mile 14. There we filled back up with water and got fully hydrated.
From the picture you can see just how flat the land is out that way.
After the water we did 3.3 more miles to find a place with less wind to camp at. I typed the original blog entry then at around 6:00 while we ate dinner. We expected to probably get to sleep by 7:30 and get up around 5:30 and hike some in the dark to avoid wind, sun and heat.
One of the standard ways to get to the Continental Divide Trail is to fly to El Paso and then take Amtrak or Greyhound to Lordsburg.
The CDTC advises spending a day in Lordsburg to adjust to altitude and then taking a shuttle to the trail’s start at Crazy Cook.
That is what we did after spending some time with family in the Tooele, Utah area. Grandchildren. Altitude. Everything you could ask for.
We rented a car so we could drive to the airport at 3:10 in the morning. TSA searched Win’s luggage for the first time ever. Mine got searched as well (I have some biodegradable baby wipes that I’m not certain of as they really fall apart easily).
Win’s backpack ended up checked. She had a small knife in her cook kit. I was cleared.
SLC to DFW was ok. We arrived on time but decided to eat in El Paso. No direct flight from SLC so we flew over El Paso on the way to Dallas.
In Dallas we caught our flight to El Paso.
The flight was rough. Then they locked us down for turbulence. Then we started circling. Then the pilot came on and explained we had flap problems so they were circling around and burning off fuel.
But not to worry. It would be ok. Please just ignore the emergency vehicles, ambulances and fire engines that would be sharing the runway in El Paso with us. I wouldn’t have noticed them without the heads up to ignore them.
We landed and it went well.
We had some additional ceremonial reasons for more delays. So we deplaned about a little more half an hour late. Suddenly we had about twenty minutes to make it to the bus station instead of more than an hour.
The Uber driver was incredulous that we would fly into El Paso to take an Uber to the greyhound station. Win eventually explained the process to him.
It was a tight connection. Our driver assured us the greyhound was always late. It was on time but we made to the station and got on the bus about two minutes before they closed up the doors.
People had already taken our assigned seats by the time we got on but we were able to find a place to sit.
Now to Lordsburg. Road construction but just after 1:00 is a great time as far as traffic goes.
Glad we did not miss the bus. Next one runs tomorrow. Looking forward to some rest, and then starting the trail on the 26th.
Monday we prepared resupply boxes. For the Appalachian Trail they really aren’t needed though on trail it doesn’t hurt to pay for a food drop in the hundred mile wilderness.
For the PCT there are a few places a box saves some time and mailing out microspikes and ice axes and bear canisters for the Sierra section is preferred.
For the Continental Divide Trail you need three for your first state and instead of 3-4 days worth of food you need around 6 days. Which means a full box for just one person instead of two peoples’ resupply per box.
So we have six boxes (three each) to mail today. With our route snow and snow melt dependent we have the bear canisters loaded but not addressed and two boxes loaded up.
Last minute advice I just received:
Don’t forget to update farout comments when you’re in signal. North of Lordsburg, where the caches stop, recent hiker comments on water sources are good to have.
And
When going through narrow V-shaped cattle gates, don’t squeeze through with your pack on, pass it over. The barbed wire will rip it.
Water has been on my mind a lot.
The warning that the cattle gates on the CDT are different from the ones on the PCT was one I was glad to get. A change like that can catch you unaware. It was a good reminder that every trail is different.
It is funny. Getting ready to do the AT I was really concerned about resupply. In case you are unfamiliar, usually resupply is available every forty miles or less.
As far as a trail goes, resupply, including water, is extremely easy on the Appalachian Trail.
My pack loaded up.
By the time Win and I started the PCT we were pretty relaxed even though the distances are longer and there are a few places that require shipping a box or more.
The last two years were great. We will probably start the PCT again next year at Campo through the Sierra section to finish the 250 miles or so we’ve missed and to just enjoy the PCT.
This year, with the CDT my nerves are back again. The distance is really longer between resupply. One hundred miles or more between resupply is much too common. In New Mexico alone there are three places that need mailed resupply.
Water is much harder on the CDT. Not only did we get really lucky on the PCT with water, water is much easier.
I guess part of my being nervous is that we really trained for the PCT, especially the first time. We were able to start with more than twenty miles a day.
Win’s pack.
For the CDT we’ve worked in the training we could do, but we will probably start with fifteen mile days, not 20+. We got to that place “just in time.”
Luckily the trail starts fairly flat so that conditioning on the trail should go well, and there will be water caches (which we’ve paid for). I’m hoping we will hit the twenty mile a day mark pretty soon.
Everything looks good, including the snow levels.
Snotel data—slightly below average or less (unlike the record high snow on the PCT last year).
Today is our last day in Charlottesville and we are hitting the road and heading out for a grandchild’s birthday, a couple training hikes at altitude, getting resupply boxes together and then heading to the CDT.
I’m looking forward to it all. Car is packed. Hotel room emptied out, mail forwarding notices made and FarOut (the map app) updated. Mail forwarded from our box.
Beautiful day too. So I’m watching some CDT videos and getting ready to pick Win up from her last day and start on down the road.
As an aside, the people in Charlottesville and at UVA have been delightful. I’m holding, mostly, to my policy of not commenting on anyone my wife works with, but it has been a great group.
My silence is personal policy, but I’m bending it just a little because they deserve two thumbs up. 👍👍
If you are not my mom reading this for updates as they come, the easiest way to browse entries and get a feel for the material here is to go to the Table of Contents and browse categories.
The only weakness to that approach is that I will probably not update the Table of Contents from now (April 15, 2024) until Win and I return home to Dallas from hiking the trail.
The other way to browse the blog is to use the Archive link in the far right column:
If you have questions, feel free to shoot me an email.
I used to respond to comments, but right now I have a flood of spambots that post multiple times a day and flood the comments. The spam filter catches them, and then they get relegated to services that help identify and block spammers, so they don’t accomplish much except harm the spammers and flood my site with trash that keeps the comment section from being useful.
I’m sorry about that since it makes contacting me by using a comment virtually impossible.
They start by bringing five days of food with them and catch the Shuttle to Crazy Cook.
Hike from Crazy Cook to Lordsburg which is 84 miles, doing about 15 miles a day, with breakfast at the hotel before they take the shuttle and getting into town for dinner on the way back to Lordsburg.
Lordsburg to Silver City. Five days for Lordsburg to Silver City which is now Mile 161.8
Silver City to Doc Campbell’s Post (resupply box). ~Mile 162 to ~Mile 194.
From Doc Campell’s Post there is a hitch to Winston at 266 if your mileage is down and you did not send enough food.
Otherwise Doc Campbell to Reserve which is just under a hundred miles. You head out at Highway 12, about 22 miles after the Gila rejoins the redline (which leads to the mileage looking strange).
You take the Gila High Route out of Doc Campbells and the Pie Town Roadwalk to reduce mileage and food carry to something reasonable.
You will want a box mailed to Pie Town. The roadwalk to Pie Town starts at 367 and Pie Town is at Mile 415. The standard was Toaster House, but it is now closed.
Mile 421 and Top of the World Store is the alternative stop or a place to supplement food. You want to take the Bear Creek Alternative going north to Grants.
Grants has everything you might want and is 110 miles from Cuba.
Cuba has everything.
Ghost Ranch comes after Cuba and is a place that generally needs a mail drop.
Chama is about 44 miles by road or longer by trail from Ghost Ranch. Again, Chama has everything (everything = grocery, laundry, etc.).
The bold/highlighted stops are the three that you will want to send a box to and are half of all places you might want to mail food to on the trail. Italicized towns are the other standard supply stops.
Roughly 90% or more of surveyed CDT hikers followed this resupply pattern except for Ghost Ranch which was still above 50%.
