Day 2 - Tired, Cranky, Worked Hard on Trail Today

Date: Fri April 19

Start Mile: Road/Water Alternate mi 3.6

End Mile: 38.4

Total Mileage: 21.8 mi

The Highlights: sunrise… otherwise, mostly lowlights

Last night the cold never came. In Lordsburg we had noticed that overnight lows were in the 40s and assumed we would see the same on the trail. Instead we tossed and turned on our air mattresses, sticky and hot in our hiking clothes.

Not long after settling in, an insect of some sort came to investigate our tent, its wings flapping like the sound of a dragonfly. Later, we listened to the yips of coyotes.

When the alarm went off at 5:15a, I was very tired, but if we wanted to get some miles in while it was cool, it was time to get ready to head out.

A little before 6a, we were packed up and back on the trail, which in this area was a dirt road. We had taken the road alternate yesterday due to its proximity to the first water cache and our tent site had been just off the road.

The morning was still dark as we started out, headlamps illuminating small patches of the road ahead. The sun was slowly coming up behind the mountains to the east, and beautiful oranges, yellows, and purples filled the sky, rolling out the red carpet for the sun to peek above the mountains.

It was this early dusky hour that I liked best. The skies were beautiful, the air was cool, and any aches and pains were at a dull roar. I wished we would walk along in this morning hour all day.

A beautiful little bit of trail this morning.

But, eventually the sun would rise. After about seven miles, we rejoined the official trail, heading into the scrub brush. While there were some worn paths through the thorny bushes, much of this walk was a bit of a choose-your-own-route, often through thick sand, as we picked our way between CDT signposts.

Desert stuff.

A little over nine miles into our hike, we made it to water cache box number two, where Losa had just finished filling his bottles and was continuing on.

The space to ourselves, we took up residence in the small patch of shade thrown by the cache box, resting for a bit and cameling up before refilling our bottles.

The morning was still as we listened to flies buzz about. It would be 13 miles until the next water source. Our movement through the desert was based completely upon water sources. How much water we would carry, where we would take breaks, and where we would camp for the night - everything was about water.

Today’s water sources pretty much dictated that we hike another 13 miles - to the next water source - to camp tonight. There was one other source listed between there, but comments suggested that it would not be wise to make use of it.

It would turn out to be a very long 13 miles.

Finishing up at the water cache, we set out again. Crossing over NM 81 (highway), we continued to the other side of the road, where there was a small info sign about the CDT.  We didn’t take any time to read this, but we did sign into the first official trail register we’d seen.

From here, the day suddenly turned very very hot. Only a couple miles later, we already found ourselves seeking shade at a rusty old water tank - in this case, not a place you would want to get water, but a nice place for a quick break from the sun.

At least there was a decent view at the water tank.

The rest of the day alternated between road walking and some bits of trail, though it was mostly dirt roads. Dirt roads with lots of rocks and undulations. Certainly roads that - in most places - were not fit to see any vehicles. So now they just made up a National Scenic Trail, though this particular section - really most second half of the day - did not seem particularly scenic.

Sometime around 1p, we started scouting for some shade for lunch. We were hot and tired and I was about 2 seconds from being hangry. It seemed we were both at a low.

The search for shade proved difficult and we both found ourselves under trees throwing sub optimal shade. We used our sun umbrellas to create most of the shade, though it wasn’t working well. We’d hoped this would be a restorative break with a bit of a nap, but that was never going to happen.

After some very shitty rest, we hit the trail/road again, basically dragging ourselves through the afternoon and evening, stopping for breaks at any decent shade we could find.

The afternoon was a grind. It was hot and the scenery wasn’t really all that inspiring. Walking on rocks had led to several mini blisters and tender hot spots on my feet. Both of us were pretty miserable actually.

I reminded myself that there had been plenty of tough, hot, miserable bits of desert on the PCT. And that there were going to be lots of aches and pains, especially in this first month as our feet, legs, and bodies in general reaccustomed themselves to the stress of continual hiking. Some days would be tough.

We had leap-frogged with Losa a couple times in the afternoon, and every time we saw him he was so positive, saying things like “it’s hot out, but it sure is beautiful!” We did not fully agree here, but his positivity made me feel bad about being such a downer.

Not that it’s any consolation to have someone else be as miserable as you are, but at least Hot Mess and I were both in the hurt locker. Misery loves company.

As I approached the last mile before the water source we would camp near for the night, I found Hot Mess sitting in the shade, tired and taking another break before the last bit of hiking. This was not the Hot Mess I knew. The Hot Mess I knew would see that there was one mile to go and actually speed up, powering through the final mile. It was clear that this was a rough day.

After a brief rest, we were back on our feet for the final mile. Not far down the dirt road, the trail actually became trail again, veering off the road and sending us through a maze of scrub brush.

Now firmly into the evening hours, as I weaved myself through the brush, I was on the lookout for snake-shaped things. Really you could run into a snake anytime, but things have a habit of meandering around once the sun gets a bit lower in the sky.

Luckily, there were no danger noodles about, at least not in my path, and I made my way to join Hot Mess at the water cistern to top off our bottles.

The site had both a water trough for livestock as well as a cistern with an attached hose, which is where we would refill our bottles.

As we topped off and filtered our water, a few cows milled about, deciding whether or not they wanted to approach the trough, not far from us. Because the presence of hikers could keep skittish cattle from coming near the trough, hikers weren’t allowed to camp directly near the cistern. We would have been hard pressed to find a tent-sized space free of cow shit anyway.

And so, we backtracked to the trail, where we found a decent flat area to set up our tent.

We were completely spent and made quick work of our camp chores, setting up the tent, our air mattresses and sleeping bags before making our spicy ramen dinners.

We were tucked into our sleeping bags just as the sun sank behind the mountains.