Start: 14.2
Stop: 0
Today’s Miles: 14.2
Total CDT miles: 82.6
We ended up leaving camp around 6:30 this morning, one of our earliest mornings yet-but today was supposed to get HOT. Getting as many miles in before it gets miserable is always a good idea.
We made fast miles of the morning, and by the time the sun was fully blazing around 11am, we were on the hunt for some shade. We finally found a little gully with bushes on top that we ducked into, hoping for more shade than we got.
We propped up our umbrellas, but the wind was relentless. I ended up holding mine over my legs while I ate. It didn’t go so well. And, for the record, while I’m complaining-I’m so sick of PB&Js.
Anyway-while we sat in our slightly shaded alcove, we watched some of the day’s northbound hikers go by. They’d stop and chit chat for a second, and then carry on, their first day of hiking the CDT- excitement all over their faces.
I packed up kind of quick, since my legs were still getting too much sun and remained on absolute fire. Pebble’s nice sunscreen had decided to no longer block these devil rays and I was trying my best to not make the rashy welts worse.
Pebbles caught up to me at the last water cache (he stayed to stretch and whatnot once I started walking after lunch). He pointed out some trees off trail a little bit, so we went in hunt of their shade, in hopes of waiting out the heat of the day. We only had 2 more miles to the border, and our shuttle won’t come until tomorrow at 9:30am.. we had TONS of time to kill.
The trees had very low hanging branches. We started under one, then the sun shifted in the sky and we were roasting, so we moved to another.. when it happened again, I got fed up and told Pebbles I was going to the border and praying the pavilion we’ve heard about meant guaranteed shade.
I made it there sometime just after 2pm. And thank God almighty, the little “pavilion” had some real shade! I snapped some pictures of the monument and the pavilion, pulled out my ground sheet and plopped down in the cool shade. The wind was only getting stronger as I laid out, feet bare, happy to be hidden from the sun.
Pebbles showed up within 30 minutes or so. It wasn’t very long of the two of us hanging out in the shade that we realized how bored we were about to be for the next 18+ hours. Holy hell. Zero cell service. A small square of shade. No more water. The only entertainment for quite a while was waving at the very few trucks that passed by on the other side of the border!
Here at the Crazy Cook Monument and CDT “southernmost point,” the border between the USA and Mexico is a short, barbed wire fence, with a broken gate right at the monument. At one point, bored, I was able to step over easily into Mexico. I sort of love that this is how it is here, a fence but not one that felt unwelcoming to either side. The Mexican side of the border looked like a huge agricultural ranch-lots of greenery and water irrigation systems running. Hell, I considered running through one of their sprinklers because it’s so flippin hot over here.
The entire time we waited for the sun to set, not one car came down the USA side of the border. I walked up to where the road turns to see the stone marking “Crazy Cook,” and still- not a soul on our side-every single driver that went by on the Mexico side politely waved back to me when they passed, one tractor trailer even tooted his horn.
The Crazy Cook stone said something along the lines of Crazy Cook killed a guy named Frank with an axe in cold blooded murder.. wild. I should have looked up more about this-but alas-no service.
We ate our dinner, in the blowing wind, and for some mild entertainment, Pebbles agreed to let me play my audiobook out loud. It’s Freida McFadden’s “The Crash,” and while the main characters of her books almost always make me want to yank out my hair-this one was doing its job of making the time pass. At least Pebbles was on the same page I was when we’d roll our eyes and do an, “oh my god, she can’t be serious.”
We decided there would be no possible way to set our tents up in this crazy wind. So, we’re cowboy camping under the pavilion. If I get up to go pee, I’m have to put my pack on my sleeping pad so it doesn’t blow away. Bless it. Counting down the hours! One sleep, and then around 9:30am the shuttle will be here to drop off new hikers and to take us back to Lordsburg. I think we both want to stay at the EconoLodge tomorrow night, we’ll see if that changes between now and getting there. We have to pick up our food from there regardless. And since we’re there, a shower and laundry would be heavenly after this crazy wind has done nothing but blown dirt in my face. Ha.
Ok, sorry this one comes off like one long gripe. I bet my mood will change completely after a shower! Goodnight, y’all.