Everything I owned was damp when I woke up! My quilt, my pack, everything. I guess pretty meadows aren’t all rainbows after all. I kinda forgot about morning dew since everything up until today has been so dry. I packed all my wet stuff away, and Pebbles and I walked out of camp together. I was in front, because he was going to pee once I got a little bit ahead of him.. and not 10 steps into the trail.. I fell.. hard.
My right ankle rolled, I heard a pop, my left foot tried to catch me before I fell, but hit a rock sideways, and down I went! My right ankle hurt so bad, I was terrified I had broken it. Pebbles heard my fall but had already started peeing, so he couldn’t quite run over to help me stand-we both had to laugh at that.
He did come help me up a minute later, tears in my eyes, but both of us laughing some at the ridiculousness of it all.. me falling, him peeing, just ridiculous. I limped for several steps until I realized I could put pressure on my ankle and it not scream in pain at me. It was tender, but it was definitely not broken. So, off we went, Pebbles slowing down considerably just in case.
The trail turned from meadows and deep woods back into desert like terrain with dry brushy grasses and cacti everywhere. Towards the end of the day we were surrounded by mesas towering over us and all the oranges and tans in the rocks. They were pretty, but I was already missing the meadows, grass, and greenery.
We crossed over the Rio Chama, a huge river with a nice bridge across it. Once we turned right on the road, we were off the CDT and on the Ghost Ranch Alternate. Ghost Ranch is the resort like place we’re going to spend the night at and we had resupply boxes sent there. We only went up a little bit on the road, to a semi slanted spot to camp for the night right off the side of the road. And, after all my complaining this morning about damp stuff from cowboy camping, I’m doing the same thing tonight. Setting up a tent, while quick, isn’t as quick as not setting it up at all.. ha.
The river is right below us, and the sunset is absolutely magical. I will say, the desert sunsets are so wildly incredible. Tomorrow, we’ll make it to Ghost Ranch, see if our boxes are there-and if not-we may zero there the next day. I’m kind of excited for it, and hope that happens. They do family style buffet meals 3 times a day and the meals are included in your stay. Bring on the all you can eat!
I think that’s everything for today! Goodnight yall!
Ah, so, I got my room by 4:30! I was so glad that man didn’t call and say, “sorry, we actually are full tonight!” I would have probably had a full blown meltdown! The room was gorgeous, too. The outside isn’t much to write home about, but the inside was redone, with stone shower flooring and a waterfall shower head, exposed beams and a massive king sized bed with the fluffiest of pillows. I showered, started my laundry, and relaxed.
Once it was time to put my clothes in the dryer, I text Pebbles, he met me and Ellie at McDonalds. A cheap dinner and a new friend! We talked and ate (one of us constantly going back for “one more thing..” I think the hiker hunger has set in hard!). Once it got dark, we said bye to Pebbles as he walked to his tentsite and Ellie and I made our way back to the motel. Yall. I slept like a baby.
I didn’t stir until 7:45am. I packed, chatted with Ellie as I walked out. She’s having to zero here while waiting for new shoes to arrive. I know that pain. I walked down the road to a tiny restaurant inside a gas station, Chaco Grill, where I met Pebbles and got 2 breakfast burritos and some Fry Bread to share. The burritos were phenomenal.
We hiked out around 9am, and took the old CDT route, which led us away from the area known for loose dogs attacking hikers. It was a paved road to a gravel road to a dirt road to a trail. It was the same old thing until we hit the actual trail. Nothing very exciting, all residential for the most part.
We ate lunch sitting at a stream right at the start of the trail itself. Then, the elevation continued to gain as we walked, and the beauty got more incredible with every step. I think this has been my favorite day on trail so far! I mean, yesterday truly takes the cake, but views wise: today! There were firs, pines, aspens all around, and then green mossy meadows and wildflowers as far as the eye could see. Butterflies and birds.. I was seconds from starting a musical I was so happy.
Water was everywhere, and even with wet feet my mood couldn’t be dampened. It was like magic. Blue skies, and just.. LIFE.. everywhere. I was in love. We ended up cowboy camping in a little meadow, far enough away from all of the widow makers. I can hear elk bugling in the distance, and birds are still singing, even with the sun about to set. I’m pretty dang content. Goodnight, everyone!
Even though I was so full of gratitude last night, I ended up being so close to tears. After 30 minutes or so of trying to fall asleep, my feet wouldn’t stop throbbing.. I’m not much of a crier, so I refused to let the tears start, knowing if I did I wouldn’t be able to stop them. I popped up at some point and took some ibuprofen and then propped up my food bag to elevate my feet on. Eventually, sometime after 11pm, I fell asleep.
I woke up this morning around 6 and started packing by 6:10. I went ahead and took more ibuprofen, even though my left pinkie toe blister apparently popped during the night, so it wasn’t as painful. I slowly got my crap in my bag and took down my damp tent, then walked over to Animal and Pebbles. Squirt had just started walking trail, and Animal had hot water for me to make my coffee, and even had creamer. What delicacies!
We snapped a quick picture and said our “see ya laters.” We were hiking by 6:45, not terrible seeing as how we chatted a bit with Animal before leaving. The guys with motorcycles were up and attempting to get their bikes to start. We never saw them leave, but Animal passed us as we were taking the turn off the dirt road. It wasn’t 10-15 minutes up trail when I had to stop and go dig a hole. We’ll blame that on the hot coffee, and not on the bratwurst, burger, potato salad, and pound of coleslaw I ate last night. No shame.
Once I got going again, the trail was a stunner! It meandered around and eventually up the mesa we saw in the distance from camp. Parts were slick with that thick mud, but it was all pretty manageable. I surprisingly never slipped or fell, so, I’ll take the win. The views from the top of the mesa were so picturesque. I stopped and stared out from just about every angle, since the trail basically followed the mesa all the way around to the opposite side, before starting its way down into the valley below.
The valley was basically a huge cow pasture, with some trees and lots of grass, mud, and a little bit of flowing water from all the recent rain. I startled one baby calf while she was sipping water, and try as I might, she would not come back to the water. She just kept running up the trail, stopping to look at me-see me-and then start running again. Poor baby.
Eventually the trail passed a solar cow trough that I got water from, and then it reconnected to a dirt road that went on to dead end at the highway that takes you into Cuba, New Mexico. The road walking was way less fun today on sore feet, but 13 miles into town is a hell of a lot better than 21 miles into town, which would have been the case, if not for Animal and Squirt, and their incredible generosity.
When I got into town, I realized I still didn’t have service. I walked to the motel that Pebbles and I had talked about, and the sign said “No Vacancy” and there was no sign of Pebbles anywhere. He was only like 10 minutes ahead of me on the highway, I could see him during some of the straight aways. Since I didn’t have service, I gave the motel guy Pebbles’ number.. he said he’d call us when he got a room clean. Cool cool.
I walked across the street to a chicken and BBQ place, washed my nasty hands (they smelled awful after knocking some mud off of my leg, mud that must have been mixed with cow poo-bc it was RANK), and then messaged Pebbles on my Inreach to tell him where I was. He met me there and had lunch too. He had gone into the Family Dollar to get a couple things for his resupply right when he got to town, so that’s why I couldn’t find him. He then told me then that he planned to camp for $5 behind the dispensary instead of sharing the motel room for the night. Ummm. Ok. Not me.
Lunch was pretty good. I got a burger (not as good as Animal’s last night) and some fries, plus a side of Mac and cheese. It hit the spot. Pebbles got Mac and cheese too, and then this couple offered him the rest of their chicken bucket because they couldn’t eat it all. It was a perfect situation, because I wouldn’t eat chicken off the bone either way, and he devoured it. Win-win!
After we ate, we headed to the small grocery store and got our resupply stuff. I then walked up to the hardware store to get fuel for my stove, while Pebbles set his stuff up in the area owned by the dispensary. There’s just no way I would rather do that than sleep in a bed tonight, especially the way my feet are at the moment. I need my amenities. Budget be damned.
From there, we met at the post office and mailed our resupply to Ghost Ranch.. which is only 2.5 days away from Cuba. I’m slightly concerned that it won’t make it on time, and we’ll be stuck zeroing in a resort camp that charges $35 to set up a tent. But, what can ya do? We’re at the mercy of the post office Gods. And honestly, I wouldn’t be mad at a zero, regardless of the costs if we’re being honest.
Now, we’re sitting outside my motel-still waiting on them to tell me a room is clean. Pebbles is hanging out with me, since there’s shade here. The plan is to take a shower and do my laundry once they let me into a room.. and then relax with my feet up until morning. It’s just after 4pm.. so, fingers crossed this happens soon, or my ass might be camping against my will.
This town is.. odd. It’s all spread out along this one main road-which has tractor trailers constantly going by, along with everyone else. There’s no red lights or crosswalks. We met another hiker, Ellie, who says it’s sketchy at night here, with a lot of homeless roamers. I plan to be in bed before that’s an issue.
Well, I’ll update the rest of my day tomorrow-for now I’ll just wait for my room! Until then!
