Tag: triple crown

Start: Ghost Ranch Alternate 10.9

Stop: CDT 707.3

Today’s Miles: 19.5

Total CDT miles: 566.5

I was supposed to get up before breakfast and pack-so I’d be ready to go afterwards. I slept in. Not like a real sleep in, as breakfast starts at 7:30-but you know what I mean.

I gorged myself on breakfast buffet, and probably ate too many boiled eggs for anything good to come of it. Afterwards, Pebbles and I packed, took some stuff to the hiker box, said bye to the other hikers, and took off down the backside of the resort to the trail. 

It started off nice, still in the resort itself, but then it quickly got sketchy. There was a creek running through a canyon, and the trail was a mess. Pebbles went right at one point, and I saw the trail off to my left, so I went that way, not being able to see him. I quickly climbed up the canyon and was high over the creek, while Pebbles was also gaining on the other side.. he yelled to me across the creek that he had blue blazes where he was and that I was probably not on the right trail anymore. Crap.

My map showed I was technically on a dirt road and it should reconnect up ahead. I told him as much and kept climbing.. until a short time later he yells back across to me, “It washes out-there’s a huge 20-30 foot sheer drop to the creek below-I don’t think you can pass that way!” I got to the end of where my dirt road was supposed to be crossing to him to see he was absolutely right-my road had been washed out completely and it was loose sand and rock clear to the bottom of this ravine. Yikes.

I told him to keep going, and I turned around to backtrack. When I got down to the creek, I went forward and was able to see the jumbled mess of rocks blocking the trail-get up and over them, and then easily walk along the creek and out of the canyon. 

There were a few miles around canyon walls and whatnot before the trail opened up to cow pastures, trees, and little water. The sky started to cloud up, and it threatened rain for hours. None came, but I was happy for the cloud coverage. We passed so many cows and meandered through their fields until we called it quits around 7pm and cowboy camped close to a dirt road in one of the fields. We did have some trees close by to block the wind and give us the idea of protection. We can currently hear cows mooing and walking around. 

I’m hoping it doesn’t rain over night because I don’t feel like getting soaked or setting up my tent. I’m worn out, and my belly is still full and bloated from eating so much food the last 2-3 days.. not that I’m complaining. We’ll see how it goes, I think im ready to call it a night, and we still have quite a while to go before the sun sets. Maybe I’ll use my headband as an eye mask. Sweet dreams, yall. 

Oh how glorious a zero day is! Especially when all the chores were done yesterday! The only downfall being in a place like this, a resort type deal with scheduled meal times: scheduled meal times. I had to get up and go to breakfast at 7:30 or miss breakfast all together. Strangely, I was awake before then anyway, even though I could have easily stayed in bed a few more hours.

The day was spent relaxing around meal times, checking out all of the cool things the resort has: a library, where I did some continuing education stuff for my CCRN certification that’s up for renewal soon, a gift shop, where I bought sodas and post cards, a cafe with some baked goods, where I sat and wrote out the post cards.. a massive field with horses at the other end.. and a couple museums, one dedicated to Georgia O’Keeffe, the famous painter that lived out here once upon a time. 

It rained off and on, leaving a dampness to the air, but making the desert oranges pop.. the resort is situated around huge mesas with spires and pinnacles. It’s truly beautiful. We explored the resort and also met other hikers.. GG, ScoobySnax and Sunroof, and Doc Holliday. I took a nap midday and then hung out with these folks, learning everyone’s story and eating dinner together. We were rewarded with an outstanding sunset, and went to bed listening to music playing from a wedding taking place somewhere on the property. 

Short and sweet, sorry about that, but it’s not a bad way to spend a zero! I think I’ve eaten so much that my hip belt may need to be extended! Ha. Oh, I guess this it’s important: our box came today.. so, we’ll be hiking out tomorrow after breakfast. Not sure if I’m happy about that or not! Ha. Goodnight yall! 

Start: Ghost Ranch Alternate 0.3 

Stop: Ghost Ranch Alternate 10.9

Today’s Miles: 10.6

Total CDT miles: 547

I apparently set up on a slight slope, so I was constantly sliding all night. Pebbles did the same thing. Oh well. I slept well otherwise.

The 10+ miles to Ghost Ranch was quick and included climbing over and under 3 barbed wire fences before bushwhacking across a huge hill filled with loose rocks! Fun times! (Insert eye roll here.) The road we were on turned to a smaller jeep track dirt road, and then after getting up and over some small rolling hills covered in desert shrubs, I hit the main highway. 

I crossed it, then had to scale my first fence. I went over the top because there was some metal on the bottom and I could easily stand on it and swing my legs over, always awkward with a pack on.. it really does upset your center of gravity. Thankfully there was no one there to witness it! 

From there, the trail skirted around an old outdoor museum or petting zoo of some sort.. random walkways and old exhibits, now run down and overgrown, all of the signs removed from the buildings and displays. It was actually kind of sad to see. I bet back in the day, this is somewhere parents would bring their kids while out on vacation. 

Anyway. Once I passed all of the “used to be” exhibits, I had to take my pack off and crawl under the next barbed wire fence. I then climbed up out of this tiny valley that looks so dry, like it had never actually held any water in its lifetime.. only to climb under another fence at the top of the hill. It was getting hot, and I was getting annoyed. Why tell us to go this way when clearly they don’t actually want us to go this way? Ugh.

I bushwhacked across the top of the huge hill, then down a steep rock scree and sand side to finally find actual trail and walk across a bridge, before finally getting on the Ghost Ranch Resort property. I was so very happy to start seeing people on horseback, being led down horse trails, buildings in the distance.. semi civilization! The whole time I was thinking, “please don’t let our box be there.” 

I found Pebbles and Squirt at the main building.. our box hadn’t arrived and may not even be here tomorrow! Oh no! Zero tomorrow it is! And if it’s not here by then, we will just have to figure out a new plan. We decided to book a dorm room for 2 nights, which has 2 twin beds, but no private bathroom. The shared bathroom is just down the walkway though, so not far at all. It included 5 meals, too. All you can eat. And it was almost time for lunch!

We quickly checked out our new room and dropped our packs, then walked over to the dining hall. They had a huge buffet of hot food and then a salad bar in the main dining room along with drinks and deserts. When I say I ate my weight in food, I so mean it. I devoured everything available! And even crushed a massive salad that had all the fixings and awesome ranch to top it off with. I’m in love with this place! 

We did laundry and hung out, waited around for dinner time. We met another hiker, Dogmar, who is an older woman hiking a different trail that connects to this one. She’s incredible and very funny, in a dry kind of way. We ended sharing a table for dinner with her, chatting the whole time. She’s a massage therapist and full of helpful information. 

We called it an early night, now lying in our twin beds with extremely full bellies. All of our chores are done.. all we have to do tomorrow is hope our box comes, and eat three meals! Sounds like a win to me!