Tag: triple crown

CDT Day 24: May 29, 2025

Start: The Toaster House

Stop: CDT mile 441.8

Today’s Miles: 27.5

Total CDT miles: 345.2

Today was our longest day on trail so far! We both slept like crap at the Toaster House. It was hot and stuffy inside and we couldn’t get a window to open in the room we were in. Pebbles could hear something scratching in the walls-I’m glad I couldn’t hear that!

We packed up quick and hit the road by 6 something. Pebbles must have been real irritable, because he just took off without a backwards glance. I don’t blame him, I was cranky too, and listening to an audiobook definitely helped distract me from my lack of sleep and the boringness of our dirt road walk. 

Today and tomorrow are all roads.. dirt roads for now, past ranches with acres and acres of shrub brush and cows. Mid morning, a man in a van stopped and offered me a cold soda. It was already so flippping hot and I had my umbrella up, trying to give myself some shade. I took a Dr Pepper from him and thanked him profusely. He said that everyone driving these roads knows we’re CDT hikers, so if we run out of water, just hold the bottle upside down when anyone passes-they all usually have some extra on hand for emergencies. How kind!

I made it to the TLC ranch by noon, Pebbles was already sitting at a table in the shade eating his lunch. We did 16 miles by noon! Road walks can be so fast, even in the heat! This ranch set up a shaded spot for hikers with a table, chairs, and coolers full of water! I was thankful for all of the above as I sat down and got my lunch out. The lack of humidity is crazy to me, it can be so hot you want to die in the sun, and then so chilly you want a jacket in the shade. Too bad home isn’t like that. 

We finished up eating and resting, both of us in better moods from this morning. We set out into the sun, umbrellas up. We just walked and walked, avoided oncoming pick up trucks, some slowing down to not dust us, some literally speeding up to do just that. The road was littered with empty beer cans and bottles, I don’t think any of these folks are ubering home from a night of drinking. 

We got water from a cow trough, which was just a tire filled to the brim with water and algae. I was so worn out, I probably would have swam in that water if I was told it would make me feel better. It was gross, but if you swipe away the chunky floaters, mostly clear water went into my CNOC bag and then it all filtered clear. It did have a pretty gross after taste though. What can ya do? 

We then decided to just walk until the sun started to set, and then set up on the side of the road anywhere semi flat and not covered with brush. We saw some ground hogs or gophers-probably gophers, and hoped they wouldn’t pop up in our camp when we settled on a spot. They were probably thinking the same thing. 

We picked a place off the road a little bit and then cowboy camped. If this was private property, tents would be more obvious.. and take longer to pack up. Plus, after more than 27 miles, I was too worn out to put up my tent if I wanted to! We set everything up, and then after we were done eating dinner, watching the sun sink and the sky turn all the shades of orange, Pebbles realized his pinkie toe had a massive blister on it and was practically see through in the sunlight! It looked so bad! These road walks and long miles aren’t all rainbows for sure!

I snapped some pictures and now we’re settled in to go to bed. We’ll see how far we get tomorrow. It’s more road walking, but in a few miles we turn onto a paved road, and those are always painful. Hmmmm. I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings! Goodnight everyone!

CDT Day 23: May 28, 2025

Start: Pie Town Alternate 26 

Stop: The Toaster House 

Today’s Miles: 13.8 

Total CDT miles: 317.7

So, yesterday afternoon, the guy that owns the Davila Ranch showed up! He woke us from our naps and we talked with him a bit. He’s a very nice guy. After he left, we ended up cooking dinner-and by we, I mean Pebbles. He sautéd some onions and fried some chopped potatoes (I helped by chopping said potatoes), and then we had some baked beans to go with the potatoes. I posted the picture of them on yesterday’s blog. They were great!

I slept well, it never rained! We were under a roof if it did, but again, I don’t know how those sandy floors would fair in a real rain storm. We were up early and had eggs and potatoes for breakfast. Since Pebbles did all of the cooking, I did all of the cleaning up. It was cold water I was washing with, which left me with numb fingers, but it was worth it!

We had less than 14 miles to hike down a dirt road to get into the town of Pietown, New Mexico. I knew the “town” was coming up, and expected to see some paved road, stores, something-but the whole place basically existed off of a few intermingled dirt roads with one highway road shooting across the far side. It was tiny!

We went into the Gathering Place II, and sat down to eat lunch. Everyone was super friendly, and the tables were set up family style, like we walked into a stranger’s dining room. We sat at the end of one of the long tables and ordered some food. I got a burger and tater tots with a side of coleslaw. The coleslaw left a lot to be desired, but the rest was good! Pebbles said his was pretty decent, too, fries topped with pulled pork. I bet if we hadn’t have had real food at the Davila Ranch for the last two meals, we would have loved it. 

Even still, it is a place named Pietown, so we both ordered a pie to go, too. I got black and blueberry, while Pebbles went with peach and blueberry. I was also not wildly impressed with the pies, but I prefer more savory foods anyway. Maybe if they’d been heated they’d have tasted better. The presentation was beautiful, though! 

The owners of the restaurant let us hang out in this “hiker’s den” with a tv, Netflix, couches.. it was wonderful! We relaxed, ate our pies, and watched some TV while playing on our phones. We would be staying at a free hostel in town called The Toaster House, and I had a feeling I’d like the current hiker’s den much more than the toaster house, so we stayed until they closed up at 4pm. 

Boy was I right. The Toaster House used to be owned by a wonderful trail angel who ran the hostel and kept everything in ship shape. She sadly passed away, so her children are overseeing it so hikers still have somewhere to go, since there’s nowhere else to stay in town, but there isn’t an on sight caretaker. I wouldn’t have called it clean, by any means, but it wasn’t nasty either. It was just, well-it gave me the creeps. Bare mattresses on the floors in rooms, which just felt like a crack house, minus the crack addicts, spider webs-but no bugs-like roaches or anything. It was truly fine, I just didn’t enjoy it. 

I was also very grateful I got to take a shower yesterday at the Davila Ranch, because I don’t think I’d have gotten in the shower here. Pebbles and I walked to a food truck two doors down after looking over the house. I got another burger and a pink lemonade, and ate it back at the house on the back porch. We played cribbage and watched the sun set. 

Just before 9pm, 3 other hikers appeared. Pebbles and I ended up taking one of the rooms near the bathroom, and laying here on this mattress curled up in my sleeping bag liner-I wish I had just set up outside in the yard. It’s stuffy in here and I feel like spiders are going to crawl across my face all night. Oh well, free is free, huh? Prayers I fall asleep fast! Goodnight 

CDT Day 18: May 23, 2025

Start: Gila Alternate mile 60.1

Stop: Gila Alternate mile 78.6

Today’s Miles: 18.5

Total CDT miles: 228.8

Once more ibuprofen (and some Tylenol) kicked in, I slept pretty well, considering. I had to lift up with my feet and legs and physically push my hips to be able to roll over-I couldn’t just turn. That was a scary feeling. I’m a side sleeper, and that didn’t go over so well with my back hurting like it was. 

I felt fine when I woke up, but then when I sat up, my back reminded me that it wasn’t feeling so hot. I could barely pack up my stuff, each stretch of my arm or turn sending shooting fire down my spine. Once I did get packed, Pebbles graciously picked up my backpack and put it on me. The pain was still there, but not as intense as it was when I was bending-so, we started hiking. I mean, what else is there to do?

Today was the same song and dance as yesterday: millions of river crossings with massive canyon walls sharply jutting out of the water all around. It was stunning, thankfully, because the terrain was tough at times-with overgrown sharp grasses and bushes when you weren’t walking through the water itself. Being amazed at the scenery definitely distracted from the pain in my back! And the cold water on my feet made them feel wonderful, too. 

We ate lunch in the shadow of a huge rock canyon wall, and a couple section hikers passed by while we ate. They’d stop and chat-then keep moving. This is apparently a pretty popular area to do a weekend hike, especially with it being Memorial Day Weekend. Who knew?

It’s HOT, so the water is a relief. It’s not very deep at all, only coming up to mid calf at the most-besides maybe once, where it came all the way up passed my shorts and barely shy of my butt. That’s thanks to beavers in the area steadily making progress on their new homes and blocked river passages. There was twice when we just walked over the beaver dam itself, praying their construction would hold us. We’re quite grateful for their attention to detail!

As the afternoon progressed, the trail weaved away from the river, and got much easier. Right before this though, in one of the last river crossing sections, Pebbles ended up on one side of the river and I was on the other-both of us apparently walking on trails. Whoops! He yelled at me from the other side and we both stopped to check our phones. He ended up bushwhacking across to me-scaring 4 javelinas in the process. Those suckers sure run fast!

We eventually made it to Snow Lake and decided to cowboy camp at the campground right above the lake. It’s obvious that it’s been a dry year, because the lake water level is really low. I joked about jumping off the dock into the water, and Pebbles pointed out that I would be jumping into hard dirt. Welp. It’s a little too chilly for swimming anyway, I guess. Ha. 

The wind is a little nuts at the moment, and the campsites are all covered in ground squirrel holes and mazes-you take a step and then crunch through a few inches, smashing their tunnel systems. Sorry buddies. I ended up putting my pack on top of the campsite grill hoping that the squirrels wouldn’t attempt to seek revenge and chew into my pack for my food. Fingers crossed. 

My back is still sore, but I’ve taken so much ibuprofen today that it’s currently only really painful if I bend or turn certain ways, so I’m just doing my best to not make those moves. Having a picnic table and the grill does help, as I can stand and go through my stuff instead of bending and reaching. Any little thing to help, I’ll take! 

There are a few other people camping here tonight, one older man with a motorbike and camper that’s pretty close to the bathrooms, and then a couple with a dog that we got to pet when they did their evening walk. We were trying to manifest some trail magic, from either party, but no dice. Haha, sad times! Oh well, it’s time for some sleep! I think we’re officially out of the Gila River area and getting real close to the end of the Gila Alternate. Here’s to popping more ibuprofen and hoping for the best!