Northern New Mexico and the San Pedro Wilderness (Days 108-116)

MC: Oh New Mexico, you’re everything we hoped you would be; wonderful tread underfoot, gentle ascents, and a beautiful landscape of aspens as they waved farewell to us while we continued South. 

We are currently in Cuba, New Mexico – zeroing – and I actually realized that when I got up to pee last night in our motel, I didn’t hobble to the bathroom like I have normally done in the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. New Mexico has been gentler. We are still averaging 22/23 miles per day, but when you’re not high stepping over blowdowns and walking on bowling ball sized rocks all day, your body appreciates it.

It’s still early, but we can see the finish line. We can count the number of zeros we have left on this little excursion (it’s 3), and that’s very encouraging and exciting to realize!

This stretch from Chama to Cuba was 8 days in length, which is a length we have only done one other time; however, for this iteration we got to stay at a place called The Ghost Ranch on the fifth night. The Ghost Ranch is a large compound that used to be privately owned, but when the owner passed, they donated the grounds to the Presbyterian church. The church now uses the ranch as a place for retreats and standard overnight stays for folks visiting New Mexico to experience the land. So what did the ranch provide us? It gave us a hot shower, a bed, free laundry, and a $30/person meal plan which included lunch, dinner, and breakfast, cafeteria style. I am personally including The Ghost Ranch meal plan in my top 5 “meals” I’ve experienced on trail. For the price, quantity, and lack of “fried foods” provided, it was delicious. It was the closest thing to home cooked meals we’ve had since cooking our own meals in Leadville and Leadore. I would have gladly zeroed at the ranch, but alas, we had 3 more days of hiking to get through before our 8 day stretch could come to an end.

As we entered New Mexico, we still felt like we were in Colorado, except everything was better and less traumatic about the landscape; however, once we walked into Ghost Ranch, it was a 180 degree change from aspens to high mountain desert. Cactus and tarantulas (just one baby so far!) greeted us; our socks started to be covered in sand and dust, and the colors turned to pastel. The cliffs became layered in variations of pink; it’s quite beautiful. I’m pretty high on NM at the moment, good for the mental health.

Alright, time to watch the Bills hopefully beat arrogant Aaron and the Jets on Monday night football. Here’s to a Bills vs Lions Super Bowl, we can only hope!

HD: We took the historic train from Chama back to the CDT trailhead. It was pretty cool! The train moves at a whole 8 miles an hour on an old narrow gauge track. It was packed with fall color peepers on a Sunday, getting a ride into the mountains on one of the last days that the train runs during the year.

Off we went into New Mexico. The trail was immediately more manageable, even with continuing high elevation and some large climbs. The tread underfoot was just… better. There is more dirt than rock, and the grade doesn’t leave you breathless with every step. The 170 mile stretch felt much easier than most of the 110 mile pulls that we’ve done in other states.

This change let us arrive into camp in the daylight (generally), and we increased our daily mileage up to around 22. Those small changes make a huge planning (and morale) difference. 

In general, there was less wildlife (moose count remained at 21), but we were serenaded by coyotes and elk bugles every night. We haven’t seen a bull elk the entire trip. Finally, on day 5, a giant elk and I ran into each other while I was looking down at my phone for navigation. I yelled and dropped my phone; he took off and recovered on the hillside while I watched. Pretty amazing stuff. 

We’re moving with the Aspens as they continue to change colors. Sometimes we’re out-walking the change as the trees are still green. For whatever reason, the aspens here are huge. The pines are giant size as well, particularly the Ponderosas here. In case anyone is wondering, mature ponderosa pine bark smells either like butterscotch or vanilla, depending on your sense of smell. McKenzie and I are decidedly butterscotch.

On the day of the bull elk meeting engagement, McKenzie and I walked separately for the first time. She and Flamingo took a different route for time’s sake. It was unique; I talked to myself a lot and had conversations with all of the cows along the way, which are numerous and really interactive in New Mexico! There was only one place to get water during the day, about 4 miles away from camp. My LSU Croc and our must-have water bladder fell out of my pack as I left this source, unbeknownst to me. Upon discovery of this at camp, there was no other option then to run the 4 miles back to the water source to retrieve these things. Could you imagine if I left that LSU Croc! They probably would have lost to Ole Miss last weekend, and it would have been my fault. And so it was, as a 24 mile day became a 32 mile one. When I arrived at the offending water trough, a teenage brown calf had his head in my Croc. I called him out and he scuttled away. Hard lessons learned…

Tomorrow we walk out of Cuba for a 5 day pull to Grants. The stretch is a mix of flat desert and mountain plateau hiking. Water is our greatest concern here – 25 miles between points as an average. There is a threat of rain and snow for the last two days of the hike – we’ll see how that all plays out. We’ve had our fill of New Mexican

food in this little town (savory and sweet sopapillas, fry bread, “Christmas” style enchiladas – red and green sauces – and carne adovada – marinated pork deliciousness). 

The remaining miles to the finish are more bite sized now. We can see the end. Just a few hundred miles of desert between here and there.

That is all.