The Betrayal of New Mexico: Cuba to Grants (Days 117-122)

HD: Alas, New Mexico exacted its pint of blood from us. The first day of our 105 mile walk from Cuba to Grants exceeded expectations, and all seemed well with our “New Favorite State”. Then the weather forecast was updated for an earlier arrival of a nasty low pressure system, and we began a forced march towards Grants to make up 15 miles in 3 days and nights.

The desert plant life attempted to derail our progress. Everything is prickly and stinging now. We were introduced to all different kinds of cacti; the worst offenders being the  Cholla cactus, with its barbed spines that are long enough to penetrate our shoes.

We started all mornings in the dark to make up the extra miles with the help of a Supermoon. Desert flash flooding is a powerful motivator to wake up early!

The only consistent wildlife was the New Mexico Tarantula. These mid-sized tarantulas with a red abdomen are out and about in October – the males migrate to find a woman – and they seemed completely oblivious to us.

For two days we hiked atop a giant mesa with its own unique ecosystem. Pinon trees were everywhere; some of the oldest were 40 feet high, which is very large for the bush-sized pine. We will come back here someday to collect pounds of the highly prized pinon pine nuts. As we walked hurriedly down the side of Mt. Taylor, a dormant volcano on the outskirts of Grants, I tried to appreciate the beauty and change in scenery. All I really wanted to do was get to the hotel before the sky opened up. That took days of 27, 29, and 32 miles to make it happen.

We made it to town with about 15 minutes to spare. It’s always exciting to watch wind and hail from the comfort of the inside world! Some of our hiking friends sent pictures of the trail both south and north of us yesterday; lots of snow and mud.

We celebrated the birthday of our hiking partner Flamingo with about 20 other hikers, all of whom were waiting out the storm in our town with us. From a people-watching perspective, the group is such an interesting mix of folks. It almost has a fraternity vibe at this point, with so many shared miles already behind us, and just 3 weeks remaining. 

Tomorrow we head out on a road walk section of the CDT. This section connects the trail as it descends off of the high plateaus and mesas of last week to the Gila River valley. Resupply and water are difficult to come by over the next few days, with the notable exception being the unincorporated “town” of Pie Town. They are famous for – you guessed it – their delicious individual pies – which we will undoubtedly eat our weight in (thanks Aunt Rondie and Uncle Lanny!) The weather looks great for the next 10 days. 

So there’s the 4 day road walk to Pie Town, followed by 9 days in the Gila to Silver City, and then a week of walking in the desert to the border. We’ve set 11 November as the planned finish date. Let’s see if we can hit our final target.

MC: our walk out of Cuba was beautiful. We were in the high desert, and the stark contrast in colors from Colorado to New Mexico was evident. We were surrounded by reds and pinks, and everything turned quite prickly! When selecting our campsite that evening, we had to pay extra attention to the ground, as little cacti were scattered everywhere. Unfortunately, the first day’s walk out was the only day we were able to truly enjoy the beauty of the desert. A cold front and winter storm was on the horizon, scheduled to arrive on Friday in Grants, NM, and we were not scheduled to get into Grants until Saturday around lunchtime. We made a business decision to push as quick as we could through this section to get into town by Friday in order to avoid the severe storms set for Friday evening. Our days consisted of 26, 28, and 32 miles to make this timeline, and we were ultimately successful. 

The front and storms remain in the area until Sunday, resulting in us being forced to take a double zero (we didn’t need much convincing!). Only two more towns left for us, Quemado and Silver City, then we finish. So crazy to be this close!