Posted by 14.3 miles
It was another early start, waking at 5am to hit the trail just before sun rise. Today was going to be another hot one and I was keen to push as many miles as possible in the cool of the day. The terrain was pretty easy going in the morning, following a mix of single tracks and dirt roads, edging around the base of Pyramid Peak and over a saddle to start moving north towards Lordsburg.
The country we’re traversing is all public land but is leased for cattle grazing. Honestly I don’t know how any cattle survive. The roads being walked are all ranch roads and the tell tale signs of ranching work were littered along the way – cattle troughs and header tanks, temporary yards even an ild dozer abandoned on the side of one track.
With my head in thoughts and enjoying the morning views I was startled by some movement in nearby bushes and then saw something black dart away. Then another and another. Pigs. Little, black, hairy pigs. A small mob of 5 or so.
My first point to get to this morning was the last water cache maintained by the CDT Coalition to top up bottles with just enough water to get me through to town.
Water has not been a problem at any stage from the border to here. I’m unclear on the history of when the caches were first established. Without them, this first section would be doable, although extremely difficult.
Etienne caught up with me at the cache.
I was aiming to be in town by noon. Not quite a ‘nero’ as 14 miles would still be walked but it would mean a whole half a day to get my body and clothes washed up and food restocked. I’d left a box of food for the upcoming section at the hotel so this saved me extra time in town to relax.
From the water cache it was a tough slog. Up and over a series of small rises each separated with a dry wash. My feet were feeling it and were ready to be done with the desert. I pressed on, reaching the bitumen of the highway and slogging it out into town.
Lordsburg is an interesting place to say the least. A small desert town sitting off the interstate just off the Mexican border. It has a strange vibe. The outskirts were full of run down trailers and homes, closed businesses and junk yards. It reminded me of a film set of a post apocalyptic township. With a population of just under 2,500 people the town has 4 motels on my count, 3 supermarkets and not a single bar. Very few shops had licences to sell alcohol.
I made it to town around 12:30 and so glade for a hot shower to wipe away 3.5 days of sweat and grime.
Etienne and I headed to Ramona’s for dinner, unfortunately unable to buy beers.
Mick Beckers 