Posted by 24 miles
Overnight the winds really picked up and I was thankful for not having camped up higher. The winds also did the job in keeping air moving saving my tent from condensation. On the verge of sleep last night I heard movement on the edge of my camp. Many pairs of legs cracking sticks and soft thudding as feet moved over the forest floor. Wanting to make sure this was not bears, I stuck my head out of the tent and saw a heard of around 10 elk only 50 metres away on the edge of the clearing, sticking to the tree cover. Awesome. On hearing or more likely smelling me they bolted.
What I anticipated to be a fairly easy day turned into harder work than expected. Serves me right for not checking maps adequately.
The morning saw the trail lead down hill for several miles on much the same terrain as I finished up on yesterday, tall pines and aspen and nicely surface underfoot. Reaching a flowing creek I took the opportunity to top up a litre of water. There would be multiple water sources through the day and I didn’t have to carry much more than a litre at a time but chose to carry 2Lt to have some buffer should the next source not quite work out.
Down low and paralleling Hwy 96 for several miles the trail passed through managed public land pine forest, with trees mechanically thinned and some pruned. The mix of red dirt and pine needles underfoot was great as my shoes are wearing thin.
This is where I should have looked mire closely at my maps. Eventually crossing the Hwy, the trail lead steeply uphill for 4 miles. I was expecting a flattish and cruisey day. It was not to be. The climb was not well switchbacked and was difficult. I could see rainbow coloured sandstone cliffs above but didn’t think I was headed to the top, expecting to follow the high ground of some foothills in front. Of course the trail was leading to the top of the cliffs. It was a huge effort and took twice as long at a slow and steady pace.
Thankful to have reached to top I took a much needed break. I was around 11:30am and I’d hike on for another hour before lunch, the last of my salami and cheese wraps.
Up high I turned my phone off airplane mode to see if I had any signal. I did. One bar of 5G but it would be enough to check my emails for any update on my shoes. They had been sent and were on the road however there was conflicting advice on when they might arrive. REI suggested 2nd June while the carrier UPS had 29th May. They may still arrive tomorrow at Ghost Ranch while I’m there. If they don’t show up tomorrow there is no chance of me waiting at Ghost Ranch for 4 days and I would likely have to continue northwards to reach Colorado in four days, hitch back down to the ranch to collect shoes and hitch back north. This would certainly be time consuming but I desperately need new shoes.
After lunch the trail got tricky for a second time. This time round I at least had a look at maps to gauge what was in front. This time a very steep decent through an area affected by fire last year. This was switchbacked but was still slow in shoes with zero tread left. At the bottom I was greeted with another flowing stream and an opportunity to camel up or drink plenty of water to hydrate before filling bottles again and moving on.
The trail criss crossed this stream multiple times with vertical banks on either side that took some effort to negotiate. It looked like this stream was prone to flash flooding hence the steep vertical banks. It was also still in the burn area.
Finally leaving the fire area the trail led back into proper desert country along the valley floor with low shrubs and grasses and sandy tracks. A cattle trough was my last reliable water source for the day so I stopped to fill up 3 litres which would be enough to see out the rest of the day, evening and tomorrow morning. Spring fed the water was clear and cold. So cold in fact I just had to drink half a litre right then and there after it had been filtered.
By late afternoon I’d reach the Rio Chama River. The first real river in 689 miles. Tempted to stop and swim right there I still had another 2 miles for the day. At the bridge over the Charma the CDT junctions with the Red Line heading straight back up to a cliff line of similar heigh to that had basically been descended not that long ago; and the Green Light continue along the Rio Chama towards Ghost Ranch. I would be taking the green line.
Two more miles along I came to a free camping area on the edge of the river area with a pit toilet. This would be home for the night with another 8 miles to Ghost Ranch tomorrow morning. After selecting my tent site I headed straight to the river to jump in and sat soaking tired feet for a good chunk of time.
The soft background noise of the Rio Chama perfect to lull me into a deep sleep.
Mick Beckers 