Day 2: Patrolled

I forget how many stars are out at night in the desert. Sunrises the sunrises aren't bad, the gradient they make across the entire sky is amazing. Where the sun hasn't quite risen yet you have the deeep red/oranges and then the colors fade into even deeper blues/violets on the opposite horizon. There was also no trail today.

I found only brown square posts that were supposed to be trail markers which practically blended in with the dried up brown vegetation and the brown fist sided stones that these plants grew up from. I guess the trail does emerge out of the brush for a few strides near these markers, however they then quickly fizzle away into nothing leaving myself choosing my own path most of the time. I actually didn't mind it too much, but with my attention directed to where I should go next rather than where I should be stepping next resulted in the occasional loss of footing. I did have a general idea what direction my water source was so I aimed myself toward that.

At another solar well I must have stepped on a pressure plate or something because the border patrol rolled up to me in no time, I'd say 5-10min from my filling my water bottles. The officer was nice though and asked where I was from and if I had seen any snakes. I told him I've seen a shit-ton of jack rabbits and lizzards, but no snakes. After he rolled off I preceded to munch on snacks and re-lace my shoes in the nearby shade. I had to put them a notch lower since I was beginning to feel some "hot spots" on my heels. I put some leukotape on just to be safe.

After a siesta I dirt-roadwalked to the second water cache at highway 81, so grateful for these in the beginning otherwise there'd be some long hauls I'm sure. In the hiker leg building phase of my hike that could be detrimental. After crossing highway 81 I camped for the night in a sandy wash out of the wind. I walked up onto a hill to watch the sun set as I horfed-down some delicious refried bean taco mush before calling it a night.

Day 1: Off-road & On-trail

Was up late last night finishing up my taxes (last minute I know) and unpacking my bag one last time before hitting the trail today. For breakfast my Mom, Cousin, and I ate at Denny's in Deming. I had an All-American Grand Slam. I felt remarkably calm as compared with my first days for the AT & PCT. Weather was clear and will likely have highs in the mid-70's through to my first resupply in Lordsburg, NM about 4-5 days away. I'm going to try and keep around 15 miles a day for the first stint of the CDT to get conditioned. I'll should be able to tell when I'm ready for all day hiking. Driving down 81 to Crazy Cook we came across a handful of parked border patrol trucks. I guess we're required to let them know that we're not crossing into the country illegally, and to let them know what I'll be wearing/carrying, etc.

Getting to the trail was much more of a issue than I thought. To get to the monument we had to hop on a rugged desert road 11 miles south of Hachita, and good thing I downloaded a bunch of maps because it was nearly a two hour crawl until we reached our destination. Side note: if you ever want to start the CDT northbound, take the shuttle... The three of us were nervously laughing after every big bump we hit when we though it was flat. We actually crossed paths with the CDTC shuttle driver, who thought we were crazy doing this in a Ford Escape. We made it though.

At the Crazy Cook monument at the Mexico border we cracked open some Modelo's to celebrated under the shaded roof placed nearby. It was windy and I felt like I was already getting sunburnt. After we took some pictures and said goodbye. Mom and my cousin pouted as I walked off.

Very soon I realized that this trail was different, the trail I was on quickly turned in the two, three, to a dozen cow trails. I wasn't lost, I just needed to keep route finding with my maps. Until I made it to the base of the Big Hachet Mountains. I met my first hiker named Nes, who was resting about 6 miles in. I hiked on to the first water at around 11 miles, a solar well. I rested here alone and realized the sun was setting soon. Most of the day was spent winding through dried up wash beds in valleys from whenever this place gets rain. Seems hard to believe. I finally found camp after the sun set near the first water cache put out by the CDTC. Four more of those to go until I get to Lordsburg.

Pre-CDT

Feeling rushed/anxious on the surface, but elated deep down. I've done everything I needed to do to prepare for this hike (from my knowledge). My last home cooked dinner for the next 4 months was spinach ricotta tortellini's with pork and capers on top. I had it with with my family here in Grand Rapids, MI. We all watched the Disney movie Moana together afterwards. I leave for the beginning of the Continental Divide Trail tomorrow morning, thankfully my Mum is taking this time to drive out to the southern terminus, simplifying things a bit. We should be arriving at a motel in Deming, NM on Saturday, April, 29th and walking north on the 30th from the Crazy Cook Monument. All my mail drop's are ready to go (all 21 of them), and my gear is all packed after obsessively packing and unpacking everything.

I've made a few tweaks to my set-up this time around. For instance, my sleeping gear will be tarp/bivy combo, a torso length closed cell foam pad, a inflatable pillow, and a quilt. The Mountain Laurel Designs Patrol shelter is a more storm worthy a-frame style tarp which is has beaked front entrance and a closed toe. The bivy is the MLD Super-light, which I've used on my last two hikes off and on, love it, especially for cowboy camping and seeing the stars at night. My sleeping bag has changed to a Enlightened Equipment Revelation 20°F, I'm looking forward to being able to air my feet out as the temperatures at night fluctuate. The inflatable pillow will be a luxury item.

Now for the rain I decided to use a Frogg Toggs jacket, I know they aren't too durable (I'll likely have to mail myself another at some point) but they are one of the lightest/cheapest rain jackets out there that does fairly well at keeping you warm/dry. This will also be a replacement for my active/wind layer this time around, however breathability may be missed. Also, In conjunction with the Toggs I'll have a antique Golite umbrella that I used back on the second half of AT.

My camera gear is another area that changed, I'll be using a RX100V, it's much more compact and weighs less than my XT1 I lugged around in a fanny pack for the last two trips. From the tests I've done the image quality is impressive, the only downside is that the controls will definitely take some getting used to, especially the menu (ugh). Another thing I'm excited about is my battery pack and charger which uses Qualcomm Quickcharge, the pack is 20100 mAh and will fully charge in 4-5hrs instead of 12hrs and will fill my phone up around 7 times. It will be nice not having to worry about finding a plug in every town I stop in.

Lastly, for miscellaneous items I bought is a mini harmonica in the key of C, and a big foam thumb. The thumb is to aid in catching rides into town. I have no idea how to play the harmonica, but there will be plenty of time to practice.

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Here's all my gear spilled out below:

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Here is a list of my starting gear list for my trip (Note: "Consumable" weights refers to gear that is used only in certain sections of the trip):

A little stop motion video I made of everything: