May 22 Mileage 30 398.5 miles from Mexico The sky clears sometime in the night all the clouds and wind gone and when I wake to pee it's just stars, stars. Hello stars, I think. It's been a while. Morning brings condensation and that pre-dawn chill and I shiver awake. It feels good to be … Continue reading CDT day 18: surprise rock scrambles and pooping on anthills

May 21 Mileage 30 368.5 miles from Mexico The night is black and still and I have sad dreams about people living lonely lives and wake once in the middle of the night to stare at the thick darkness of the trailer, wondering what its narrow halls have seen. Mostly, though, I sleep. Sweet, sweet … Continue reading CDT day 17: hermits pottery and old stone houses

May 20 Mileage 15.5 338.5 miles from Mexico I'm awake for much of the night, how it usually is in town. Ah, well. As soon as the birds start to sing I'm up, doing this and that, making instant oatmeal from the hikerbox, watching the other hikers stumble around the cold kitchen, woodstove just beginning … Continue reading CDT day 16: more rural New Mexico magic

May 19 Mileage 17 323 miles from Mexico Wake up in the frosty morning ice covering everything and pack up as the sun struggles over the distant hills. I hear there's major snow north of us- I wonder what Colorado will bring. I wonder what will even happen there. It's good then that I started … Continue reading CDT day 15: don’t believe the hype

May 18 Mileage 23.5 306 miles from Mexico I can't sleep. I don't know. The internet is there on my phone and there's so much to do, such a flood of bleeps and bloops and bits of data that mean everything but really nothing and oh, I can't sleep. And it's too hot in the … Continue reading CDT day 14: life is an endless dirt forest service road

May 17 Mileage 19 282.5 miles from Mexico It's cold next to the cow pond but not rainy and I sleep hard, wake up feeling super awesome. Yay! We're up high in the pine mountains and today the trail is a maze of jeep roads and bushwhacking, tracks going off in one direction and then … Continue reading CDT day day 13: And then there were ribs

May 16 Mileage 29 263.5 miles from Mexico All night the wind blows and the rain falls on my tent, then turns to rattling hail. The night is deeply cold. I toss and turn in my bag, legs cramping, unable to get comfortable or fully warm. At one point I wake and the rain/hail has … Continue reading CDT day 12: snow in May

May 15 Mileage 27.5 234.5 Miles from Mexico The storm arrives at midnight: BOOM! BOOM! Peeee-ow! Thunder cracks and echoes down the canyon. Lightning flashes, sheering the night in half. I lie awake in the dark, listening to the hail beat the fabric of my shelter. Outside I can see the lights in my friends' … Continue reading CDT day 11: lightning and hail and infinite peace

May 14 Mileage 13 207 miles from Mexico The Gila game is as such: walk in the water. Walk on rocks. Walk in deep sand. Climb over a downed tree. Walk in the water. All while in a glorious canyon that pens in the sparkling river, pink rocks rising up in the slanted light, forgetting … Continue reading CDT day 10: The Gila Game

May 13 Mileage 21 194 miles from Mexico A storm comes in during the wee hours and even though we'd planned for this, grumblingly setting up our shelters for the first time on the trail so far, there is still that bleary moment making sure all is secure for the onslaught, touching everything in my … Continue reading CDT day 9: deep thoughts in the Gila