CDT Day 7 (5/25/23)
Miles 127.1- 174.3 (24 miles) (11 road to Silver City, 8 road to Gila, 5 Gila Alternate)
Verbatim
It was difficult to fall asleep last night on account of several mosquitoes, annoying gooch, balls, and butt itch (the sort of tickling itch which stays present no matter what and bounces around to new and different spots seemingly at random). Since I camped so close to the dirt road several vehicles passed by on their way back to the Burro Mountain Home. It definitely felt concerning to have so many cars drive by slowly and alone while being in such a vulnerable state. That is, alone and unknown, naked by the side of a road with your things strewn about. If you’re alone in nature and come across someone else there’s a good chance things will go pretty well. But if things go south and you’re alone in the woods it gets dangerous fast.
I eventually pulled out my mask from COVID. It’s a ridiculously breathable doubled piece of cotton cloth, dyed black. It’s the sort of mask you’d use to bypass mask wardens without actually inconveniencing yourself, at the price of protection. It’s a sucky mask. Works great as an eye blinder though! I’m forced to put it on as a nightshade because the stars are so bright in the dear New Mexico night sky. When I awoke at 4:30 to enact my first significant road walking ritual of this CDT hike I noticed the Milky Way immediately above my head. It is indeed milky and appeared to me this morning as a sort of nebulous cloudy band of haze within which single stars still shone. It was beautiful.
I felt grumpy this morning at the beginning of my road walk, but was pleased with myself for accomplishing an early morning. The 11 miles went smoothly and I generally enjoyed the opening of the sky to light. New Mexico drivers go faster along the highway heading south from Silver City to work at the mine. I could hear front loaders rumbling long after sunset last night. It was clear they like to start early as well.
I ended up sobbing on my way into Silver City. I’ve been so devastated by L’s —. It was good to cry unabashedly in the early morning light. A hip-looking young hiker guy, doubled over while standing, his body wracked by convulsing sobs three feet from the white roadside divider. Men rushing their way to work in trucks at seventy in a sixty-five. I wonder what they thought.
Silver City itself was a nice experience. I grabbed two breakfast burritos and ate on a park bench. Then I walked and got some groceries. Don was there for the same Tempeh Sandwiches that I was, which had been recommended as 10/10 on Guthook’s. Crazy!
Today I caught my first CDT hiker. His name was Ben. Nice guy. Section hiking from Lordsburg to CO.
Today I ended my active and functional relationship with L. I told her she is no longer my person. That the choices she’s made are unattractive, and that the reason why I’m ending things with her is because of —.
[There are a several sentences, and then another paragraph, which are my business and not yours. So, they get left out here. What a day…]
I’m noticing that I’m feeling really sad. But I’m also quite thankful L is now behind me. I will miss her tremendously and regret the angry way I ended things. It was petty of me. But, I was angry and upset and ready for her to be gone. I’m okay with her seeing that part of me. A more composed me would have “quit on a good day” and just left L with a more calm and composed attitude.
I’m also noting that L was never a fan of using words. I am such a words person.
It’s good to be in the Gila section. It’s SO much more enjoyable than what’s been experienced so far. I got to soak my feet and legs this evening! How about that! I’m also noticing that being in the Gila gives me hope to catch others, restore strength, bathe and soothe my wounds, and prepare to move more strongly in the future. I’m currently camped to the sounds of birds and frogs in the cool. That’s pretty nice.
I’m excited to write a book from this experience in the fall. [You’re getting this online journal instead of a book.] Without L in the picture I’m recalibrating a bit of what I should do… I could work as a pastor. I could write and work local and then tour the book by bike next summer before doing a CPE residency in Portland. I could do anything I guess.
Post Note
The milage listed at the top of Day 7 doesn’t make much sense… So, let me explain. The CDT is a tricky trail. It has lots of “alternates.” Generally, thruhikers utilize a map application called FarOut (formerly known as Guthooks) on their phone to help direct their path. FarOut denotes the “red line” of the path and peppers that red line with lots of little emojis and their listed milage which can be clicked to reveal information about the trail. For example: an app user might click on a water droplet emoji to reveal information about the upcoming fountain, spring, stream, or river. Crowdsourced information, usually left by previous hikers, will indicate to the reader something about the water source. Comments are dated and might say “Flowing well,” or, “Just a trickle at this point,” or, “I’ve never been so thirsty for the trail in all my life” (which the author somehow expects will convey some sort of meaningful information about the state of the water source). I don’t know. Comments get weird sometimes.
FarOut’s crowdsourced information becomes invaluable to the traveling hiker. The location and veracity of a water source helps hikers plan to carry as little weight as possible while still remaining hydrated. It helps save you from dehydration while also saving your knees from all the water weight you didn’t need which also saves your work/school/financial life because the lowered pack weight allows you to travel lighter which means you can travel further which means you can finish the trail sooner and go back to your work. Sometimes the FarOut comments can save your life, like when a road crossing emoji indicates something like, “DO NOT HITCH WITH —. Real whacked out dude tried making a move 10 minutes into our ride to town. Total predator vibes.”
Okay, so that’s FarOut. All of this explanation is to say something simple about the incoherence of the mileage I listed at the top of this page (and of course, to teach you about FarOut!). FarOut lists alternate paths to the formal trail hikers call the “red line.” You can take the pink line, the yellow line, the orange line, the green line, the teal line, or the blue line. All the colors of the rainbow (that’s not all the colors of the rainbow is it, I’m missing some. Whatever). Alternates on the CDT may bring you past a point of interest other hikers may find unworthy; could shorten the hike; could lengthen the hike but might have some other benefit like more consistent water or safer camping; may hold much more beauty than the “red line” and are traditionally taken by CDT hikers despite not being part of the formal trail.
When you take an alternate your mileages change. On this day, I left the red line at Burro Mountain Home and walked directly to town. Only after I restocked in town did I return to the red line somewhere north of Silver City. But I returned to the red line only to immediately (half a mile later?) get off on the brown line known as the Gila River Alternate. So, the numbers are a little wonky. Point is, I walked 24 miles as split and indicated in the second parenthetical. But, these 24 miles skipped the difference in milage between 174.3-127.1-24. What is that? 23.2? I tried doing it in my head.
The red line of the CDT is something just over 3,000 miles, as specified by FarOut. Discrepancies in milage like the one experiences on my Day 7 means that I walked from Mexico to Canada while only walking 2650 miles. Most hikers, despite what some will insistently claim about their hike, walk considerably less than 3,000 miles on the CDT. To faithfully red line is an impressive feat of dedication, which unfortunately often comes at the cost of missing some of the CDT’s best moments or the consistent amble of a group of friends. There are lots of ways to “validate a thruhike.” But…
To you red liners out there. Hell yeah.