Monday, May 7
I spent most of the morning eating and resting at Doc Campbell's. While I was there, I counted 13 other CDT hikers coming and going. I was pleasantly surprised to see two young couples who started on the same day as me. It was nice to see their familiar faces and find out how they were doing. I left around 11 AM to resume hiking. It's 125 miles to my next resupply in Pie Town and water is scarce in this long dry section. There is a trail angel from Pie Town that is cacheing water in this section, but I'm not clear exactly where some of the caches are and how much water she is leaving in each location. This is her first attempt at being a trail angel and she is 70! I hope to meet her while I'm in Pie Town and say thank you!
It was in the 80s when I hiked out of Doc Campbell's. Before leaving I made a decision to skip the next 30 miles of the middle fork of the Gila River and avoid two more days of wet feet. Instead, I followed a trail on the south rim of the river canyon. The trail was quite rocky in sections and my progress was slow. I hiked 12 miles to an old fish and game cabin and ate dinner on the porch. I thought about sleeping on the porch, but decided I'd be more comfortable in my tent.
I'm not sure how many nights I've been on trail, but so far I've slept alone every night. I've also been hiking alone and most days see very few hikers. I thought I might be more lonely given the amount of solitude, but I am surprisingly content and enjoying myself. I have books to read on my iPhone, blog writing, picture taking, praying and a separate MP3 player with hundreds of sermons and good podcasts to listen to.
Tuesday, May 8
I hiked 21.5 miles today and tomorrow have 22 miles to the next water source. The lack of water makes for long days and a heavy backpack. The walk along the rim of the canyon was pleasant this morning and I passed an unmarked grave near the trail.
Eventually the trail descended into the canyon to cross the Gila River one last time. I took off my shoes and socks to avoid getting them wet and ate lunch on the other side while my feet dried off. I climbed out of the canyon in the heat of the day and found this old abandoned truck and decided to investigate. I'm a sucker for old cars.
Not long after my bonding moment with the rusty truck, another thru-hiker zoomed by me. In passing he mentioned he started May 1, seven days after me! He is averaging 30+ miles a day! Near the end of my day, I loaded up with 5.5 liters of water at mile 21 and hiked another half mile to camp on a plateau at 7,900 feet. When I arrived it was windy, but as the sun set, the wind became a gentle breeze. Like most nights, I set up my tent, ate dinner, prayed, wrote, read, and went to sleep as it got dark. It was a good day.
For additional content, check out Flickr for images, YouTube for video, SoundCloud for audio, and the Postholer Map with my most recent location.Thanks for following along!
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