Friday, April 27
During the night the wind increased and I woke to clouds and occasional showers. It's not until noon that I see the sun and I start to warm up. The trail is familiar and I began to wonder again...what am doing in the bootheel of New Mexico? I remind myself how much I LOVE to hike and that southern New Mexico is a great "training hike" for the rest of the Continental Divide Trail.
I met a mature (my new word for old...since I am too) couple just after lunch at an unmarked trail junction and we chatted a bit before I continued on. A few hours later, I saw a sign for TRAIL MAGIC and in a half mile found Apple, a famous trail angel sporting a shade dome, water, Gatorade, and chips! He is a retired IBM engineer and reminds me of my father. He lives in Ohio, but travels annually to the PCT, CDT, and AT to provide trail magic (Who knew hikers were so interesting?) We have a nice conversation about the trail, technology, and his experiences as a trail angel.
The couple I met earlier, Spreadsheet and Mulch, arrive and take my place in the dome as I wander off into the desert. I stop late and eat dinner in the dark. When I stop to camp, I'm 18 miles from Lordsburg and have enough cell service to make my first phone call to Eva. I doze off to sleep knowing I'll be in town tomorrow night. I'll definitely be ready for a shower!
Saturday, April 28
It's HOT, my feet hurt, and my sinuses are not happy! I hiked...no, I MARCHED 18 miles to Lordsburg with one goal in mind...a shower! You know you are dirty when the bottom of the tub looks like a mud puddle. After bathing and starting a load of laundry, I enjoyed dinner at McDonalds. No meal has ever been happier.
I was forced to switch shoes (more about this unfortunate situation in a future post) for this year's hike and my sensitive feet are still adjusting to this change. I'm most concerned about my sinuses. At first I thought they were reacting to the drier climate in New Mexico. This is not the first hike I've had congestion, burning and some blood, but now I'm wondering if I have a sinus infection in addition to the effects of climate change.
I arrived in Lordsburg a day early so I'm going to take a zero (no hiking) on Sunday and rest. Currently my sinuses are not so bad that I can't hike, so I plan to leave on Monday for Silver City which is 3 days away. If my sinuses are not improving by then, I'll find a clinic and see what they say. The next town after Silver City is Grants, but that's a 10 day stretch so I'll make sure I'm improving before leaving Silver City.
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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