One of the last CYTC stops in the city

This morning we woke up at the campsites next to the road. I think it was a little after 6 in the morning. The best thing was how quiet the road turned out to be. I guess it makes sense that there aren’t many people driving between Silver City and the Gila cliff dwellings at night. But I still expected there to be some traffic. My tent was only set up about 20 or 30 feet from the road. It would have been quite visible to anyone driving slowly or looking around.

The fact that the road had been so smooth was definitely a relief. I finally got up and started packing my bags. I made myself a coffee with the packet of coffee I had left. That’s something I forgot to bring up yesterday. I’m out of hot chocolate and just using the last of my packets of Vietnamese coffee. Those are amazing. Just as we were completely packed, the first car of the day passed by. You have to love the moment.

Then we set off, probably shortly after 7am. It’s only about 22 miles to Silver City. And if I remember correctly, there isn’t much more difference. I thought we would also have a climber in the morning. But I remember the last part of the day was nice and flat to get to the last part of Silver City.

It was still cold enough in the morning for me to keep my alpha layers on. But we didn’t walk for over an hour before I had to stop and take them off. These desert-like environments always change your mind. Mornings and nights can be very cold. But when the sun comes out in the middle of the day, it can be incredibly hot. After that, we set off again and continued down the road. It was really nice and quiet. Maybe only a few cars had passed in the couple of hours we had been walking.

Some sections of the trail were very steep and winding. Those areas were really cool. Then, over time, the canyon walls along the road were raised. Suddenly we were surrounded by a wall of sandy orange rock. The views were quite nice and the time passed quickly as we continued along the trail. There was a little more climbing left to do, but nothing too crazy. Then eventually things stabilized as we headed towards Pinos Altos.

Continuing towards Silver City. Through the town of Pinos Altos.

Pinos Altos is a very small town that this road passes through. It is about nine miles from Silver City. The last time I passed through this area was in the middle of the night. It was still exciting to pass through the historic city. The buildings are really cool and still have the old shops. But it was much more exciting to walk today around noon.

Apparently this is one of the best steakhouses in the state.

Apparently there is some kind of steakhouse in town. We walked by but there didn’t seem to be anything open. There was also a museum, but it didn’t necessarily seem open. But my eyes were set on Silver City anyway. We only had a few more hours left. I definitely enjoyed walking around the small town. It reminded me of some of the older towns you’d see in Montana or Idaho on this trail.

The city museum is very eclectic and cute.

After passing through that town, we simply continued along the road. We slowly advanced towards Silver City. There was really nothing between those two places. Little by little we entered more civilization over time. We walked another hour or two and then reached the outskirts of Silver City. That’s when I saw a car stop right behind us, along the road. And it didn’t take me more than a second to realize it was Tripod!

I loved walking through these pine forests. It’s always so calm and peaceful.

I really wasn’t expecting to see it so it was cool. He has been hanging out with Sprinkle and his group. But I really don’t know where anyone else is right now. When we spoke with Tripod, we were able to assess that it appeared a couple of people had been injured. The group had definitely dissolved a bit. Or at least divide us again into smaller subgroups. But everyone was still hauling trucks. It looks like some hikers might arrive in town tomorrow night. Others could arrive the next day.

It was great to see him and talk for a while. Then, a steam engine and I continued to make our way towards Silver City. The first place we went when we got to town was a gas station. I wanted to get something to drink and ended up looking at the Mexican popsicles. I’m obsessed with those different types of popsicles. The coconut and maple nut ones are very good. But today I saw a rice pudding popsicle. The last time I had one of those was with Slide in Snoqualmie, Washington. I remember it because it’s the only time I’ve tried one of those and I love rice pudding. Now I have to have it again! How exciting.

Rice pudding ice cream popsicles are deadly.

Steam Engine and I sat outside the gas station in the shade for a while. Then we continued our way towards the city. We ended up walking across the street to one of the closest and cheapest motels. I have a lot of editing to catch up on, so I got my own room. It is very difficult for me to edit audio and video when I share space with someone. Especially with the amount of work I want to do in the next few days. Tomorrow I’m going to farm basically exclusively so I can catch up.

After checking in and organizing my things, I took a shower. Then he decided to walk down the road and grab a few things. I went to CVS and then ordered a pizza at Domino’s. Then I picked him up on my way back to the motel. Then Steam Engine and I hung out for a bit before heading back to the room to eat and relax. And I spent much of the rest of the day just editing.

Every now and then I would take a short break to hang out or do something else. But I really tried to stay focused and do tons of work. I was already a little behind when I went out with everyone for Halloween. Then entering a section of the Trail with no service for almost a week didn’t help. Now I’m incredibly far behind, but I also want to get the pace back because I’m so close to the finish line. But there is plenty of time to do it. And there’s also plenty of time to hang out and relax.

I definitely feel more rested and energized than I have in months. The few days off in recent weeks have made a big difference. For the rest of the night I made a ton of edits and ended up ordering more food. It was really nice to relax and know I would have the whole day too. I stayed up pretty late just because I had a lot of energy. But I did tons of things. I finally called him tonight.

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