CDT JOY: Return to the desert

Day 109: 0 miles

Highlights: Day Zero in Cuba.

13 hours of sleep later and I would never have guessed that I had just walked for 33 hours and 68 miles before arriving at this hotel room.

I felt refreshed and my legs and feet felt great. My right palm hurt from holding my trekking pole in the mud and my right shoulder blade hurt from my backpack.

I walked across the street to the Cuban cafe for breakfast and then returned to the room to pick up the dirty clothes. The laundromat was right down the street and while I was doing laundry, I walked to the nearby grocery store to restock.

Back at the laundry room, I moved the clothes into the dryer. About five minutes after turning on the dryer I realized I had put the money in the dryer next to my clothes and was watching an empty machine spin and heat up. I was able to stop the machine and add my clothes from one dryer to the other and let the timer continue.

After the clothes were dry, I went to McDonald’s to have another small meal of a breakfast sandwich and Gatorade, then returned to the room. I saw free samples on the way back to the room and we made plans to meet for dinner.

Back in the room, I organized my resupply and watched some YouTube. I was able to contact Midnight, who was walking from Highway 96 towards Cuba today.

For dinner, I went to El Bruno on the recommendation of my friend Derrick and had a stuffed sopapilla and a margarita. Afterwards, I returned to the hotel and was joined by Midnight.

Dinner at El Bruno

Day 110: 5.2 miles

Highlights: Midnight Birthday. Leaving Cuba.

I was able to sleep until 8 in the morning and had breakfast again at the Cuban café. I was joined by Midnight and Woody and ended up having French toast and soppapillas for breakfast and we watched the rain outside while we ate.

About thirty minutes later, Beaker and Gone joined us. Beaker meets Haze, who I met at AT last year and we found out we’re all from Tucson, Arizona. I also discovered that Gone is also writing for Trek.

Breakfast with Woody, Beaker, Gone, Midnight and me

After breakfast I returned to the room to pack my bags and do some writing. We left the hotel room around 11am, headed to Woody’s room and found Whiskers and Free Samples. The weather was cloudy and it looked like another storm was coming around 6 p.m.

We were debating whether to walk a few miles today or take another day zero in the city to wait out the rain. The forecast shows rain for several days in a row, but at least the lows are in the 50s, so humidity and heat are nice.

In Woody’s room, we had a beer and enjoyed the time relaxing inside. Other hikers passed by and I headed to the gas station to buy burritos. Back in the room, Midnight, Free Samples, Whiskers and I decided to head out of town. We went for a walk around 4:20 p.m.

From the city we took NM Highway 197 as a walking path for 4 miles and then turned onto a dirt road. It started raining about 2 miles in and soon we were soaked. At first, the dirt road wasn’t too muddy or bad, but from time to time we ran into slippery mud and almost fell.

We were also hiking in an area where you could see water falling in sheets onto the ground and it was not a safe or great place to camp. When we saw a group of trees on a hill in the distance we decided to camp there for the night.

My stomach wasn’t 100% so I ended up just having a snack for dinner. I changed into dry sleeping clothes and put my wet clothes in my backpack outside the tent in the lobby.

Day 111: 27.2 miles

Featured: Hiking with Free Samples and Mustaches.

This morning I let myself sleep a little. I expected to hear the rustle of tents packing up and stayed silent in my sleeping bag. As the sun started to rise around 6:40am, I heard Midnight turn on her stove for breakfast and I lazily packed up and got ready.

The group of us didn’t start walking until almost 8 in the morning. Having other people to walk with made the time fly quickly as we got caught up in a conversation. Today we took breaks at each of the two water fountains, as well as a lunch break.

Hiking with free samples, midnight and mustaches

Today’s trail was unexpectedly beautiful as we climbed onto a mesa and along its edge.

View from the trail today

Today’s weather threatened to rain from time to time, but it stayed that way all day. In the morning we faced some still very muddy areas and I fell in the mud with my right knee and hand landing and covered in thick clay like a mess. I had to walk like this to the water source where I could clean up a little.

During breaks I dried my still wet rain pants and yesterday’s clothes. I was also happy to have an appetite and consumed as much food as I wanted knowing that I packed too much for this section.

At night, at the last water source of the day, we decided to have dinner so we wouldn’t have to carry the extra water weight. From there we walked through the night for just over an hour before camping on flat ground with some trees to protect us from the wind.

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