CDT JOY: Silver City – The Walk

Day 125: 29.5 miles

Highlights: Leaving the Gila Wilderness. Silver City.

The morning was cold as always, and after packing up camp, Whiskers, Midnight, and I set sail in the dark. It turned out we had one more water crossing to make, and not wanting to get our feet frozen, we jumped in strategically.

From there, we crossed to a gate that wasn’t marked on the FarOut app, around a huge fallen tree, and found the trail again. The trail went up and out of the canyon for several miles, and I was grateful to warm up from all the effort.

At the top of the climb we encounter a forest service road and then return to a trail. On rocky surfaces it was easy to lose the trail and small rock mounds were sometimes difficult to spot. There was a fire earlier this year and on the section of the trail that went along a dry creek bed for a few miles, the trail was difficult to follow and I had to cross a lot of downed trees.

Leaving the stream we headed to a water source for lunch. Since we planned to spend a big day in the city for the night, I had my ramen for dinner so we could have a bigger lunch. I’ve been really hungry the last few days and will probably eat all the food in my bag, except for an emergency breakfast, before I get to town. At lunch, I looked at my legs and was surprised at the number of scratches and scrapes. The Gila really gave me a beating the last few days.

In the afternoon I finished a Joe Dispenza audiobook and then took my time savoring the nature around me.

On our afternoon break we came to a trail junction where we knew we would follow forest service roads and highways to get to town. The change was welcome because it was easier to zone out and let the miles fly by. It was also easier to walk side by side to chat and then we played EDM music together.

On our hike we passed a sign informing us that we had passed through the Gila Wilderness. We continued and had a magical trail at a trailhead 7 miles from town and I enjoyed a Dr. Pepper and refilled a water bottle.

The road to the city was downhill and bumpy and we made it at a good pace. Once we had cell service we looked at the food options and decided on Blake’s Lotaburger. We’ve been craving burgers and waiting for the magic of the burger trail, saying «burger, burger, burger» every time we saw campers or hunters camped near the trail.

At the restaurant I had a chicken sandwich, a double cheeseburger, seasoned fries, a strawberry milkshake, and root beer. I finished everything and it wasn’t even full. It was so good to eat so much, especially when I’ve been hungry this stretch.

From dinner we walked to the Palace Hotel for the night and arrived a little after 8pm having walked almost 30 miles to get into town. I shampooed my hair for the first time since Grants 11 days prior. I cleaned my numerous scratches with soap and water and cleaned so much dirt from my face and ears. Then it was time to go to bed. We all agreed that tomorrow we would decide whether we would leave or not. We also needed to determine what our plans for Halloween would be and set an expected completion date.

Day 126: 0 miles

Highlights: Halloween costume shopping.

The last planned day zero of trail! We woke up to sunlight and walked down the hallway to breakfast. There we saw Caboose, Thunder Bear, Pangora, Gone and Beaker, who were also spending a zero day in the city.

After breakfast, we headed out into town to run chores and errands: a trip to the post office to pick up the boxes Grants had delivered ahead of time, the local bike shop to pick up the new shoes Midnight had delivered, thrift stores to look for Halloween costumes, the co-op and food basket to restock, and finally a stop for some Mexican food before heading back to the hotel.

At the bike and hike store I bought a large Tyvek with six-moon designs that I will use to cowboy camp for the rest of the trail. We will all be storing extra equipment and costume supplies at the Palace Hotel since we will be staying again on Halloween night. Our plan is to hike for 2 days to the highway junction and return to town the afternoon of day 31. Then, we’ll get back on the trail on day 1 to pick up where we left off.

Afterwards, Midnight and I headed to Walmart waiting for the free public bus by the visitor center. A local angel in a truck stopped by asking if we needed anything and offered us a shot of tequila to congratulate us on being almost there. Yes, of course I will say yes to this magic!

The bus dropped us off at Walmart where we bought more costume accessories: temporary hair dye, costume makeup, and fishnet stockings. We went to take the bus back, but the bus was on its last route and did not plan to return to the center.

It was about a mile back to the hotel and as we were looking at our phones to figure out how to get back, a local watched us get on and off the bus and offered us a ride back to downtown. It was incredible magic and we learned that she hopes to take the PCT soon.

Back in the room we relaxed a bit and met up with my friend Tim for dinner at the Little Toad. We ate several apps and then returned to the hotel for the night.

Day 127: 24.0 miles

Highlights: Leaving Silver City.

I slept very well last night. We had the bedroom window open and the cold air helped me sleep at night.

After eating toast and cereal for breakfast, I finally went through my food bag and took out a few things since I had an extra dinner and breakfast that needed to be taken out of the bag. From there I dedicated myself to downloading music and podcasts and then I stayed in the hotel room.

We left Silver City just before 10am, headed to the highway and walked the paved road for 12 miles. The trail then turned onto a dirt road and we took a break at the water source. We passed along the side of the highway that marks the continental divide and stopped to take some photos.

Mustaches and midnight next to the continental divide sign

I ate a lot of food today and it felt good to be able to carry so much since it was a short period of 1.5 days. For lunch I had crackers with half a container of chive cream cheese and 4 ounces of salami. Along with that, I had a half container of Pringles and a 600 calorie raspberry dark chocolate bar.

For snacks I had a pint of blackberries, a protein bar, dried pineapple and fruit snacks. Finally, for dinner I had ramen with spicy spam, peanut butter, and olive oil. I was so full coming out of dinner and enjoyed a slow walk down singletrack.

The sunset with beautiful desert roses, purples and oranges and deep, dark reds. In the evening we all walked single file six more miles to reach camp. We set up at a marked campsite on the trail and I installed my new Tyvek for the first time.

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