Desert Rain-Lordsburg to Silver City NM

We ate all the green chile our bellies could hold in Lordsburg. Had a nice chat with Pants and Nigel at the Econolodge. I slept much better after we discovered the source of the intermittent beeping in our room. Some idiot put a dying smoke detector in the nightstand drawer.

Day 1

Miles Traveled: 28.77 Originally Planned: 21.8

10 hours of walking

Elevation Gain: 3,174 feet Descent: 1,334 feet

During our pre-trip planning for the next section, we read that water availability was tight and there were up to 28 miles between water sources, so we put everything we could into a bounce box (we mailed ourselves a priority mail package to pick up at the post office).

Long water transport today. Walk 45 kilometers to the next reliable solar well. Nice angel water cache trail at night.

Mood: great, happy

Terrain: Rolling, more climbing today. It started double-tracking in the lower desert and climbed steadily all day into the chaparral. Juniper, piñon, grasses that look like pampas.

Animals: crows, little birds, strange chubby lizards, lots of cows, an annoying dung beetle that visits us for dinner. Mosquitoes in the washes, grasshoppers hitting our heads and faces. Bull snake hanging on the side of the road

Theme Music: Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cindi Lauper and Surfing USA during a gentle descent while I was slipping.

Weather: 80 degrees

Cooler, cloudy all day. Windy at first then calm at night. 5 minutes of sparks from a cloud right after entering the store.

Equipment: The rain fly of the tent needs to be washed, the zippers are sticky. The long heads of the tent stakes are warping; It is necessary to be attentive to possible replacements.

Physical: Nothing new

Best Meal of the Day: Mountain House Chicken Adobo

People found: Nigel and Pants

Day 2

Miles Traveled: 26.4 Originally Planned: 21.8

10 hours 49 min walk

Elevation Gain: 4,122 feet Descent: 4,103 feet

I woke up early at 05:00 for a work call. The first light appeared and the birds woke up and began to sing. More crazy grasshoppers hitting us in the face. More annoying mosquitoes try to get in our noses all day long. I almost stepped on the bull snake in the picture below.

Temperature: Sunny, warmer 81 F. Windy, so it helped with the heat. The wind picked up from the afternoon until the evening. I freshened up quickly after dark and took off my pants for the morning chill. It rained steadily most of the night.

Terrain: Some hard rolling terrain, some double track. Harder, rockier climbing, some difficult descents with unstable baby head rocks. Junipers, piñon trees, large pine trees and many small barrel cacti with bright pink or red flowers.

Best meal of the day: Sidewinder dried sour cherries in the evening for dessert. Fabled weasel fish just before dinner. The food supply still seems too generous. We are both struggling to eat full portions. My Suunto said I’m burning 3,500 calories not including basal metabolic rate, so we packed the right amount of food.

Song: C’est la vie by Phosphorescent

Motto: Survive today, we will plan our water stops tomorrow.

First magical trail! A generous trail angel left a water tank, shoes, first aid supplies, a chair, and a Sprite!

Water is difficult to carry today, Weasel carried 6 liters of water for 12 miles. Sidewinder carried 3.

There is no news on our resupply box for Silver City. We placed a lost shipment notice three days ago and received no response. We mail our extra food from Lordsburg so we don’t have to get much if it doesn’t show up. Although it’s annoying, Twisted Sister mailed it 12 days ago.

Mood: Good for both, lack of sleep due to getting up early due to the meeting.

Animals: big fat lizards, crow, dove in a water hole.

Team: No new problems.

Shopping list for Silver City: wool socks for both of us, sunscreen, purell, maybe a hat for Sidewinder, the mesh ripped a little during the last wash.

Physical: There are no new problems for Sidewinder. Fred is growing up a little.

People found: Nigel while we were breaking camp. I met Journeyman from Noble, OK.

Day 3

Miles Traveled: 25.12 Originally Planned: 21.8

8 hours 30 min walk

Elevation Gain: 1826 feet Descent: 2114 feet

Mood: Well, looking forward to Silver City.

Weather: Raining in the morning, cloudy 74 degrees. Brief periods of sun along the way. 10 minutes of rain and hail arriving in town.

Equipment: Carry an additional trash compactor bag in each backpack for waterproofing. Mail our sleeping bag liners home. They are not breathable enough and make us feel clammy and gross at night.

Terrain: Descent from the pines along a beautiful path. 5 miles of dirt double track through a canyon. 15 miles of monotonous, foot-painful road walking.

Colorful buildings and interesting people in Silver City.

Historic Palace Hotel converted from bank to hotel in 1900.

Best meal of the day: cheesesteak sandwich and burger at Little Toad Brewery. The ecstasy of resolving the hiker’s hunger.

We magically got our Silver City resupply box that we thought was lost. Today we will give away all our extra food to the locals.

Rest day in Silver City and then 3 days to Doc Campbell’s post. I’m not sure I’ll do another Doc Campbell’s blog post since we’re moving our computers to Pie Town. Pie Town is about 9 days from Silver City.

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