Intense heat in November in the New Mexico desert

This morning I woke up in the room around 7 am. That bed was very comfortable. In fact, I’m happy to be able to return to Lordsburg after finishing and spend the night again. I hope my next bed is just as lovely. I finally got up and started putting away all my things. I still have this crystal champagne bottle, which is a bit inconvenient. But now I’m committed to it.

Once I was packed up, I went out and came across Steam Engine. It looks like we’re going on a hike together, which is really cool. Before leaving town I bought a burrito from the place next door. Then I had coffee and a couple more snacks at the gas station. I don’t need much! Hopefully I’ll cover about 35 miles today and tomorrow. Then take half a day the next day.

After ordering the last resupply, we were ready to go. I thought I would eat the burrito later today. Lately I’ve been obsessed with making bean and cheese burritos and adding chorizo ​​to them. I love the classic bean and cheese burrito. But if the beans are not seasoned enough, it can be a little bland. The chorizo ​​is so salty that it adds a ridiculous amount of flavor. I’m a big fan.

The hike from Lordsburg continued on a paved road for about 6 miles. But I didn’t care at all! I love walking down the road without meaning. Although it was already quite hot. The temperature should rise to about 75 degrees by midday today. And the minimum temperatures for the next few nights will not be as cold as before. Hopefully it will be a really nice and comfortable end to this hike! I would certainly love that.

Energy levels were low after leaving the city. It was well caffeinated but I guess I needed more. Or maybe it was just the heat that bothered me. I didn’t feel strong and motivated. I think we did about 5-6 miles straight between breaks. Every two hours we passed a nice shady spot that seemed irresistible. It’s always much easier to convince myself to take a break when I’m with someone else. I really enjoyed hanging out with Steam Engine and being able to walk around and take breaks together. It was a great way to end this year spent mostly alone.

The good CDT. I can’t believe I finished this tour for the first time almost 1 year ago. And now here I am, finishing it again!

The first water tank of the day was only 6 or 7 miles from our route. Ferry driver Tim Sharp stores water in metal boxes around the CDT. He’s been doing this mostly on his own for years. And on a stretch of trail like this it is essentially unimaginable for hikers. Tim is also the main shuttle driver. He picked us up at the southern terminal of the CDT last year when we finished. The roads to get to the terminal are dirt, washed out and absolutely crazy. The trip lasts hours! Literally hours. Tim is a great guy, relies on donations and really cares about helping hikers. He’ll be picking up me and Steam Engine in a couple of days. I would definitely recommend using him as a shuttle driver if you are in the CDT!

A little gift I packed from out of town.

At the cache we refueled and took a long rest. I drank a box of juice I packed from the city. And we saw how many hikers had signed the trail register and were nearby. There are many hikers! About 10-15 passed by on the last day. I think we’ll probably end up meeting a lot of people over the next few days. How exciting. After drinking water and sitting a little longer, we finally returned to the scorching heat.

Steam Engine further along the trail.

This section of the trail is completely exposed to the elements. There are hardly any trees or large bushes around. Every once in a while you get a little shade and you just have to enjoy it. But for the most part the trail is very open and very hot. This stretch of trail can also be a little difficult to follow at times. The path may deviate or merge with cow paths. We found ourselves going in and out of the road many times throughout the day. And it only gets worse when the sun goes down!

Walking through the vast desert of New Mexico.

Like clockwork, I swear we sit down every 1.5-2 hours throughout the day. Finally, in the early afternoon we were able to advance on longer stretches. But that was mainly because it had finally gotten cooler. A little shade was absolutely amazing. Before that, we stayed in the sun all day. Luckily, there were tons of water sources. The day definitely lasted longer than it should due to the frequent breaks. But the frequent breaks also made me very happy.

Another incredible sunset. The ones here in New Mexico just hit differently.

About 15 miles or so into the day, I finally consumed a little more caffeine. I still felt very sluggish and really needed some kind of stimulus. And after about an hour I was feeling much better. That caffeine sustained me for most of the rest of the day. I felt like a new person! Honestly, I’ve been greatly cutting back on caffeine since Oregon, when I was able to rest and cut back on the mileage a bit. I am no longer exhausted or burnt out. I think I could probably give up caffeine completely if I wanted to. But I’m not sure if I will or not. A small cup of coffee in the morning makes me very happy.

The miles improved a little after our third break and my caffeine intake. We then managed to get a few more miles in between the next set of breaks. And that definitely helped the time pass faster and the day go by a little faster. Then early in the afternoon, maybe around 4:30 pm, we were reaching the next water source. During the course of the day we saw some hikers!

I love how the sky looked almost smoky here when the sun sets.

We actually ended up stumbling upon Pitch Perfect. Who I met about a month ago in the CDT, possibly the day I left Colorado and entered New Mexico. It was really great to see her again. And he informed us about all the hikers who are right in front of us. Apparently everyone plans to finish on November 15th. But my trip is for 2:30 pm on November 14. So it’s only a matter of time until we come across this group of 10+ hikers! How exciting.

Pitch Perfect caught up with us again at the next water feature just as we were leaving. Steam Engine and I stopped there for a rather long break. We drink water and relax. I guess we were preparing for the impending darkness and the inevitable night walk. It’s always nice to enjoy one last rest before it gets dark.

There is so little mileage left for this year! On this map you can see my circular arrow icon towards the top and the terminus not far south.

While the water troughs were there the sun began to set. He painted the sky in vibrant shades of pink and red with shadows of almost smoky gray and blue. Sunsets in the New Mexico desert are something else. Many of my favorite memories from last year were from us here in New Mexico. There’s something about the incredible hue with which the colors splash across the sky.

We sat there and enjoyed the sunset and finally moved on. The next half hour or so was really enjoyable and the views were stunning. That’s arguably my favorite time of day. Especially when the days are very hot and exposed. I love it once it cools down and then you can watch the night show. Another incredible sunset. As time passed, the colors of the sky faded and night fell. Soon the stars would come out to greet us thanks to the fact that the moon is now very small.

It was great to sit by the watering hole just as the sun was setting.

Once it got dark, we had to deal with navigation and staying on track. It can be difficult here even during the day! There were some areas where it was easy to turn around. But I did a good job keeping us on track. As we walked we ended up passing a cute little creature. A kangaroo mouse! Her long tail was so adorable. The little one was jumping and looking so cute. He wasn’t very afraid of us either and ended up staying around. That meant we got a really solid look at the adorable little guy.

After it got dark, we walked for probably 3 more hours. Until just before 9 p.m. I wanted to go about 35 miles if possible. Just to make life easier for tomorrow and the next day. But I didn’t want to go crazy until late either! It wouldn’t be right to torture ourselves too much in the last few days. Once we got about 35 miles into the day, we started looking into camping sports. Which fortunately are quite common in New Mexico. We started looking around and found a really great place pretty quickly.

The store site was flat and totally perfect. Furthermore, to some extent it was hidden between a group of trees. I set up my tent and then boiled water for hot chocolate. Then I just relaxed and did my stretches before calling it a night. Tomorrow is the last full day in the border-to-border triple crown of the calendar year! Last night I woke up in my tent and set it up again at night. At least for the B2BCYTC.

If you enjoyed this blog and would like to support my hike by buying me a soda or snack along the way, there is a «Tip the Author» button below! It links directly to my Venmo. All support is incredibly appreciated!

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.