Just back from our little trial excursion onto the trail, and pleased to report that we really liked it! It is rough, rocky and spiky underfoot, it’s so hot and windy that it feels like you’re walking under a hairdryer, but it is beautiful. We only walked about 4 miles … Read More
We’ve just finished the first stage of our hike, and we’re really hoping it might get a little easier soon! We arrived back into Lordsburg at 6.30 last night, the first 85 miles of trail successfully completed. Neil was still smugly blister-free (if a little footsore), while I was limping … Read More
So much for our route getting easier! It’s only been 50 miles since Silver City, but the trail has got harder and harder. After a few easy miles on tarmac then dirt roads on Wednesday evening, we spent Thursday morning winding through the Gila National Forest on steep, rough and … Read More
After six days of hard hiking, we are hugely, immensely thankful to have finally dragged our weary bodies into Pie Town last night. In six and a bit days, we covered 130 miles, and the hiking changed from the sublime to the frankly bloody awful! The first day and a … Read More
I guess I should have known better than to expect sympathy for a poorly toe from someone who makes social calls with a large gun at his hip and only four toes on one foot. Tony the trail angel from Pie Town offered to take my toe off for me … Read More
Two days after getting a lift back to where we left the trail, I am very happy to report that my new shoes have done the job! I can hike, I can carry a fully loaded rucksack, and although we have hiked over some seriously rough terrain, the discomfort from … Read More
It’s been a hot and exhausting five days since we left Grants, but the scenery has been absolutely outstanding! Before we started hiking the CDT, I pictured New Mexico as being just like in the westerns, with huge desert plains and lofty mesas surrounded by towering cliffs. Well that’s what … Read More
With our progress northwards blocked by the closure of Santa Fe National Forest, on Sunday afternoon we got a lift past the closed section of trail to Ghost Ranch. Our driver was UB, a local Navajo guy born and brought up in Cuba, New Mexico. Ghost Ranch is a Presbyterian … Read More
High mountains. Snow. Bright sunshine and bitterly cold winds. Marmots and pikas scurrying around boulder fields, squeaking their alarm calls as we approached. The last few days of hiking since we left Chama have been exactly what we hoped for from the Colorado section of the trail, as we toiled … Read More
Well, I guess we were overdue for some bad weather, and when it arrived it didn’t disappoint! As we neared the end of our 22 mile roadwalk into Creede, the wind gusted stronger and stronger, stirring up dust devils which whirled across the road from the mining spoil heaps. A … Read More