3rd May
24.6 miles (39.6km)
Forestry road camp (254.4) to Pond Camp (279.0)
All efforts to rise early failed. I was tired and so was everyone else. And it was cold. Well below freezing. It was after 7am when we started hiking.
For about 20 miles we hiked along forestry roads. I saw a total of three vehicle all day. There were more hikers on the road than vehicles. I heard that one member of the group behind us was vomitting all of last night. Not ideal for such a long waterless stretch. One stretch of the road was 3.2 miles dead straight. It took about an hour for me to hike that section.
The road climbed steadily till it hit 9000 feet. I was geographically misplaced (lost) for a short time as I blindly followed a road down a steep hill. I did not notice that the CDT veered off the road. I also led Spontaneous on this detour. We both climbed a steep ridge and found the trail again. I’ve come up with a saying that I think sums up the CDT thus far. “You are not hiking the CDT, until you are hiking off the CDT”.
We made it to a murky pond around 7pm. As this was a cow pond we didn’t want to camp here so hiked another five minutes to escape any midnight bovine adventures. At 24.6 miles this has been our biggest day thus far. Good night.
Next – Day 17 – Fatigue Sets In
Everything you need to know about hiking the CDT:
Complete Guide to Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
CDT Resupply Guide
CDT Gear List
Almost 40Km… thats pretty tough indeed! And I hate when I lose the “Camino”! :)
In about 2 months time it will be closer to 50-60km per day. After Colorado.
You are my hero!!!! :-)
Finding that 18″ path tends to bring a sigh of relief.
What electronic apps are you using? Guthook? GPS w/waypoints?
How did your feet handle being constantly wet through the Gila?
Seems like your doing well.
ADL
I use guthook, pocket earth pro and electronic pdf maps loaded on the pdf maps app. With all 3 I can navigate quite well. Wet feet for a couple of days wasn’t too bad. No blisters or rubbing. I’m doing well, just a lot of weight loss. I’m posting about that later today. Hope the pct is going well.
It’s more May “craziness”: temps above freezing at night = soft snow by mid-morning = much more energy spent. I’m off trail for a couple of weeks to let more snow melt. For me, way too much effort. Wonder what the San Juans will give you. Streams are ramping up here. Need better spikes. Your water reports are interesting and about what I’d expect for NM. How’s your friend doing on the PCT? The trail community is as good as ever for me.
Everyone I know the pct are doing fine, last time I checked. Lots of people turning around in the San Juans. An above average snow year. I’ll be heading there soon.