October 14th, 2024
Mile Marker: Blue Line Alternate
Miles Hiked: 19
Ahhhh. Lovely sleep in a comfy bed last night. I felt like I could sleep all day today when I woke up. My body was also extremely swollen from the past four days and allergies.
Around 7:45 AM I headed to the hotel breakfast, trying to eat a good amount of food but not feeling too hungry. My hiker hunger has not come back yet and not sure if it will in the next couple weeks or not. It lasted about a week off trail and then my body got used to the new routine and slowed my metabolism down.
Anywho, after breakfast we went back to the room and packed up slowly. We didn’t have to check out until 11 and didn’t feel in any type of rush.
After we left the hotel we grabbed a hitch back to downtown Grants and went to Mount Taylor Coffee Company. We were told CDT thru hikers can get a free drink here and it proved to be true.
The lady at the register asked if we were CDT hikers and told us our drinks were covered by the doctor. I wasn’t sure who exactly that was but thought it was such a sweet gesture. This person covers every drink by us, how awesome! I ordered a mocha frappe and drank it down quickly.
We then rolled out; Aster, Twilight, and I. Whatever decided to stay back to rest his body as his knee and toe are acting up and he needed to get his new shoes from the post office tomorrow. He will meet up with us tomorrow.
The trail from Grants to Pie Town is a ridiculous amount of either paved road or gravel road for 80 something miles. There are so many different ways that you can take on this section but a lot of hikers hitch the whole way to Pie Town, not wanting to mess with road walking. We decided that we would at least hike majority of it and if towards the end we are hurting bad enough, we will hitch in.
There was also two options, walk the gravel road or walk the paved highway for the first part. We easily chose to hike the gravel blue line alternate.
As we walked through town we saw that this town is on the Historic Route 66.
We rolled out around noon and walked along a paved road longer than we thought we would. It’s fast moving which I love, but man does it hurt my legs so much worse than trail.
While on the road a car slowed down that was going the opposite direction and an older couple started talking with us. They were from Albuquerque and said they frequently saw us hikers but more so in the spring. We told them there are a bunch of us going Sobo and would be rolling through in the next couple weeks. We told them we liked the gravel and they were shocked, saying we would be covered in dust by the passing cars. I let them know that I would take that any day over pavement. They asked us a few more CDT questions and wished us well.
Eventually we hit the gravel and walked along the flat terrain. Thankfully it was gorgeous as we made our way through the canyon.
We made it to our first water source after 11ish miles and realized the pipe was not working and we would have to get it from the cow tank. We all had enough water to make it to the next source in 7 miles so I grabbed a little bit of the water for back up and we continued on.
I embraced the views and plugged in some music, doing what I could to get the thoughts away from my blister and tired feet.
I thought about me previously thinking and saying I needed to remember who I am. However, the more I think on this, the more I realize that I can no longer be the young, careless, naive, early twenties woman anymore. I can’t unlearn the things I have learned thus far in life.
I can’t unlearn living in a developing country or unlearn everything I did in my social work program. A program that teaches you about the injustices of the world and if one goes the clinical route, teaches you how to be a therapist and makes you analyze yourself and past. We have to have a clear understanding of ourselves before we can help others.
I think during the program I learned more about myself but also became fixated with the hurt and pain I’ve experienced. While becoming fixated on my past, it sent me into a spiral of negative thoughts, ignoring all the good and wonderful parts of my life.
I’ve realized that I don’t want to remember who I am, I know who I am, but I want to remember where I’ve come from. I want to remember the past in the wide range of good and bad and say “Look at me now, look how far I’ve come.”
I think sometimes we get caught up in who we used to be and “Oh I wish I could be like that again” but I don’t actually want that. That would mean I haven’t grown and experienced new things. I’m finding new ways of acceptance and new ways to move forward with a heart of gratitude. When we focus on the positives our mindset starts to shift.
I believe I’m a better me now, even if I went through a rougher season lately. I’m more thoughtful, I see people as a whole story, and I’m learning to have more compassion towards myself and others.
I’m going to continue to evolve and learn and ride the waves of this thing we call life and I’m damn proud to be who I am today, including all the different seasons of life I’ve experienced.
As cliche as it is, we truly can’t have the light without the darkness.
We made it to our second water source and saw the cow tanks completely empty. However we read in the comments to flip a switch and water would come out of the tank and that is exactly what happened.
The water gushed out and we filled up our bottles quickly and turned it off to filter. It felt a little like a game but I was just so thankful to have running water.
We filled up our max capacity as we will have a 24 mile carry for tomorrow.
We then walked a little further and found a spot in the trees. There is a slight chance of rain tonight so I decided to set up my tent just in cases. Plus, it would be good to practice setting it up again before it rains more here in a couple days.
It took longer without Journey and it’s wild how much space there is as I decided to take our 3 person tent since I couldn’t find my one person tent in storage. It’s like a palace. 🤭
Plus it’s still lighter than my one person tent if you can believe it! As per usual, it feels weird to be laying in this huge tent without Journey. I’m not a fan but it’s only for a couple weeks and I’m going to try and cowboy as much as I can. Even though I really enjoy sleeping in a tent to verify no bugs are crawling on me. HA.
My feet are throbbing a little but hope the rest will do them good.
Hopefully I can sleep well.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 