October 23rd, 2024
Mile Marker: 2835.3
Miles Hiked: 23
We woke up around 6:20 with zero condensation and temperatures that were cold but bearable. It felt like we were back in the desert away from the Gila.
We got out around 7:30 and I was hopeful to do most of our hiking during the coldest part of the day. It was town day and I was ready to go! I was itching for a nice hot shower and bed.
The morning was beautiful and I enjoyed the colder temps. We only had 1.7 liters of water to get us 23 miles to town. We figured if the streams were dry that we were planning on that we could ask people who drove by for water. So I was hustling to get as much done before it got hot.
The road had many twists and turns and as we came across one clearing we could see a deer popping out of the tall grass. As we talked to it, its ears went every which way like it was trying to understand us.
I found myself deep in thought frequently and would come back to the present and not have any idea what I just saw for the last bit. Completely in the zone.
I thought a lot about only having a week left to hike. How bittersweet it was and how I truly felt both emotions, happy for what’s next and sad to be leaving this adventure.
Something my best friend Kari said to me a while ago was “You know there is more to this trail than just being a triple crown.” I knew this was true then and I know it now.
I’ve learned so much on this trail and I think one of the beautiful part of a thru hike is the motivation when we get home to build a life that incorporates those lessons. Like having a better work life balance, to get outside more, to move our bodies more, to just be more intentional with living.
We hiked on the road and had multiple people drive by us and a few who stopped to chat. One man slowed down going the opposite direction and asked us if we were hiking the CDT, we replied yes and he asked “All the way from Canada?” We replied yes. He then said “Wow, what an accomplishment, this is a feat you can look back on all your life and be proud of.” We gave him big smiles and said thank you, then he gave us a “God Bless You” and zoomed down the road.
Sometimes I don’t think of this adventure as a big accomplishment, but when I hear these comments, it makes me step back and ponder this. What does hiking this far mean? How many people actually do this?
We also had a car driving the other way with two ladies who stopped and asked if we camped out in the woods. We told them yes and said about 8 miles back. They were so proud of us and said “You go girls!” Aster and I laughed and told them thanks, we don’t think they knew we had actually been hiking and camping for months but I loved having the women support women feel that was happening.
We hiked along getting closer to our water source and when we arrived at the area, it was a murky puddle that neither of us wanted to pull from so we decided we would walk through the next small town and see if we could ask someone for water.
We could probably make it to Silver City, but both knew we would be pretty dehydrated if we didn’t get some more.
As we walked through a small neighborhood there were two men working on a house. As we got closer to the house a dog ran out to greet us and we asked the man if he had any water we could have.
He said of course and let us fill up our bottles and gave us a cold seltzer water. He knew about us CDT hikers and wanted to help as best he could. We were so thankful.
We stopped a mile or so down the road and had a snack in the shade and then continued on.
The closer we got to town, the more proud I was of us for doing the whole road walk. We smiled and waved to passing cars, and cruised easily.
We made it into town around 4 and grabbed some Gatorade to chug and cooled off in the hotel. We decided to get laundry done and then went to eat some Chinese food.
After we finished dinner we had a man approach us and asked Aster and I if we were the two girls he saw on highway 15 earlier today. We both said yes probably and answered some of his questions about the CDT.
We made it back to the hotel and all feel so sleepy after a hot exposed day.
Time for some good sleep and a zero day tomorrow!
Night!
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 