Long road walks are awful.
They are sometimes necessary, however, especially if you have a continuous footpath objective like Nick and I. Some hikers choose to yellow blaze the terrible road walks (aka hitchhike to town), but not us. We want to be able to say we’ve walked all the way from Mexico to Canada (again). Our other rule is we can’t slack pack it - all those miles have to be with our backpacks on. And ideally, it will be unidirectional- meaning no flip-flopping.
But I digress.
We woke early, knowing we had a long day ahead of us. Rocks and Machelle were up early, too, which was great because there is no way to be quiet when you are packing up - crinkly storage bags, tent zippers, deflating air mattresses, etc. are all annoyingly loud. When one person is up in camp it’s safe to say that everyone is up, so I was grateful to not have to attempt to be quiet (which never works).
The morning temperature was very very chilly, particularly for two people who have been on Maui for the last 5 years. I was warm and comfy in my quilt and didn’t want to get up (who would?) but I only allowed myself 5 minutes before going through the motions of getting ready for the day. The most difficult part is trying to stay huddled under the quilt while I swap my warm sleep clothes for my not-so-warm hiking clothes. The second most difficult part is packing the fluffy, warm, wonderful quilt away.
The first part of the day was awesome. Yes, it was cold - I had my alpaca hoody and gloves on for quite a few miles - but I knew it was going to be hot later so I did my best to enjoy it. And I did. My back felt ok (not great but I’m able to walk so that’s all that matters). My feet were ok, too, at least for the first 10 miles. Since we were coming from the brewery, we had to walk 10 miles on back roads to reconnect with the CDT. Even though it was a road walk, it was completely fine - there wasn’t much traffic and I could almost convince myself I was about to go for a morning run. (Oh how I miss activities like running and swimming and lifting heavy things).
Unfortunately, the CDT at the reconnection point is also a road walk. But instead of lightly trafficked country roads, it was 13 long miles on highway 180 to Silver City. Not great.
It would have been a 23-mile water carry for us, but luckily we have some pretty rad personal trail angels in the area. Mark and Mary drove out to meet us and refill our water bottles, which meant we didn’t have to carry more than 2 liters of water at a time. We love them. Water is heavy.
Mark and Mary are so kind that they also drove down the road a bit to see if Rocks and Machelle needed anything. I assumed it would just be a water refill for them, too, but when Mark and Mary drove past us a little while later, Rocks and Machelle were in the back. Apparently, they were over the road walk and just wanted to get into town (I cannot blame them). It makes my heart happy knowing Mark and Mary were able to help them. I found out later that Mark and Mary also stopped to make sure other hikers they saw on the road were ok, too - one hiker in the hostel we are staying in mentioned a woman offering him grapes and I exclaimed, “That’s my mother in love!”.
The 13 miles on highway 180 started out ok. I put on fresh, clean socks, I tended to some hot spots, and I made sure I had enough snacks handy to keep my spirits up. Even so, after about 2 miles of walking on highway 180 with loud, annoying vehicles constantly passing us, I lost my “life is great” vibe and descended into a “this is a grind, let’s just get it over with” vibe.
I didn’t want to stop - I just wanted it to be over - but around 11:30 I saw a little shaded patch on the shoulder and walked right over to it. I need to eat something other than another granola bar and I also wanted to tape some hot spots/baby blisters before they got worse. Nick, bless him, stopped with me. It was a delightful little rest there in the shade.
After the break, Nick fell into a faster rhythm than I did. While it was a little demoralizing, I was (mostly) fine with it. I had an audiobook to keep me occupied for a while. Just as the story finished, the crappy $10 headphones I bought in Lordsburg died. Good timing.
Happily for me, yesterday Rocks lent me her headphones in anticipation of my headphones dying. I had mentioned that I could only find wireless headphones that only lasted 3 hrs before needing a recharge and she kindly offered me hers. What an amazing human! At this point, I needed something more than a book to keep me going, so I switched to my emergency “Uphill” Spotify playlist (inspired by my friend Sarah Llewellyn’s musical tastes).
Then a car going in the same direction as me passed another car and got so close to me that I yelled out, “what the f?!?”. It was a little terrifying to have a car pass so close to me from behind and I was furious. And hangry, obviously. I ate another snack.
Then I passed a mile marker sign that informed me it had only been a mile since the last marker. This was a terrible blow because it felt like I had walked at least 5.
Then I had to stop to take care of business.
At this point, Nick was so far ahead of me that I couldn’t even see him.
I reminded myself that people do harder things than this all the time, that I too can do hard things, that it’s making me stronger, blah blah blah. I descended further into the “let’s just grind it out” zone. My feet hurt. I was hot. The traffic was loud. I tried not to focus on those things but it was getting more and more difficult not to.
And then the most magical thing happened - someone came up behind me. They had to yell to get my attention, which scared me a little, but when I realized it was another hiker I smiled.
The hiker in question is named Pony. At first, I thought he would simply pass me, but we started talking and then just kept talking. The miles flew by as we talked the rest of the way to Silver City.
One of the best things about Pony is that he gives you a lot of background and detail in his stories, which makes him a perfect hiking partner for long, grueling road walks. When I found out he’s a writer it didn’t surprise me much - he’s a fantastic storyteller. Among other books, he wrote Bones of my Grandfather (his real name is Clay Bonnyman Evans if you want to check it out) and I am definitely going to download the audiobook to listen to on the trail (he even narrated it himself!)
Note from the editor: Link to Clay’s author page on Amazon for those interested : Author Page
Nick was waiting for us at the Continental Divide sign, which made me love him even more than I already do. This meant that I had lots of company for the last 2 miles or so. It was exactly what I needed to get me through.
Once we finally made it to Silver City, Mary kindly drove all three of us to the Triple Crown Hostel. We quickly cleaned up and then walked to Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery for some much-needed food. Mary had said it was “only a few blocks away”, but she forgot she was talking to tired hikers. After hiking 23 miles, the 8 blocks to the brewery were more than “a few blocks”. In fact, I ended up taking off my shoes and walking barefoot because my feet just couldn’t handle it. I still love her, of course. And, to be fair, it felt good to walk back to the hostel after we ate. It all works out.
Pony (the hiker who saved me) ManHands, LT Apples, and Mary. Mark is behind the camera
Once back at the hostel we had the opportunity to meet more hikers - I think there are at least 10 others staying here. It’s been fun (albeit a little exhausting) to meet so many people at once. In addition to more stimulating conversations with Pony, I had a good chat with another female hiker named Cody. It’s always refreshing to talk to other female hikers, their way of communicating is often just what I need.
Happily, Nick and I are in the suite here at the hostel, which means we have a room to ourselves. This bed is extremely comfortable, by the way, and I can’t wait to finish this post so I can sleep in it.
I’m looking forward to exploring Silver City tomorrow - from the 8 blocks I’ve walked, it looks like a fun, artsy place.
Along the road (note, these were all taken during the happy part of the hike):
