Day 1
April 27, 2023
Miles 0.0 - 20.1
Traveling to the Southern Terminus of the Continental Divide Trail felt like a journey in itself. After two planes, four hours waiting in the Tucson, AZ airport, and a greyhound bus that arrived an hour and a half later than originally posted, made it to Lorsburg, New Mexico. I met up with Bushwhack, one of my tramily (trail family) members that I met and hiked 500 miles with on the Pacific Crest Trail two years ago, who had gotten into town last night. We spent the day doing errands and napping in the hotel. Sorority Steve, who was also part of the same tramily, arrived in the evening. It felt so good to be back with these guys. I saw them both last year when they helped me out in various ways on the Appalachian Trail, but I hadn't seem them together since the desert section of the PCT two years ago.
We woke early the next morning to catch our shuttle to the terminus. We got a ride with Dion from Crazy Cook Shuttle who was amazing and informative. It was an uneventful three hour journey to the trailhead. We got there just after 9am. I stuck my hand across the fence into Mexico and got my photo taken with the Crazy Cook Monument, marking the start of my northbound hike of the Continental Divide Trail.
I set off with Bushwhack and Sorority Steve. We were so excited to begin our journey and having so much fun together that we didn't even notice the miles slipping by. The trail was flat and easy. It stayed low and avoided going over any of the hills. The toughest part was walking through the sand in the washes. It got warm by midday and we luckily found some shade, there wasn't much out here, to take a break under.
We made it to the water cache and took another break, resting from the heat and filling up our waters. Another 6 miles took us to our campsite. Sorority Steve had said he was going to cowboy camp, or camp without a shelter, as he hadn't done it much and wanted to face that fear. I also hadn't cowboy camped much before and wasn't a huge fan of it. It seemed like too many critters could crawl over me through the night. And I didn't understand people's argument about getting to see the stars, since you were sleeping...with your eyes closed. But Steve's determination to try it at least this one night got to me and I decided to try it again too. Bushwhack was down as well so the three of us set up our sleeping bags and left our tents in our packs.
We had a great time together. I love spending time with these guys. They are so funny and we have so much fun goofing off. After it got dark and we said goodnight, I lay awake and looked at the night sky. The moon was still out and high in the sky so there weren't too many stars out. I drifted off, but didn't sleep well. I woke up often and checked on the status of the stars. The moon eventually set, which was incredible. I caught it just as it was sinking below the western horizon and it looked huge and was colored orange. Then the stars really came out. There were so many dotting the dark sky. The milky way in its starry haze trailed across the whole sky. It was all so stunning. I became hooked on cowboy camping.
sleeping under the stars in the desert sounds absolutely amazing!