Day 9 – 5/1/13 – 9.2 mi (153.1)

After a relaxing morning in the hotel, we retraced our steps downtown to have lunch and wait out the afternoon heat. A difficulty of hiking the CDT is a lack of current water information. We decided to inquire at the local outfitter about current conditions. After much conflicting information, including a possibility of no water for 29 miles, we had a reliable report of water in Bear Creek, about 12 miles out of town.

We left town late in the afternoon for a 6 mile road walk. Ninja had mentioned earlier in the day that if there was a rock shop in Silver City, she had to go in. And wouldn’t you know, on our way of of town we found one! So we stopped for a quick look and had fun weighing our packs on the rock scale. Strider’s was the heaviest at 43 lbs, and mine was the lightest at 23 lbs.

We are now back in the Gila National Forest, but off the official CDT for the first time. Instead of the official route through the Black Mountains, we are taking the Gila River route, a very popular alternate that is supposed to be beautiful.

The Daily Ninjup Report
All that town food must’ve given Ninja extra energy; she did 10 push-ups today!