Day 21 – 5/13/13 – 21.4 mi (382.2)

We were soooo slow today! The morning started up the rim trail overlooking El Malpais. I don’t know why we were dragging so badly, but at least it was good scenery for a change. We got a view of the valley and La Ventana arch from the rim before a steep scramble down loose rocks to return to the highway. On the way down I saw my first snake of the trail. I don’t know what kind it was, but it didn’t rattle.

After a few miles on the highway, we got to a water cache stocked by Grants trail angels, the Mumms. This was a huge help, as there is no other water between a solar well about 10 miles south and the town of Grnats, which is another 30 miles north. There also happened to be 2 cans of fairly cold PBR at the cache which we thoroughly enjoyed.

After a short break at the cache we started the 8 miles of trail across lava rock. About 2 minutes in, who did we find?? 2011 PCT friends Balls and Sunshine! They were coming from the opposite direction, but also going north. Confused yet? Between Pie Town and Grants there is again a split between the official CDT, which Balls and Sunshine took, and the Jonathan Ley mapped alternate, which we are taking. The two routes criss cross to form a figure 8, and for 8 miles, the use the same piece of trail to go opposite directions. Anyway, we sat and chatted for a while with our old pals.

The miles over the lava really weren’t too bad and were a good change of pace from all the road walking we’ve been doing. At lunch, we discovered we had cell service for the first time since Silver City, about 12 days ago.

It was late by the time we finished the lava section and arrived at another water cache by the Mumms. I cannot say enough thanks to the Mumms for this water! After that break, we put in another 2 hours of fast road walking to get us closer to town for tomorrow. We talked big all day about night hiking, but in the end, we were all too tired for that craziness.

The Daily Ninjup Report
6 push-ups done this morning.