short(ish) day

I woke up at my normal hiker time today, knee feeling a bit stiff but otherwise alright. I contemplated staying another day, but feared two days off in a row without the company of Lauren was a waste, if they weren’t absolutely necessary for medical reasons.  But, that said, I still intended to do lower miles today and give my knee a rolling start into the short three day stretch. 

By 8-8:30, I was at McDonald’s loading up on calories and hash browns. Those golden greasy repurposed French fries are crack on the trail. A big ol OJ and coffee, sausage, egg, and cheese sannich. The breakfast of hiking champions. 

Then I was off to start the day, but slowly. I was still pretty lethargic, not too pumped to be moving. But alas, what’s a hike without any hiking? The first few miles were along a paved road, then turned to dirt road, and finally back onto a trail. It was quite a nice trail, actually. Saw some bear prints early on, and big ol coyote prints. A welcome change of scenery with big tall pines in a foresty setting. 

I had gotten just over 10 miles on the day, where there was a nice big parking lot, bathrooms and some trash bins. I had intended just to camp there, so laid out on a big rock. It was only just after noon, so I napped for a bit, roasted in the sun, woke up and got bored. Soooo I continued on. 

One of the main reasons I decided to stop there, other than my knee, was reports of big stretches of post holing. That’s when there big mounds of snow along the trail, and every step you take you fall down to the bottom of the mound. Rinse and repeat. Typically, you try to walk over snow earlier in the morning when the snow is harder and prevents you from falling as far. The later in the day, the more slushy it is, and the more likely to fall to the bottom. 

But, reports were 4-5 days old, it’s been warm, and I wanted a few extra miles. Even if I were going slow, I was in no rush anyway. 

For a mile or two there wasn’t really much. Passed a beautiful reservoir and lots of creeks. Then it started get more wet, more snowy. The slushy snow had me falling to my hips more often than I had wanted. But that’s what I get. And at least the part I’ve already done, I don’t have to do tomorrow!

The other downfall (benefit?) to the large masses of snow, is that it melts. And there’s water everywhere. The trail turns into rivers and it’s hard to keep feet dry. Impossible really. Every time I decided I was done, I’d get to a clearing or opening where I could camp near a creek, but it would be soggy and muddy. So continue on I would. 

Eventually, about 16 miles into the day, I found a nice dry patch next to a flowing creek. Ahhh, no more dry camping. So nice. I dislike camping without water nearby. 

So I posted up around 5ish, and just rested up a bit and watched the hikers roll on by. Free fall getting to the road tomorrow to get into Santa Fe with his friends, followed by 12 Pack and then Jenga, and finally Roger That. As it’s 7:15 now, I don’t think anyone else will hike by, but ya never know. 

All in all, a smooth sailing day. Knees doing well. Still sore, but not hobble worthy (at least yet). Now I’m situated about 40 miles from the road. Will probably do a 25 tomorrow so I can have a lighter day and get to the road at a decent time to get picked up by Jesse. 

Now off to bed, with the lovely sounds of a roaring brook, at 10,000 feet!