Today was a long day. I thought we had 35 miles into Silver City and 23 to the last and maybe only, good water source. I was wrong. I calculated the distance based on the road walk into Silver City and the distance to the last water. I forgot to include the distance from the water to the road. It was only 37 miles total, but those two extra miles were brutal. (We didn’t have to hike that far, I just like a challenge.)
The day started off easy with a meandering walk through pine desert forests. We were high above the desert floor and got to enjoy big views of the surrounding area.
Eventually we descended closer to the desert and the trees turned to bushes and cactus. Despite that, we got our first flowing water source.
Hiking Down the canyon, a short side trip up the ravine found some water flowing over a rock and lots of mud. The novelty of real water was amazing.
We followed the wash out to a highway and saw some really cool rock formations. A few miles after that was our last water source.
<img src=”/img/Welcome To Silver City2.jpg” class=“img-fluid”>
<img src=”/img/Welcome To Silver City5.jpg” class=“img-fluid”>
That trough was by far the biggest so far on the trail. It was a bit dirty, but better than many I’ve seen. As we filtered water, a couple of our friends got picked up by someone stocking a water cache. Turns out one of them had Covid. 🙃
The kicker to this day was a 12 mile road walk. For whatever reason, there aren’t any trails connecting Silver City and the previous part of the trail. You have to go north somehow and the highway is the “official” way.
<img src=”/img/Welcome To Silver City4.jpg” class=“img-fluid”>
It’s pretty shocking how many beer cans there were on the side of the road. I guess anyone who drinks and drives probably litters too.
The road walk was long and boring, but somehow I convinced my new friend Jonas to hike the full 37 with me. It was also his birthday. After 5 long hours, we were at least treated to a nice view of the city as we walked in.
After checking into the hotel, we needed food and drinks. After a handful of negative Covid tests we went to the brewery down the street. They had stopped serving food so we ended up ordering Domino’s. We weren’t allowed to bring it in to the brewery so we left it on the sidewalk and occasionally went outside for a slice. It seems a little early for peak hiker trash, but we got close tonight.
Tomorrow is a day of rest and logistics. I have some packages to send out and some food to eat. Next up is the Gila River. (Real water!!)