My Last Full Day on the CDT

This morning we were up fairly early and packed up camp. By 7:30am we are walking once again through the open desert. It was easy to break the day up in my head, even though it was a 30 mile day. Because I knew that we would be crossing over a road in about 20 miles. That would be our last opportunity to hitch into Hachita. Even though there was a good chance it wouldn’t be successful.

Our morning started with a walk along a dirt road. We still had a way to go along the road this morning before it would be back onto some plain dirt trail. Even though the trail today was fairly “ordinary” and just a wide open desert, I still thought it was really beautiful. We walked by different colored cactuses, some green, so purple. And went past these tall and branching cholo style cactuses, which had bright yellow fruits on them. I had noticed the fruits a week or so ago. But today they were almost blooming and were really bright and vibrant.

Sparkle and James walking along the trail up ahead of me.

About three hours into our morning, we passed by the first designated water source of the day. This one seemed like a cow pond at first. But then we noticed a tank type structure with writing on it. Informing hikers how to turn the spigot on and off properly. These water sources are vital to cattle population, so it’s important for hikers to turn them on and off properly. Some of the sources we passed earlier on in the season has signs telling hikers not to use them at all. Because there were other sources nearby and the risk of hikers breaking the spigot was too great. These sources aren’t essential just for us.

Our first water source of the day, a delicious tank!

It was really windy out when we arrived so we sat in the wind break of the water tank to fill up. That was the perfect spot. Everybody also filled up a good amount of water before continuing on. We wouldn’t pass by the next water source for another couple of hours. And even though it isn’t particularly hot this time of year, the desert is still very dry and exposed. Even in the winter time of year, you still require a good amount of water. Specially doing what we’re doing.

As we continued on through the desert you could see out in the distance for miles. Truly, as far as the I could see. Though there were still some mountains off in the distance. I wondered if they were in Mexico instead of here in the states. We don’t climb another single mountain for the rest of this hike. So those mountains off in the distance must be in Mexico. After a whole year of climbing through rugged terrain, and up and down every mountain in sight, it’s crazy to think that we don’t have to climb another single mountain this year. The hike is almost over. This is our last full day of walking along the continental divide trail.

Walking through the desert with a large mountain off in the distance.

The rest of the afternoon all looked the same. Vast desert as far as I could see. We saw some horned toad lizards,which were super cute. These were some of the smallest I’d ever seen. The ones I’ve seen out west on the Pacific Crest Trail always were a little bit larger. These ones were so tiny and blended in perfectly with the sandy ground. You really have to strain your eyes to see them. If they didn’t move, you almost couldn’t see them at all.

James and I walking along the trail. I thought a lot about that hill up ahead of us. For once it was a hill that we never had to climb.

Around 3:45pm we got to a trail log and signed our names. It wasn’t far from there until we would get to the highway. Everyone was hopeful that we would get a ride into Hachita. That way we could grab some drinks and things to celebrate tomorrow at the border. But the road had so little traffic along it. Even after standing around for 10 or 20 minutes, only one or two cars drove by. It was just hard to imagine anyone picking up hitchhikers this close to the Mexican border.

Getting to the road where you could hitch into Hachita.

We decided to call the store in Hachita one more time to see if they would give us a ride. But it was just like yesterday, where there was only one girl working and she couldn’t come to pick us up. They told us that Tim would be driving down the road at some point and might be able to bring us to the store. But I knew that Tim was coming from the Mexican border picking up hikers. The ride down the dirt road to get into Hachita took almost 2 hours to drive down. So he might not get to the road where we were for another hour or two. Maybe even longer.

The road which goes into Hachita. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a ride!

It was still really windy out, so we sat behind some shrubs. Then every time we heard a car start to drive down the road we had to run out to the road to hitch. Every now and then we almost missed the car, which was hilarious. But for some reason, the road winded in a particular way that made it really hard to hear vehicles. I truly wouldn’t hear them until they were right down the road. Every time we thought we heard a car it was actually just the wind.

The bright yellow “fruits” on this cholo type cactus were so pretty!

We sat there for at least an hour and a half, maybe even longer. Everyone was hopeful that we stood a chance in getting a hitch into town. But with every minute that went by, I knew that we weren’t going to. Right around the time the sun began to set we decided to pack up and continue walking. We wanted to make it at least maybe another 8 to 10 miles for the day. Anything to make tomorrow as short a day as possible.

The sun beginning to set over the road into Hachita.

In the next half an hour, we were fortunate enough to witness one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. Truly, it might be the most exceptional sunset I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The way that it radiated off through the sky with bright, red, and orange was just incredible. I really had never seen a sunset that looked just like that before. We stood and watched it for a while, taking so many photos. And with every minute that went by it seemed like it just got more and more brilliant. Until it finally disappeared and the sky turned dark. Ending our final full day on trail.

I can’t believe that tomorrow is my last day along the continental divide trail. It’s been such an incredible journey over these last 4 1/2 months. The highs were so incredibly high and the lows were some of the lowest I’ve ever experienced. Together the combination was just amazing. You truly can’t cherish the highest eyes of trail without experiencing some of the darkest moments. I wouldn’t change a single one of them for the world.

The sunset started off stunning. But over the next 10 or so minutes it grew into the most exceptional sunset I’d ever seen.

The first half of the trail will always hold one of the fondest places in my heart. Our trail family went through so much together. From the daily challenges and elevation gain through Idaho, to the route finding and navigation that was required after Yellowstone. Going through the Teton Crest Trail, the Gros Ventre wilderness, and the wind river high route will always be some of my fondest memories. Our tramily went through incredible trials together, and it made us so close. It also made us so grateful for those incredible views, animal encounters, and the majesty of the nature that surrounded us. It was truly a dream.

Photos hardly do justice to what was the most stunning sunset of my life.

Moving onto the second half of the trail brought its own challenges, as it always does. You prepare mentally for the finish and you set into a routine of daily mileage. I never really slacked or fell out of routine. Sure, we fell into habits of taking more zeros here and there. We lost a little bit of time due to weather and the snowstorm we got in Colorado. Then we even took a couple days off for trail days, which I would never regrets. But all in all, I kept focused with my goal to get to the border. And now here we are. A stones throw away.

Walking along the road just before dark. Making our way to our final camp site along the CDT.

In the thru hiking community hikers often joke about the remaining mileage that could you do even if you had to “crawl there”. The last hundred or so miles where for the first time in the whole trail, you’re 100% certain that you will finish. A feeling that you may often have, but is never certain until the end. Any number of things could take you off trail. Injury, family emergency, or one of the other many unpredictable circumstances. It isn’t until those last hundred miles when you know that no matter what happens you would make it to the end. Even if you had to crawl the rest of the way.

There were no words for this sunset.

Now here we are. Another thru hike nearly completed. And just like every other thru hike before this, I feel a mixture of emotions. Never as sad because I expect to feel. Rarely ever as fulfilled either. Because it really isn’t about the finish for me. It’s about the journey along the way, and the things that you learned about yourself. On this thru hike I learned that I could truly do anything that I set my mind to. No goal was too high. No mileage was too great. Rather that meant hiking 120 miles in 48 hours just for fun. Or 85 miles in about the same amount of time because I got caught in a flash flood. Every step that I took along the journey has brought me to where I am right now. A different, even stronger, thru hiker than I was at the start of this journey. Now with over 12,000 miles under my hiking belt. Most of which I completed in the last 28 months.

Once the sunset we hiked for another couple of hours in the dark. At one point, it was a bit difficult to navigate and the trail was hard to follow. It got really unclear, and there was practically no trail at all. Then it got incredibly overgrown and we were pushing our way through scratchy pokey plants. But it wasn’t long until we got out onto a dirt road for the remainder of the evening. We would be walking on that road for the rest of the night and then well into the morning tomorrow.

We decided to find the next flat place to camp and set up for the night. For a while, I’d seen a headlamp off in the distance behind us. It was following our pace, but as soon as I looked back at it, it was as if it stopped moving. This went on for a while. For some reason, it made me a little bit nervous. But no long after making camp another thru hiker walked past us. Apparently his friends were just ahead of us. We had crossed paths with him at the gear shop in Silver City not too long ago, his name was Link.

At camp, I got set up for the night and then had some dinner. I made a tortilla wrap with refried beans which was absolutely delicious. And I just laid in my tent thinking about everything. Tonight is our last night on the CDT. Tomorrow morning we only have 15 miles to go to get to the Mexican border and complete this journey. Our ride isn’t picking us up until around 3pm, so we have plenty of time. We have about 2 miles to go in the morning to get to the next water source. But everyone had plenty for the night.