Lordsburg to Doc Campbell’s Post

May 5th to May 9th

We did a 12 mile afternoon after spending just enough time in Lordsburg. The hike north of that town was brutal. A few miles of road walking and then miles upon miles of flat, open and hot pasture land. Of course to arrive here and get off the highway we had to crawl under a barbed wire fence. Walking so much flat land doesn’t feel great, it honestly hurts more than trail with terrain. Brian and I did steal down in a nice camping spot and prepared dinner. While making dinner we decided to keep heading up trail after dinner. Our friend Bugs joined us and we headed out after the meal. We walked east while the sun was setting on our backs. Then sun seemed it would never go down, the flat horizon ensured we would get every hour of daylight.

When we woke up that morning we packed up and headed out. Today we would find some terrain and what I remember as the first bit of actual trail. That was fun and it boosted my morale. We took a short fiesta at a cow trough, which entailed lots of hydration and eating. Shortly after our break we ran into some trail magic and we found a cooler with some lovely sodas. This trail magic was courtesy of one of my PCT friends that lives in the area, thanks Turquoise!! That afternoon we had out first real respectable climb, up to the top of Burro Peak. I believe it was about 1,500 feet of elevation gain. The afternoon sun was brutal and I was quickly soaked in sweat while I ascended. The summit granted us some spectacular views to the south. It was fun trying to trace our route through the mountains and deserts. After this our day was just about over as we descended a few more miles to a water source where we camped for the night. It was crowded according to CDT standards. Brian and I along with 4 others camped there that night. We wrapped up our day after 26 miles. This matched our longest day on the AT, and here we are just a week into the CDT.

The next day involved a lot of road walking into silver city. 21 miles total, while 12 of that was on a highway. We arrived in silver city amd immediately stopped at a gas station for cold drinks! Then our hiker gaggle headed to the local rv park for some lawn space to sleep on. We spent the rest of the day on hiker shenanigans and after a large dinner an some beers everyone passed out for some shut eye.

It was monday when we woke up and it was time to get to work. Brian and I headed to the grocery store to purchase food for a resupply that needed mailed ahead to Ghost Ranch. Spooky. We then mailed out all that delicious food, Brian picked up his new jacket from the mail and we mailed a few small things back home that haven’t been useful. On thr way back to the rv park we stopped to buy food for the next few days to get us to Doc Campbell’s Post just two and a half days away. Obviously we bought way to much. I was able to meet up with Turquoise for lunch, last time to saw her was in Cascade Locks on the PCT back in 2016. I greatly enjoy seeing familar faces along these long walks.

Later Brian and I headed out to the heat and to a roadwalk. Classic. We were able to complete 12 miles on the day. Which I was pleased with considering it was a half day.

May 8

We dropped down into the Gila River finally! It felt amazing to be in water! Wow that was pretty cool.

May 9th

Spent the first half of the day crossing the Gila River many time. Eventually the canyon widened and we escaped up to Doc Campbell’s Post. At Doc’s we ate some food, drank cold beverages, charged devices, used wifi and got our resupply box. This resupply was for 6.5 days. That’s a long time and a lot of food. I had 13 pounds of food at 3000 calories a day. After about a 3 hour break we loaded our swollen packs and got a move on down the road. We were able to get in a few more miles and found a sweet campsite. Once again we cowboy camped under a beautiful night sky.