Category: Trip Journal

• CDT NM 2025 Day 13, Saturday, April 19
• Start CDT mile 351.5
• End CDT mile 367.7
• Miles walked: 5 Govina Canyon  + 9.7 CDT = 14.7 miles (plus several miles hike/hitch to recover food cache)

In the middle of the night I realized it was snow hitting the tent, and not rain. In the morning several inches of fresh powder were around the tent, but the actual snowfall was probably 2 inches.

Ummm, where’s the trail?

I decide to back up and do the Govina Canyon alternate because a small canyon will be easier to follow until the snow starts melting a little.

Later, back on the CDT, the snow is easier to follow, but hard to show in photos.

Dark Clouds portend more snow, and we do get more, with stiff wind. I need to keep wearing my shirt, down this, and raincoat all day to protect against bitter cold.

Going down Wagontongue Mountain in powder was much easier than last year when I had to climb up the same ridge in icy snow.

After Wagontongue there was no more snow on the ground. At Highway 12 I divert to get a food cache that I buried last year on a “somewhat nearby” trail. The stick marking the cache was still there

I return to the Red Line and hike in blowing snow. Most hikers will take the Pie Town Alternate, which is shorter and avoids a 12 mile road walk on US60.

At night the wind subsides and stars become visible.

Finished audiobook A Right Way to Do Wrong, by Harry Houdini.

• CDT NM 2025 Day 12, Friday, April 18
• Start GRA mile 87.1
• End CDT mile 351.5
• Miles walked: GRA 19.1 + CDT 7.1 = 26.2

Mesa Man starts early, even earlier than me.

Fortunately the cold wind subsided at night, but gusts resume today. The route goes on gravel road, and stays on road most of the day.

On Bursum Road I pass a large grassland.

Water is found at Dutchman Spring, near the end of the Gila River Route, in the cistern behind the tire. The next good water is pretty far ahead.

Hikers refer to the main CDT route as the Red Line, because the track appears red on the app most hikers are using. After several days on the Gila Alternate, I return to the red line.

The route finally leaves roads, climbing through a burn area.

Cat’s Claw is one of the first plants to grow after the burn. Several blowdowns are across the trail here.

The cairns are good for marking the trail in this section.

Finished audiobook Triplanetary, by E E ”Doc” Smith, the first book in the Lensman series.

• CDT NM 2025 Day 11, Thursday, April 17
• Start Gila River High Route GRHR mile 14.4
• End Gila River Alternate GRA mile 87.1
• Miles walked: 7.7 GRHA + 16.1 GRA = 23.8

Clear Creek has pools of water, the only source I find on the High Route.

As I begin descending off the mesa, down towards the Middle Fork of the Gila, a strong cold gusting wind begins to blow, with clear skies.

I arrive at the upper section of the Middle Fork, running slow and low.

I could continue past the river and follow more High Route on Aeroplane Mesa, but the strong winds are a reason to remain on the River Route.

Some small caves in the canyon walls come into view.

I climb up the earthen dam for Snow Lake.

Beyond Snow Lake the trail follows up a canyon, with pools of water in the drainage.

Climbing out of the canyon, the route follows two-track on open rangeland. The wind turns bitterly cold. The best hope is to keep hiking to reach the shelter of trees in the distance.

Soon after I reach the line of trees and start setting up camp, Mesa Man arrives, and gives me a small bag of gear that dropped from my pack!

Finished audiobook A Farewell to Arms, by Earnest Hemingway.