State Representative Nate Cote of Las Cruces and Gene Marciniak, New Mexico Department of Health officer of Alamogordo, joined us for the first part of this hike. It became a good lesson in following directions and in teamwork.
First, we had a great deal of difficulty trying to figure out the location of the trailhead at the FR 152 end of the first section of the segment. Yours truly would not accept any of the likely trailheads which the others pointed out, so we amended the hike. The four of us would hike halfway from the Arastra Site to FR 152 on the first day, then Pem and I would hike the rest of the way on the second day while Nate and Gene hiked back to the vehicles and came around on the roads to find us at the end of the segment. In the meantime, Challenge Core Group members Jon and Julie were planning to come back for the second day, hike out to meet Nate and Gene, and hike back with them.
So the four of us, Nate, Gene, Pem and I, hiked out. We hiked about half the roughly 14 miles to a nice camp site near Twin Sisters the first day. The next morning, we got a good lesson in being prepared for the weather. It had been hot the day before, but this day dawned COLD! It had snowed during the night, so we had to shake snow off our tents before putting them away. The temperature was at or near freezing, and there we stood, in shorts and sweatshirts, not in long pants and jackets. We shivered through a quick breakfast before Nate and Gene headed back for the Arastra Site while Pem and I went on towards the FR 152 trailhead.
Jon and Julie connected with Nate and Gene just fine. They walked back to the Arastra Site together, enjoying the warming weather and getting acquainted. They got into the vehicle and came to get Pem and me. Meanwhile, Pem and I reached the trailhead at FR 152 without incident. For Pem, the trailhead was as expected. For me, it was on the wrong side of the road! It was the trailhead the others had decided was the correct one; it was the one I had argued against. Now Pem and I had a new discussion. We decided to hike towards the vehicle that would be coming for us. Pem started out in one direction, while I wanted to go in the other. We placed a quick non-monetary wager. Pem won. I began to realize that when Pem and I had divergent opinions about any of this, Pem was going to be right. My inherent sense of place, location, and direction was failing me. Pem’s instincts, based on his years of wilderness trekking, were almost always going to be correct.
The six of us celebrated the Trail at a very nice café back in Silver City. Then Pem and I returned to the Silver City KOA Kampground, which was our "base camp" for much of the time we were in the Silver City area.
This is probably a good time to mention the Silver City KOA. I had stayed there several years ago when we had a three-day Rotary Trek northeast of Silver City. While we were there at that time, the KOA had been our base camp, and one evening, the Rotary Club of Silver City gave us a very nice picnic at the KOA. Owners Jim and Jackie Blurton are terrific supporters of the Continental Divide Trail Alliance, and of the Continental Divide Trail itself. Pem and I, along with other members of our Core Group, stayed there a total of eight nights during the series of day hikes and over-night hikes that helped us to cover all the miles of the CDT from Lordsburg through Silver City and on to Rocky Canyon. This KOA is highly recommended to anyone hiking the CDT, and Jim and Jackie Blurton will prove to be most gracious hosts. They were, indeed, extremely accomodating to us, offering every assistance they could think of in order to make our stay there not only comfortable, but enjoyable as well. Our hats are off to you, Jim and Jackie!
Joseph was back with us on Monday. We finished Segment 8 of the Trail, looking forward to several days away from the trail.
Good Morning, Sunshine... er, Snowfall!
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