Trekker's Log June 10-12, 2007

6/10 – 12, Sunday – Tuesday, hiking days 30 & 31, Segment 19A, Pie Town to NM 117

~~ county road and state highway: that’s the story of this segment. It was, of course, easy hiking, but a bit boring, and for the first time during this hike, we were bothered somewhat by bugs. We were visited by flies of all sizes, gnats, and mosquitoes.

Because of the bugs and the similarity of scenery along the way, we hiked faster and took shorter rest periods. At the end of three days we had covered this entire segment and a good share of the next. The best thing we can say about hiking this segment is that the hiking gave us the opportunity to spend a lot of time remembering the wonderful time we had with the people in Pie Town, thinking about a few days off the trail, and looking forward to The El Malpais.

During the third day of hiking, while moving along in a driving rain, we were visited by yet another trail angel, a rancher passing through who gave us a ride for a few miles to a picnic area on NM 117. That was a very nice gesture, and we accepted the offer.

Perhaps it’s the right time to say that we’re very much interested in experiencing ALL of the CDT (the official CDT, that is) but we don’t actually feel compelled to walk every step. We’re simply not compulsive about it in that way. We’ve promised ourselves that we’ll not ever ask for a ride, but when offered one, we’ll accept it if it seems right to do so.
Now we were ready for eight days off the trail. Trail angel Arnold brought Audrey (my most devoted trail angel) down from home in Conifer, and took Pem back to Boulder to spend the time with his wife and baby daughter. Audrey and I attended the Rotary International Convention in Salt Lake City during this time.