Journal June 21 Into the High Country
Morning broke cold enough to see your breath. We walked cross country up the canyon and followed a prominent ridge to the rolling plateau above. From there another mile of walking through dry grass and rocks brought us to a little used forest service road. The obscure road flowed into a more well maintained gravel road. The road entered a forest of Ponderosa Pines offering some shade.
We continued on the long dry road as it made long steady climbs and descents through rolling and rising hills, sometimes in the forest and sometimes open grasslands between 7,000 and 8,500 foot, high country.
At Collins Park we met up with the “official” CDT as it swung back from it dry detour through the Black mountains. We were glad to have chosen the Gila river route instead. At this moment, in Collins Park, for the first time, all routes (the CDTS, CDTA and Jonathan Ley’s red line) converge and together head up a deserted forest service road 94. Well deserted by cars; we did see several antelope, a herd of elk, and a number of cows. And heard coyotes howling.
Arriving at Davis spring near dark, with cows drinking from the tank we were relieved that an inflowing pipe had a trickle of water. Better water from the spring than filtered cow saliva. The first water of an sort since leaving Snow Lake campground yesterday evening, so if we had to, cow saliva might have done OK. A big bull circled the tank, anxiously awaiting his turn; we drank first, filled bottles and moved on a quarter mile to a patch of flat ground with less cow “disturbances” than found right around the water tank, arriving in fading light just after 9pm, our latest camp.
19.5 miles, crossed no water, thirsty but dry feet for the first time in five days.
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