Journal June 3rd Ssssshhhhh….the Cactus Have Ears
(Editor’s Note: This is the first Post from Nowhere Man for this year’s CDT Hike)
We began our hike today, leaving the “Crazy Cook” monument on the southern terminus of the Continental Divide Trail. We are planning to walk about 820 miles over the next two months finishing this section at Spring Creek Pass in Colorado.
From the Mexican Border there are several options for CDT hikers headed north. We choose the “trail less travelled by,” the official route as ordained by the BLM and the CDTA.
The start is about 56 miles and takes almost 2 hours after leaving the paved highway along very rough roads travelled only by border patrol, cattle and the very occassional – and intrepid – CDT hiker. We arrive at a trailhead that not even an illegal alien would use, truly a trail that only a gringo would love.
The other routes, used by the majority of CDT hikers, start at Antelope Wells, a roadwalk, or at Trailhead near Columbus NM in the Florida mountains well east of the divide. They share a common advantage – relative ease of access, to either be dropped off or picked up.
The route we walk, the BLM’s official route, was only recently designated and “built” (actually there is no real trail tred – more on that later.) We will walk through the Big Hatchet Mountain Wilderness Study area and then on through several small mountan ranges running northwest to Lordsburg.
It’s an intiguing area, but remote, starting about midway on the part of New Mexico’s ‘boot heel’ where the international border runs north/south. It’s an unlikely place for a trail. It’s an unlikely place to find oneself at for any reason. But the ubiquitous presence in the area of border patrol trucks and the otherwise sheer quietness suggest that someone, perhaps Big Brother, is listening. In fact, at our first break, after what sounded like a faint click and almost imperceptible “whirr” of a tiny motor I turned and noticed a prickly pear cactus pad pointing towards us that I had not seen when we stopped. Otherwise it looked like any other cactus, but I couldn’t help wondering …. if the cactus might not have ears……
Our first day we encountered Collared lizard, quail, Jack Rabbits, road runners and a few things scurrying too fast across the desert floor to identify.
It’s good to be back out, and we quickly slipped into the rhythm of walking again. By nightfall we are in Sheridan Canyon in the shadow of Big Hatchet mountain.
12 miles
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