WalkingCarrot

We’re in Grants NM; generally, our halfway mark, about one month and almost 400 miles done and about the same to go this year.  June sure went by fast.

Since leaving Reserve, for the last week we have been mostly hiking on roads, some asphalt, some gravel, some dirt, some slippery clay, but all were made for other purposes.

Water – either not enough, or too much, has been a constant concern. It has been a long dry sections of “trail” where there is no natural water.  We’ve had to rely mainly on stock tanks fed by windmills and have had to deal with the uncertainty of their availability by carrying 2 gallons each from each source.  At the same time we’ve had to watch the skies daily for thunderstorm cells and the potential for strong down bursts of wind and rain.

We stopped midway at Pie Town to pick up our supply box from the Post Office. And, of course, we had to sample the pies at both the Daily Pie” and “Pie-oneer” cafes!

As we closed in on Grants we followed some stunning canyons and crossed “El Malpais” (the badlands), a place of volcanic rock terrain; a place of stark beauty and difficult walking; a place where the trail follows rock cairns originally placed 1,000 years ago by ancestors of the Acomas and Zunis; a place that’s been vexing, and rewarding, hikers for over a millennium.

Grants is spread out, made for cars not walkers, but our stay has been made much easier by the hospitality of a trail angel, Michelle.  Tomorrow we head out for northern New Mexico with more canyons, mesas and mountains!