Mach 7 Drizzle and Beautiful Mesas

Here in Cuba, NM enjoying some good mexican food and the fantastic hospitality of the Del Prado Motel and  owner Mrs.Yang. 

Crossing the 500 mile mark it is amazing to think back at the various environments and weather conditions that have been thrown at us so far.  Definitely more than any other trail experience I've had thus far.  We've had everything from barren dusty desert to high alpine pinon forest to wild river fords to lava and volcanic rock to mesa features over 2000 feet tall.  The weather has ranged from mid 80s down to 22 degrees and I believe we have had pretty much every kind of precipitation at least for a short time.  Snow, sleet, hail, rain, and mach 7 drizzle.  We went to sleep 3 nights ago literally in the middle of a thunderstorm and had more than a few lightning strikes within a couple miles of us.  It was getting dark fast and with a 2000 foot descent in front of us we decided to camp at the top of the mesa despite the storm; there were lots of good trees around so it definitely could have been more precarious....

With the multiple storms rolling through there has been a lot of concern among hikers regarding the snow coming up.  Low seasonal snow packs have made us hopeful but now that there is fresh snow on the ground it is turning out to not be quite the walk in the park we were all secretly hoping for.  From here I hike up to Ghost Ranch and then Chama is my last chance to get snow gear before heading north into CO.  Even between here and Chama we will likely encounter a bit of snow.  There are many factors to consider.  I am quite comfortable traveling and camping on snow, I probably have more alpine experience than the average hiker, but the real issue is navigation and speed.  I have been covering 25 to 30 miles a day and snow would greatly decrease that forward progress.  Some hikers are slowing down to give the snow more time to melt, some are talking of trying to push through into the San Juan Mountains anyway, and a few are thinking of what we call a "Flip-Flop".  I may potentially travel up to Wyoming to do the Great Basin and give CO a few more weeks to melt out, then do CO southbound.  Once I make it back down to where I got off the trail I'll then have to travel back up to WY and continue northward to Canada.  It's just an idea.  It will be a week or 2 before I make the decision but for now I will simply continue north.  Tomorrow will be my first day over 10,000 feet and there is a good chance the thunderstorms rolling through tonight will drop some snow. 

The trail through mesa country has been absolutely incredible.  Maintained by the Back-Country Horsemen of NE New Mexico they have clearly put a lot of time and energy into building the best trail we've seen yet.  Very well marked with rock cairns and posts and really taking advantage of the natural awesomeness around us.  At the top of the mesas the trail would travel right along the edge, we even cowboy camped on the edge of the mesa one night.  

Fun trail term: Cowboy Camping is something many hikers will do in the desert.  With no humidity there is no dew.  And more importantly there are no bugs to bother you as you sleep.  It's fast and efficient, and more importantly you get to sleep under the stars in the fresh desert air.    

Time's up at the library computer.... 

Happy Trails!!

~beads