A month an hour! Three days an hour! What modern miracles of movement! I needed to hike 600 miles last month to once again appreciate the plane and the automobile. I spent 30 days hiking New Mexico, traveling just under 600 miles. Yet, I boarded an airplane in Seattle this morning and was soon traveling that same 600 mile distance every hour instead of every month. Unbelievable!! After a flight to Denver and a connector to Albuquerque I rode three buses and in a mere 20 hours I traversed a couple thousand miles to wind up in Chama, NM, just a few miles from my destination of Cumbres Pass where I will pick up the CDT again and start hiking north at 20 miles a day (give or take a few), a far cry from a car or jet’s performance. But what I lose in speed I make up for in a connection to the land I am traversing. The smells, the wind, the sun, the rain, the undulations of the land, the babbling creeks, the towering peaks dwarfing my existence and putting me in my place. It is a good place to be, seeing the world go by at 2.5 miles per hour.
The flight I had booked three weeks ago got me home and was supposed to get me back to Albuquerque but yesterday at 1:00 in the afternoon while weeding the garden at home I got a text from Delta saying my flight had been delayed three hours. With that delay I arrived in Salt Lake City too late to make my connecting flight to Albuquerque. Sally helped me cancel that now useless flight and book another. Instead of flying out of Portland I flew out of Seattle and on United rather than Delta. As a bonus, the flight was about $20 bucks cheaper. That surprised me as I was booking less than 24 hours before takeoff.
I had to have an early flight to get me to Albuquerque around noon so I could catch all the buses required to drive me the 172 miles to Chama. This meant a 5:00am flight, which translates to rising at 1:30am to make the drive to SeaTac. I entered the terminal at 3:35am only to find a massive crowd at the United counters. There were no workers there at that hour. They did not show up until 3:50am. I got my pack checked by 4:15am, scurried through TSA and got to my gate just in time to walk onto the plane. Quick and efficient with no time to waste.
I had researched all the air and ground transportation in the weeks before today and all came off perfectly. One thing I did not arrange was accommodations in Chama for tonight. As mentioned above, I hope to exit the bus in Chama and find a ride up to Cumbres Pass, 13 miles away. If a ride proves impossible to find I will stealth camp just out of town and try for a ride again in the morning.
Update: 9:30 pm. The shuttle dropped me off in Chama. I was the only rider for the 90 minute drive. I started walking toward Cumbres Pass and noticed a CDT hiker in front of me and 4 behind me. At the entrance to a RV park I stopped with plans to thumb a ride to the pass, although I held little hope of success as it was 8 o’clock and there was no traffic on the highway. The four people behind me on the road stopped and we did introductions. I met Kid, DG, Franzia (like the wine), Pib and two others that I can’t remember their names. DG and Franzia liked the idea of hitch hiking to the pass and stayed out on the highway with me, the others walked to the RV park and the campsites they already had. DG and Franzia are best friends having known each other for 25 yrs. They both turn 30 this summer. We had a nice conversation out on the road. Only two trucks went by and neither stopped. After half an hour we realized it was fruitless and registered for a campsite together. By sharing the site we saved money. Three in a site came to $8 apiece where a campsite alone was $20. The two girls set up their tents. I decided to cowboy camp.
Everyone gathered at a picnic table to shoot the breeze. I used the restroom then stopped by. They were passing a joint around. I don’t drink or smoke so I took the opportunity to plug my electronics in, then returned to sit and get to know everyone. We chatted and laughed until I excused myself at 9:30 to go to bed.
DG had the name and number of someone in town that gives rides to the pass. I texted her (Patsy) and she agreed to give us (DG, Franzia and I) a ride tomorrow morning at 6:30 am.
It is amazing how quickly you are assimilated into a group. I hadn’t been off the bus 10 minutes when I met this group and we had a wonderful evening getting to know each other. I assured DG and Franzia I would teach them how to use their ice axes tomorrow so they are planning to hike with me until we hit snow so I can show them the techniques. They have axes, have watched YouTube videos, but have never used one before. Forgot to take photos today. I’ll try to fill in tomorrow.
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