Highway to Abiquiu Reservoire

Day 13 - June 19th
51.8 miles
Total: 538.4 miles
Moving Avg: 9.5 mph
Overall Avg: 7.0 mph

Last night we sat on the patio with the two CDT section hikers, Jo and Cary. (Follow their adventures at postholer.com/jo) We had four beers but only wanted one a piece, so we invited them out for social hour. The conversation was so nice Cary set out for a fresh six pack.

The two of them have been section hiking the PCT and CDT for the last decade, 400 miles at a time. Unfortunately this trip was shadowed with the failing health of Cary's father. As we sat there enjoying our company, Cary received word of his father's passing.

Jo knocked on a door of a motel guest and requested a ride for the two of them to Albequerque in the morning. The guest kindly accepted the responsibility as a courtesy to Jo and Cary. The two of them will be flying out today (probably). Next year they will return to finish their CDT hike, from Cuba to the Mexican border.

We said goodbye in the morning and made our way toward Abiquiu. We opted for the paved route, as I was still feeling uneasy about Water availability. Also, the trail was going to take us above 10,000 feet, and I am still limited in my spare/ cold weather clothing.

No worries, the highway turned out to be a beautiful ride. The first half had a rolling climb through fairly green landscape. It was rather surreal how much green we were seeing. It was as if we had left New Mexico. Also, the river beds actually had some water in them. Up until now, I was fairly certain that New Mexico banned the presence of water in rivers, as it would obstruct the view of the riverbed.

After we topped out on our climb, we dropped to the eastern half of the divide and returned to the dry Pinon covered landscape we have come to love/hate about New Mexico. Fortunately, our descent was through some rich red canyons.

The views were abundant and amazing. But the temperature was beginning to skyrocket as we were dropping to lower elevations. We eventually arrived at Abiquiu reservoir where we will camp for the night.

We are sitting on our tyvek ground cloth, in the shade of a picnic pavilion, lamenting of the 99 degree heat, while listening to several people scream in delight while being zipped around behind boats on the lake. This particular campsite has the misfortune of no lake access.

It's so hot.

These temperatures are inhumane. I pity you deeply Mark. I just had my first experience of wanting a cold shower, and only having hot water. The water spigot outside was colder, so after the shower I stood under the water spigot to try to cool down more.

Live life at a slower place.

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