The diversity in landscape during these three days was incredible. We started in a high, dry desert with beautiful sandstone bluffs and finished in wet, green mountains. We stopped in the town of Cuba in between to resupply.
Day 34 – Mile 609.7 – Sandstone bluffs
We had amazing scenery all day today. We walked past colorful sandstone bluffs, and eventually hiked to the top of the bluffs. The prickly pears and many other cactuses were flowering. We saw quite a few collared lizards, which were large and a colorful pale green. It was really hot for most of the day, and the blisters all over my left foot were quite uncomfortable. It was also really dry, but luckily the Trujillo family maintains a water cache in the dry stretch which made things much more comfortable. Thank you! In late afternoon we had another thunderstorm. We found a great, sandy, sheltered place to camp on top of the bluffs. Camping on sand makes for super comfortable sleeping, but the sand gets everywhere. -R
Day 35 – Mile 629.0 – Resupplying in Cuba, NM
Today we hiked toward the town of Cuba to resupply. The hike was gorgeous. We traversed sandstone in the Rio Puerco valley, including some steep climbing up to the top of bluffs followed by ridge walking. We noticed a lot of petrified wood dispersed across the area. There seems to be an interesting geological story in the Rio Puerco Valley… Sandstone bluffs sit on top of ancient mud/dirt, and there are lots of volcanic features in the vicinity. Hopefully we can ask a geologist about it some day!
After close to 20 miles we arrived in Cuba. We went straight to a restaurant and while there we forgot to check on the opening hours of different shops we had to go to. We learned just before closing time that the laundry mat would soon close, so we rushed there to do laundry but didn’t realize that the grocery store closed while we were doing laundry. We resupplied at Family Dollar instead, but while we were shopping there the liquor store closed! Fortunately the gas station sold IPA. Next time we resupply we have to check the store hours! Still, we managed to accomplish all of our chores. We shared a motel room and enjoyed IPAs with Dirty Money! -T
Day 36 – Mile 648.7 – WATER!
This morning Dirty Money and I got breakfast in Cuba at a cafe. Then she hit the trail, and I went to the post office to pick up our four packages that made it. NEW SHOE DAY! (I got a half size larger, so hopefully that will help my blisters!) Three packages didn’t make it. Tim and I then went to the grocery store to grab fuel and dehydrated beans. We hit the road by 9:15. Right before we turned off of the road and onto a trail, we met with Kent & Stephen from the Sandoval County tourism office to tell them about our hike. Almost as soon as we got on the trail we crossed a stream! Our third stream of the hike. Then we climbed up above 10,000 feet and crossed so many streams we lost count. There was even a small dammed lake. We made it to beautiful spruce/fur forests with some open grassy meadows. We even saw some small patches of snow. Along with all the water came mosquitoes. It is quite a change compared to the beautiful, dry high desert we were just hiking through yesterday! We saw some elk grazing in a meadow. Tim and I found a nice place to camp — the mosquitoes aren’t driving us too crazy and an elk ran by. -R
