Today was a mostly lazy day. I dealt with a few chores and spent most of the day relaxing or hanging out with other hikers.
Not having much at all to do today, I slept in until nine. It was wonderful to not have to get up anywhere close to sunrise and rush to begin hiking. My body knew it was on break though, and I was pretty stiff and sore.
The CDT past Silver City goes through the Black Range, a remote and arid region. After 160 miles through already-dry desert, many hikers, including myself, opt to take the Gila River Alternate, a “short-cut” that follows the Gila River through its canyon, and crosses it many times.
So tomorrow morning, Pale Ale, Sprouts, and I will be hiking out, at around 8, to take that alternate.
To get there, we will be taking another alternate route, the Walnut Creek Alternate, which is a more-or-less direct roadwalk that bypasses and shortcuts the official route, which is a roadwalk to the west and then a trail back to the east.
Today, I repacked the food I bought yesterday, and put it either into my pack (to get me to Doc Campbell’s Post on the Gila River Alternate up ahead, where I have a box waiting to get me to Pie Town); or in a box to go to Pie Town (which will get me to Grants).
Several of us went to the Adobe Springs Cafe for lunch; food was delicious.
After lunch, Simple and I went to the post office to mail things off. Afterwards, I went to Hike & Bike to get a replacement Platypus 2L Platy Bottle for the one that had sprung a leak.
Returning to the Triple Crown Hostel, I spent most of the afternoon relaxing, and dealing with a blister that had formed on my foot.
For dinner, it seemed like pretty much every hiker in town (including some not staying at the hostel) showed up at the Little Toad Creek Brewery, for trivia night hosted by Triple Crown’s owner, Brendon.
At my table was Pale Ale, Sprouts, Kevin, and Hot Pocket. We did pretty well, coming in at second place before the final question (with 60 points, just shy of the leader with 61). The final question had a points wager (like Final Jeopardy), and we did double-or-nothing to attempt to win a $25 gift card to the brewery. We got the last question mostly right, but mostly right is still not right, so we walked away with nothing. (Bumblebee’s table, however, were the champions.) We didn’t win, but we did have a lot of fun.
Back at the hostel, I got a shower and started packing for tomorrow’s hike out of town and towards the Gila River.