Continental Divide Trail: Days 11-20
- Madelyn Dukart
- 1 day ago
- 21 min read
Updated: 18 hours ago
Day 11
Forward progress: 19.3 miles
Total distance on trail: 177.5
Hiking out of town without Mitch today was really emotional. I feel so selfish, pursuing my dreams without him while he works and does responsible life things. I'm the one doing the trail, leaving home for months, causing both of us to cry. And he has the audacity to be supportive instead of angry.
These past miles have been so fun. Since it was only a few days, we hiked together most of the time instead of hiking at our own paces and meeting up at breaks. Even though we spent much of it in silence (neither of us is super talkative to begin with, and when we're also having fairly identical experiences, you run out of material quickly), it was nice just having company. Most days, we only saw a few people, and we camped just the two of us almost every night. What kind of socialization am I going to have without him here?
After saying goodbye, I met up with Amalie and Mario, two French Canadian hikers, to hike out of town. The first 6 miles was a road walk, and it was immediately helpful to have company. Their English is far superior to my French -- I can count to 9 thanks to Hamilton, I can say "hello" and "thank you very much," and the only full sentence I know how to say is "I don't know how to speak French" -- but I find that I can't fully be myself because I have to be considerate of the language barrier. They're super nice, though, and I really enjoy their company.
A ton of people hiked out that Sunday morning, so I'm in a bit of a bubble. I didn't expect to be hiking around so many people; there are probably 20 or so hikers that I've seen today, and we all have been taking breaks at the same spots.
Two of the break spots were -- get this -- natural water sources!!! Our first of the trail! Isn't that devastating? The first one was pretty hidden down a hill, and I would never have noticed it if not for a large group of hikers taking a break off to the side of the trail at a seemingly-random spot but all with their water filters out. The water was quite green, and there was something swimming in there, but signs of life means healthy water, right? ... Right??? But it tasted pretty good.
There are probably 15 of us camped out at the same spot tonight. There are enough spaces for us to pitch our tents without being totally on top of each other, which is surprising for how rocky this general area is. This is my first time pitching my tent since September, and wow is it a bad pitch. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be too windy, and I'm sheltered by trees anyway (both from the wind and from onlooker judgment).
Day 12
Forward progress: 19.3 miles
Total distance on trail: 196.8 miles
I wrestled long and hard with my trail options today. I'm officially on the Gila Alternate Route, the section in which I had to get off trail for a femoral neck stress fracture last year, and likely the section that caused it (or at least distinctly worsened it).
I had plans to do the main trail instead of the alternate, even though it would add about 100 miles, but I was deterred by the lack of water from a dry winter and the knowledge that I'd be alone for 10 days because nobody does the main route and everybody does the Gila. I compromised and said I'd do the Gila, but I didn't want to do any of the water crossings; even though this year the river is way lower than last year, the memories of sternum-high crossings and hobbling on forest service roads are ones I don't want to re-live. I found a 7-mile trail that connects the Gila Alternate and the highway that goes to Doc Campbell's Post, a general store that is situated before the meat of the river crossings, but not before all of them (and not before the worst ones last year). I had plans to walk that trail and hitchhike to Docs.
I decided part way through this morning that I was going to hike the trail to Docs instead. Not because I feel a need to prove to myself that I can overcome bad memories, not to rewrite my Gila experience. I just didn't want to be alone on an unmarked, untraveled trail that I would most certainly get lost in and that would take as many hours to hike as there were miles. I chose to be in a bad space with friends rather than in a bad space alone.
The water level this year is so much lower than last year -- one of the few benefits of a low snow winter. Of the 25 crossings I did today, only one came up to my thigh, two to my quads, the rest at or below my knees. One of the leading speculations as to how I got a stress fracture in my hip area is that I had to use my hip to compensate for water coming up too high on my short body too many times, so it was a relief to not have the same experience.
I hiked the entire river section with A Bear (his last name is Hebert, which is French, but with an American accent, it sounds like "A Bear", so that's what we all call him). He was one of the people who convinced me to take the river route to Docs. He's in his 60s and assured me he'd stay with me in every water crossing. I'm the faster hiker on land, but with my timidity around the water, I was grateful to hike with him. Last year in the Gila, I felt like such a burden, making friends hike with me when I was feeling scared. This time, I don't even care if I'm making myself someone's barnacle; I just need to get to Docs.
We're situated just under 10 miles from the general store, and at least a few of those miles are a road. I'll be glad to have a whole afternoon to not worry about water.
Day 13
Forward progress: 9.8 miles
Total distance on trail: 206.6 miles
A Bear woke up just before 6:00, so I woke up just before 6:00. I don't eat breakfast before leaving camp and I'm pretty quick to pack up, so I waited almost 20 minutes before getting out of my comfortable quilt and getting ready for the day.
I knew my shoes would still be wet, so I'd committed myself to putting on my damp socks. I was pleased how well they'd dried out overnight, but it was still challenging putting them on in what we are guessing to be 35-40° weather. The first water crossing was within a tenth of a mile of our campsite, and it felt like walking through shin-high fire.
It took 7 crossings to feel the sun on my face, 13 to feel it on my legs. It was a tough way to begin the day. I counted each crossing and fixated on the number as a way to focus my brain on something besides how cold I was. Only days ago, the sun was my mortal enemy, and the thing I craved most was shade. Today, I yearn for more sunlight.
When I went to open my squeeze applesauce (my favorite breakfast snack, even though it's heavy and low calorie), my hands were so numb that I couldn't twist the top off. A Bear had to help. If I were any warmer, I may have been humiliated at having to ask for assistance on such a simple task that requires minimal strength and dexterity, but I didn't have that embarrassment in me.
The non-water miles to Docs were glorious. Easy, sunny, boring. Taking off my wet shoes, socks, and gaiters at the general store was nothing short of euphoric -- even better than the pizza, ice cream, pop, chocolate milk, cookies, and abundance of water that I didn't have to filter myself.
The main function of this post is to provide food for people visiting the various hot springs in this area. A large group of us are camped out at some springs about a half mile away from the store. $12 for a day pass + camping. I'm friendly with pretty much everyone here -- I can have a pleasant conversation and laugh and have a generally good time -- but still, no one I want to hike around for long periods of time. No real friends yet. It's a little lonely, but the friends will come.
Day 14
Forward progress: 12.6 miles
Total distance on trail: 219.2 miles
Definitely the coldest morning yet. There was frost on the outside of my tent, no doubt from condensation from the nearby springs. I'm glad I've been sleeping with my water filter every night; even though the internal temperature of my tent was likely above freezing, water filters are compromised if the water in the hollow tubes freeze, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. I know three people who have already had to replace their filters for this reason.
It took me ages to work up the courage to pack my stuff up and change into my hiking clothes, especially my bra, which was still damp from soaking in the hot springs yesterday evening. I'm glad I had a low mileage day planned so it didn't matter if I had a slow start. We all planned to go back to Docs for a long and lazy breakfast before getting to our daily miles.
I started hiking around 10:30. I was this close to saying "eh, maybe I stick around another day" because it felt like I had already wasted so much time, but I also wasted so much time because I have so much time to do so few miles today, so it wouldn't have made sense.
Right now, we are on the Gila Alternate, and the alternate follows the Gila River for another 30 or so miles, but the High Route goes above the river and meets back up with the Gila Alternate where the river crossings stop. Most people go to the nearby Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, do the High Route for a few miles until a connector trail drops back down to the Gila River, and then continue on the river. I decided to not visit the dwellings because I did them last year and I plan to go back in the future, and I'm staying high the whole time. I don't anticipate seeing too many people for a few days.
My pack is the heaviest it's been all trail: not only do I have all my own gear now that Mitch isn't carrying our shared tent, but I have 6 days' worth of food to get me to Pie Town and 3 full liters of water (my full capacity) to get me through this 19-mile carry, including an overnight dry camp.
I was just hiking into the trailhead from the road when I happened to see some friends I know from Instagram, Cheer and Paladin, who were also recently in Silver City. I knew they were doing some miles in the Gila, but I didn't expect to actually see them on the trail! Cheer pointed out that a trail angel called Golden was offering to make them lunch, but because they aren't currently thru-hiking, they turned him down. I only hiked 10 miles yesterday and am doing another low-mileage day today, I ate plenty of food at Docs both yesterday and today, and I'd only hiked 4 miles up until that point in the day, but if someone's making burritos, I'm eating burritos! I didn't mean to break for over an hour, and I didn't really need it, but it sure felt nice to lounge in a camp chair (back support!!!!) and enjoy more water than I'll see until tomorrow afternoon.
Aside from about a mile with my Canadian friends who got to the trailhead right as I was leaving, I hiked today alone. I'm listening to Sunrise on the Reaping, which is not nearly as good as the other books in the Hunger Games series, but it's entertaining enough to make the miles go quickly. Despite taking numerous long breaks, I got to camp earlier than I wanted. Because everyone's down low, I knew I'd be camping alone tonight. I can camp alone, but I certainly don't prefer it. It's a very stark contrast to the 11 tents in one campsite at the hot springs last night. I like it somewhere in the middle.
I find that I fear wildlife substantially more when I camp alone versus camping with even one other person. And nature. It's windy on top of the ridge, even surrounded by trees. My thoughts always go to, "what if the wind knocks over a tree, even a healthy one, and it falls on my tent?" I always check tree conditions before setting up my tent underneath it, but camping alone has made me realize that I fear dying alone more than I fear the things that would potentially cause me to die. Anyway, I'm glad my down hood attachment for my quilt blocks out a good bit of noise.
Day 15
Forward progress: 21.3 miles
Total distance on trail: 240.5 miles
A nearby woodpecker woke me up this morning. The pre-sunrise light was enough to prevent me from falling back asleep, and fortunately it was warmer than yesterday, so packing up didn't take too long. For how little I like sleeping alone, I slept pretty well.
Today marks two full weeks on trail. I celebrated it alone. I haven't seen anyone since yesterday early afternoon, not even random passersby or forest service rangers (which makes sense because many of them have been fired by our great and sensible leader in the name of budget cuts). Like I mentioned yesterday, most people opt to take the lower Gila route, and I'm fairly alone in my desire to stay out of the water. A Bear had mentioned that he wanted to exit the river part way through and then finish out on the high route, so I took a ton of long breaks at junctions today to try to wait for him, but I never saw him. Maybe he decided it'd be more fun to deal with the water crossings with everyone rather than do all the elevation gain and long water carries of the High Route. Either way, I'm alone.
I usually spend the first few hours hiking without any audio input unless I need a distraction for a big climb or something. I stayed pretty unplugged for the first two hours, and it was weird in my brain. I distinctly remember having a barbershop-style rendition of the Hokey Pokey stuck in my head for several miles. Whether that particular style of the song is something buried deep in my memory or something I made up in my slightly-unhinged isolation, I do not know.
I vaguely remember this section of trail from last year. I had been on the lower route and decided to come up to the High Route by myself to avoid the water crossings. This section of trail is where I noticed that my hip was feeling weird. I re-read my journal entry from this time last year and noted that I had to physically lift my left leg with my hands because I couldn't move it on its own. How did I not know something was wrong? (I mean the answer was a total willingness to ignore the pain and hope it was fine.) I'm exactly a day away from when I had to get off trail, expecting to get back on a few days later, not the following year.
I took a 2.5 hour break at the final campsite I stayed at last year to see if anyone would come. For how long it was, it wasn't very restful. Sometimes, the wind was blowing strong, cool air, and I have to put my jacket on. Sometimes, the air was still, and the sun was shining in full force, so I'd have to take my jacket right back off. It was too hot in the sun, too cold in the shade, so I just sat there with my jacket always at the ready. I don't have great memories here from last year, either. I was crying a lot, hip hurting, feeling alone, wishing any of the car campers would offer me company or Gatorade or something. This year, not a soul was in the parking lot. Around 6:00, I started hiking a few miles to get to a different and better camp site.
I decided to do 4.7 miles more, including a 0.7 mile backtrack down the main Gila route to a different National Forest campground. My other options were a 3 mile hike to a campsite that ended up with a solitary vehicle there, which would not have made me feel super safe alone, or doing another mile in the right direction instead of backtracking, but I figured this was my best bet for hiker company. I hitched a ride down this gravel road last year to reduce the mileage I needed to meet my friends at the low route and high route junction, but even if someone were in the parking lot to offer a ride, I wanted to hike the miles I missed last year. It was an easy 4 mile cruise, given that the road was level, softer than pavement, and slightly downhill the whole time. It was a beautiful walk, too, at golden hour. I saw a herd of elk cross the road. The feathers of the small birds perfectly reflected the sun so they looked like golden confetti flying around. The solitude felt peaceful rather than stressful, maybe because I was so convinced other hikers would be at the campground.
And I was right! A Bear and Daydreamer were eating dinner at a table. Seeing them lifted my mood dramatically. I am not meant to camp alone. This campground is elite, too: potable water from a spigot, bathrooms stocked with toilet paper, tables for eating and relaxing, and plenty of flat space to pitch tents. I'm so glad I decided to come here.
I spent a ton of time today mapping out the water and camping between here and Pie Town. Since it's been a supremely dry year in New Mexico, water sources are really few and far between. Most of them for the foreseeable future will be cow tanks. I have really enjoyed the natural water sources these past few days. We are aiming to push 25 mile days for the next 3 days -- my first stretch of bigger miles. I feel nervous, given last year, but I also feel ready.
Day 16
Forward progress: 27.3 miles
Total distance on trail: 267.8 miles
Wanna know how to tell if it got below freezing overnight? Hikers waiting until well after sunrise to begin hiking. The three of us seem to leave camp usually between 6:45 and 7:15. I didn't even start getting out of "bed" until 7:00, when the sun began to hit my tent. I hiked the first 3 miles in my sweatpants. It did warm up surprisingly quickly, though.
The first 15 miles of today felt like such a weird deja vu. I remember ample water in the dry creek beds. I remember the endless grass fields. I remember more cows than there were this year. I remember the two climbs for the day and the gate and the gravel road. I remember feeling relatively fine for most of the day and then suddenly, many miles into that flat gravel forest service road, not being able to walk.
I was not surprised to feel phantom pains in my hips on the road walk. My body holds the memories that I've worked so hard to help it forget. But the phantom pains made me smile, weirdly enough, because I know they're fake, and I know I feel good and strong and capable. The test I keep performing to make sure my leg is good is lifting it upward when I'm sitting down. Couldn't do that at all last year.
This felt like a good day to do my biggest miles yet. The walking was relatively flat the whole time, maybe a sustained but gradual uphill for much of the latter half, but we were able to keep a 3 mile per hour pace basically all day.
The best part of today (other than finding good camp spots just before it got too dark to pitch a tent without a headlamp) was the unexpected trail magic! Stash and Winter are traveling in their truck across the country, and they've both done at least parts of the CDT, so they set up at that spot with the intention of providing food for hikers. When I saw the glint of the car from afar, I thought it would be too much to hope for trail magic. When we got close enough, they asked if we wanted food, and I immediately responded, "Are you serious?" I meant it as "Wow that's amazing, I can't believe this is real," but the other interpretation of "Are you seriously asking if I want food because obviously yes" could apply. They made us burgers. Hot food without boiling water? The dream.
The miles weren't hard, just long. When we left the trail magic a little after noon, we still had 18 miles to go -- 6 solid hours of hiking a road, excluding breaks. It was repetitive, monotonous, and boring. But man was I so grateful to be there, especially after we passed the break spot where I got off trail. I'm sure there will be days that I'm annoyed by how boring or hard or exhausting the trail is, but today, I was just happy to be there.
Day 17
Forward progress: 23.8 miles
Total distance on trail: 291.6 miles
I don't have tons to say about today. We had to heavily ration water over a 20-mile carry that began at the water source we got to a half mile before camping last night. I have the capacity to carry 3L of water (which is a little under a gallon). That meant that 1 liter of water had to last 6.33 miles. Before getting to camp tonight, I peed twice: once in the morning, which I always do, and once about 2 miles before camp. Just wasn't hydrated enough for more.
We had our biggest elevation change day: about 4,000 feet both up and down. It's not a ton of change, but after yesterday's flat road walk, I really struggled.
I got pretty scraped up this morning. The trail went through a burn scar area, and there were a ton of downed trees. I thought I was on a path around one of the blow downs, and I ended up a quarter mile from the trail. I knew I was going downhill and had to bear left. I should have just backtracked because the path there was clear. Instead, I tried to wedge my way through a bunch of thorn bushes. I got there eventually, but not without my legs getting scraped to shreds. Putting sunscreen on my legs hurts.
At our lunch break, I noticed that another hiker, Mr. Ed, had dropped his medicine bag. Because I was the first one to leave, I was tasked with catching him before the highway junction, since I knew he'd be getting off to go to a town that the rest of us were skipping. I had 11 miles, and I'm a faster hiker than he is, so I knew I'd find him. It felt like a quest. I genuinely had fun speeding down the trail to find the traveler and bring him his lost medicine and save the day.
At the end of our day, we had some planned trail magic! A woman called Whoops is hiking a section of the trail, and her husband is driving around and giving trail magic. At the highway junction, he had a cooler of pop for us. It was exactly what we needed after such a day.
My fracture area is sore tonight. I'm not surprised, given that it's been two bigger mileage days in a row, but I am a little worried that we have a 25 planned tomorrow to get to Davila Ranch, a rest stop for CDT hikers that has food and laundry and showers.
Day 18
Forward progress: 25.3 miles
Total distance on trail: 316.9 miles
I had so much fun today! It wasn't that there was anything particularly notable or enjoyable, but I just had fun. We had a 4-mile sustained incline that looked really intimidating from the elevation profile, but it was actually super cruisy. I had popped on a playlist of some of my favorite songs in anticipation of needing some motivation on the uphill, and instead, I was just having a good time bopping my way up the trail. By the top of the climb, we were over halfway done with our miles, and it was only 11:30.
Most of the trail right now is a series of dirt roads. It makes the hiking go by quickly, but it's not always the most interesting. I had decent cell signal for a lot of the hike, so I was able to pass some time on the downhill calling Mitch and my dad.
The last 5 miles of the day were the worst. We were on the same dirt road we've been on most of the day, but it just felt worse. No more or less elevation change, rocks, or anything notable. I think I was just ready to be done with the miles and still had some time to go. The call of Davila Ranch was too great.
Davila Ranch is this weird oasis before Pie Town. The owner, John, said he and his neighbors had just been watching CDT hikers drag themselves through this section for years, looking worn and miserable. We're all coming from a long food carry, haven't had a shower or done laundry in well over a week, the Gila tore our legs up, the road is messing with our heads... all in all, not a great stretch. So he put some shipping containers on his property, hooked up some water and electrical, and threw in a refrigerator that he stocks with basically unlimited eggs and potatoes throughout the season. Last year, he got 220 dozen eggs just for CDTers. There are laundry units (with loaner clothes so we can wash everything without selecting some items to stay dirty), showers (with hot water! And shampoo and conditioner! And good pressure!), outlets to charge things, tables to sit at, trash bins, and makeshift shelters to cowboy camp in so we don't have to set up our tents if we don't want to. This place is heaven for hikers.
It's super windy, which has made our time here a little less ideal, but we're still all so grateful. Also, putting on dryer-warmed sweatpants after wearing shorts all evening was the best feeling of all time.
It's probably going to get pretty cold tonight, but we're all trying to get up early to knock out the 13-mile road walk into Pie Town, so not setting up our tents is the move tonight. I just hope I sleep well enough to drag myself there!
Day 19
Forward progress171: 13.4 miles
Total distance on trail: 330.3 miles
This may be a shock, but I did not sleep well last night. Nobody did. I woke up around 5:30 and saw that a lot of people were already packing up, shivering and miserable. According to our server at a restaurant in town, at 5:30 this morning, it was 23° outside. I definitely believe it. Packing up my quilt, taking the heat-trapping blanket from my body, was the worst feeling. Everybody was shivering and exhausted, equal parts not wanting to hike and not wanting to stay still. I was hiking before 6:30.
I hiked the first many miles in a sweatshirt, my jacket, and my sweatpants. Of course, the sun didn't have to be out for long before I had to shed some layers. The sweatpants are enough of a pain to remove because I have to take off my shoes to take off the pants, but both my jacket and my sweatshirt came off. I hiked with a guy called Tenderfoot for most of the morning. Talking with a new friend helped the 13-mile road walk fly pretty quickly.
(Full disclosure: we did skip the last 1.7 miles because an older couple offered us a ride in an open-bed truck, and A Bear was already on the platform, and I wanted a hitch in a new kind of vehicle, but we made it up walking around town today.)
There are a bunch of us staying in a hiker-run hostel called Toaster House. The name and decorations beg the question: which came first, the toasters or the name?
It's pretty barebones, but it's a building with walls and protection from the wind, so none of us are complaining. The porch was a great place to relax while it was sunny, and then we retreated to the indoors for the first time since Silver City.
We did spent most of our afternoon at a restaurant called The Gathering Place. Aside from the pie for which this town is known, TGP provided a nice lounge for hikers. The owner, Paul, bought this restaurant in the fall of 2023, and he saw how vital this town is to hikers, and yet there haven't been many amenities for hikers (this is one of a few towns on trail that require that you send a resupply box because there isn't even a general store or gas station in town). Paul has been working hard to make a space for passing hikers, and he picked our brains about foods and supplies we seek out in town stops so he can have a full stock ready for next season's hikers. The lounge had a tv, good wifi, and enough comfy chairs to satisfy the 10 or so of us that relaxed there much of the afternoon. He sent us off when they closed with a shot of whiskey.
Even though we're inside with electricity, everyone is in bed. It's not even 9:30.
Day 20
Forward progress: 0.0 miles
Total distance on trail: 330.3 miles
I wasn't sure this morning if I was going to zero or hike out. On the one hand, I feel mentally very ready to leave and hike. On the other hand, my fracture area is acting up, and I know a full day of rest would do me good. I ended up zeroing at the hostel, which also gave me an opportunity to spend time with the wave of hikers that are one day behind me.
I definitely am not properly hungry yet. I thought I would spend the day eating a crap ton from the diner in Pie Town, but all I ate today was a basket of chicken tenders and fries and a small bag of chips. I can tell I'm losing weight, and I want to eat more food. I just can't force myself to eat when I'm not at least a little hungry.
I know this next stretch will be a lot of road walking, so not super looking forward to that, but I'm pretty stoked to be on a totally new section of trail!
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