Lordsburg

Day 7

Date: 30.04.2022

CDT Mile: Mile 90.5

Miles hiked: 7.1 Miles \ 11.3 km

Even thought I slept in a wonderful bed tonight, I didn't sleep well. There are so many things to organize tomorrow and I hope I don't forget half of them and do have enough time. I get up a 6.30am, and check my stuff I want to send with the mail. One has to go to a friend of mine to San Diego with gear I might need up in Montana, and another one will be my bounce box along the trail. However, it's quite a lot and I don't know if it all fits in two boxes. Then, I finally received my sim card tray which I've ordered last week, and can check my bank account, get phone network again, etc. Shortly later I meet my trail friends +1, Dogbite and Simple outside the Hotel and we agree to hike out tonight after 5 or 6 pm. I'm totally fine with that, it was anyway my plan to hike out tonight.

At 10am I check out and walk to the post office with two massive bags. It's about a 10 minutes walk and it's already hot, so I'm happy when I finally reached the post office. I tried to get a hitch but the guy stopping kinda scared me off so I walked away. Carlton, the post man is super friendly. I actually needed 4 boxes for all my gear. But he advises my to fill the box up as much as I can and then just put another box over it. I fit all my gear in two boxes instead of 4! 1 box with gear I might need up North in Montana goes to a PCT friend to San Diego, the other I will bounced long the trail (e.g. clothes and gear I currently don't need but will need later on in colder and snowier condition's. You can send these boxes to post offices along the trail. Add a note of your estimated date of arrival to pick up the box, the post office will hold the box for 3 weeks as of your ETA (estimated time of arrival). If the box is not opened, you can send the box to another post office along the trail for free. Otherwise you have to pay for it again. It's really handy for us hikers!)

I then go to Mcdonald's for lunch and because I heard they have the best Wifi in town. And really, finally I am able to upload my blogs. It takes me like 7 hours but finally it's done! And in the same time I manage to organize and get an official CDT bandana too🙃 Also I call REI regarding my order which has no arrived yet. Apparently it hasn't even left the warehouse yet! Well, guess don't really need it anymore, as I will be able to buy it in Silvercity too and it will take REI most likely longer than 4 days to ship it to Silvercity. After REI I email Nitecore regarding my powerbank which I ordered to Lordsburg before starting the CDT. However, it wouldn't allow me to charge other devices. So I have contacted Nitecore already last week but had to wait for their response and till I have Wifi to reply. I will have to carry a 340gr useless powerbank with me until I hopefully get a replacement. I really hope that in Silvercity we can find a solution as I urgently need power on trail! Then I emailed Kathadyn, my water filter company, as my filter does not work properly and I just about manage to filter one liter in like 20 minutes. I would like them to send me a free replacement. But it's saturday so I will only get their response when I arrive in Silvercity in about 4 to 5 days. So town days are for us like office days. There is always so much to organize, also for the next stretch.

Around 5.30 pm we hike out. The next water source is only in 15 miles, which we will not hike all tonight. So we have to dry camp (camp without a water source). I carry 5.1 liters of water and food for 4.5 days. My pack is super heavy, something between 15 and 18 kg I would guess. On the way, we stop at Mcdonald's to get a quick snack and carry out a burger for dinner too (so that day I had Mcdonald's for lunch, afternoon snack and dinner!). The first 4 miles are road walking which I really hate. But we had a fun time making up games along the way. We hiked till it's dark and managed to get 7 miles in. The last couple of miles we left the road and hiked in the desert. I am always amazed how brutal the desert is. Hard ground which is looking urgently for water, hardly any bushes or trees for shade, sometimes you spot a cow (no clue what they eat or how they survive out here).

We made 7 miles until we called it a day. It's already dark and we hiked with our headlamps. Packing out the burger from Mcdonald and enjoying dinner together.

Just when we went to bed we see some lights in the distance. I believe that are Sobo (southbound) hikers. Shortly later I get blinded by lights in my tent. I watch out and see one light coming my way. So I scream out, 'hey, are you heading down to Lordsburg?'. 'Are you kidding me?' Is the reply. It was Dogebite coming back from the nature bathroom😁 The next morning we will find out that we had two tent neighbour's like 0.1 mile up the trail and that Dogbite's "natural bathroom" must have been very close to them🤣🤣.