The Pairie

• Day:  25
• Start:  556
• End:  583
• Miles:  27
• Hours:  11
• High temp:  67
• Low temp:  28
• People met:  1

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Lookout tower

My water stayed unfrozen in my tent last night. It was a cold night, but I stayed warm. Today is mostly dirt road walking. I am heading to American Spring for water replenishment.  The good thing about the freezing weather is the wet, muddy places in the road are frozen.  In a while a pickup passes me, the driver rolls down his window to say hi.  

  

Way off in the distance is a huge cinder cone, looks like a Mexican hat

I get my water from the spring and move on. I am following a nice trail for a while. The trail seems to provide a sense of quiet, peacefulness, and isolation. A trail makes me feel as though I'm in the wilderness, sharing it with like minded individuals and the creatures that live there.  

A couple of cottontails are spotted as I trek down the trail. They are such a graceful animal, I love their gentle movements. 

The bitter cold wind turns to just a cold wind and I wear something extra to stay warm throughout the day. That wind does keep the sky a beautiful blue. The clouds build up again in the afternoon as they seem to do. No rain on me though, the rain seemed to be off to the northeast. The big fluffy cumulus clouds provided shade. The hiking elevation after I got off Mt Taylor was between 8000' and 9000' all day. 

Nice trail hike through here

A flock of wild turkeys scurried away as I approached, strangely I thought of Thsnksgiving. 

This section reminds me of the Thomas Ranch

A little further down the dirt road I come to s potential water source. Even though it seems to be protected from cows, I still am not happy with the look of the water. I still have water and there are other options ahead. 

See why I chose to move on

The road is straight through this section. I look ahead a see a handsome coyote watching me as I approach, too close he judges and off he races into the trees. 

This camping site seemed so comfortable 

Was planning on hiking another half hour, but this forest seemed to have very nice, protected looking spots. I had to stop here, the next water is 2.7 miles ahead, best not to camp at the water source.