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. 

Mt Taylor

• Day:  24
• Start:  530
• End:  550
• Miles:  20
• Hours:  10
• High temp:  59
• Low temp:  38
• People met:  1

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Hugo Mumm

Dropped at the trailhead by Hugo this brisk morning. Many thanks to the Mumm's for their devoted support of CDT hikers.  

Thunder and lightening last night lasting forever. A very nice storm with lots of rain, Hugo told me in 13 years of living in Grants he has never see weather like this. 

All that rain made the trail muddy And slippery this morning. The mud quickly filled my treads then proceeded to ooze to the side of my boots. More weight and the worst of it is now I have little traction. So I climb the trail to Mt Taylor slowly with these slippery, muddy trails.

Grants

My first view of the day is of the valley where Grants exists. The trail climbs slowly almost seeming level for quite a while. 

The trees help buffer the wind

Now I have to find Gooseberry Spring to refill my water supply. This quest takes me off the trail and up a canyon. I locate the spring, it is just a trickle of water draining out of a pipe. But enough for me to fill my containers. Now back to the trail, I bushwhack further up this canyon to intersect the trail. This climb is slow going because it is steep and the altitude is high. The sky is a cold gray with a complete cloud cover. The wind is bitter cold and blows in strong gusts. I almost seek shelter prior to the top of Mt Taylor, but I know I can make with time to get to a lower elevation for tonight's camp. 

Making the top I have incredible views from the east, south and to the west. I have a signal so I send a picture to Carolyn of the summit sign and me.

Cold on top but my gear makes it ok, so after a reasonable enjoyment time I descend on the north side of the mountain. Snow is covering the trail on this side, so I have to pick my way carefully down until I'm below the snow line. 

Once down below to snow line I find a suitable camp site.  Cold but good day hiking, got to hike real trails and see views.