Fundraising Overview
The generosity and support of friends, family and many others continues to be amazing. We are now up to $7.36 in pledges per mile which means nearly $22,000 in contributions (assuming we can complete our end of the bargain!). With three and a half months left in the hike, we are hoping to raise even more. Please forward along our site and hike information to anyone you know who may be interested in helping support our causes. And we are both available to assist in any way (email us at jim@marrowtrek.org or jesse@marrowtrek.org and we will respond as soon as we get to the next computer!).

Hike Vitals
Miles hiked to date: 440
Days since start: 15
Current location: Grants, New Mexico
Miles to go: 2560
Showers: 1

Hike Recap
On April 20th, we climbed over an inconspicuous barbed wire fence and briefly stood in Mexico. Our hike had begun.

The bootheel of New Mexico is high desert. Although the first days were relatively cool, water was scarce. There are no natural sources; we found our water from windmill-fed cattle troughs. The water is rarely appetizing, and sometimes downright inhospitable -- the first trough welcomed us with a large rattle snake and several hundred wasps! We were all there for a little refreshment and managed to stay out of each others' ways.

The dogs, although excited to be on adventure, were not excited to carry their food or water -- a task which fell to their human caretakers. The rocky and prickly terrain wore the bottoms of their paws, and the shoes we had for them irritated their paws. After 60 miles of sharp dry trail, we made the difficult decision to send them home (they will join us from time to time for more friendly sections). Lisa kindly offered to come down to Lordsburg (an eight hour round-trip) to pick them up. It was sad to hike on without Whistler and Scooter, but also far less stressful.

There is relatively little public land in Southern New Mexico, and the Continental Divide "Trail" sometimes follows roads to avoid trespassing on private property. Roads, in addition to being generally uninspiring, are also hard on the feet. As our mileages increased, blisters reigned -- an annoying reality that will likely continue for a few more weeks as our feet continue to adjust.

The highlights of our first two weeks:

• Deer, elk, javelina, turkeys, and some beautiful spring flowers.
  
• Trail Angels - Friendly folks providing spontaneous assistance along the way. Read more about these folks in our blog entry (which we will update as we go)!
  
• The Gila River Gorge - We hiked 45 miles up the main and middle forks of the Gila River. The trail crosses the river more than 150 times (our feet got a little wet) as it traverses between the towering canyon walls. The river also flows on top of thermally active faults - so we were able to enjoy many of the several hot springs that border the river. Our two days in the gorge was a stunningly beautiful experience (and there was plenty of water!).