Fundraising OverviewWe are over $9 per mile in pledges -- closing in on twice our original goal! We have received donations and pledges from many people we have never met -- we are honored by the breadth of support the hike has generated. Thank you to all for your help.
Hike VitalsMiles hiked to date: 900
Days since start: 37
Current location: Lake City, Colorado
Miles to go: 2100
Showers: 4
Hike RecapWhoever is in charge of scheduling the world's climatic activities must have read our musings on the scarcity of water in our last post: we have had seen rain and/or snow every day for the past 31 days (and counting!).
In May,
New Mexico had 300% of normal rainfall, turning the usually dry desert clay into a slippery sludge. The added toil was sometimes annoying, but otherwise of little consequence.
On May 18th we passed into Colorado where we were immediately greeted by the towering San Juan Mountains. The San Juans are among the most remote and rugged terrain in the continental United States, and they are infamous for guarding their winter snowfalls late into the summer; by noon on our first day the trail had disappeared beneath 3 to 6 feet of old snow. The challenge was just beginning.
Snow doesn't always spell trouble: miles can come with relative ease when it is hard enough to walk on. But the snow we encountered was unpredictable: sometimes we scooted along, but often we found ourselves plunging waist deep. It was exhausting, and it slowed our progress considerably.
Lisa (Jesse's fiance) delivered snow shoes in Pagosa Springs, but the San Juan's countered with a late May blizzard: 30 inches of snow fell on us in the course of two days. With very low visibility, our pace slowed to less than 1 mile per hour. Our running shoes held up to the snow surprisingly well; we ate our breakfasts and lunches while we walked to keep from getting too cold. Our tarp kept us dry in the nights we were forced to camp on the snow. By far the worst moments were trying to urge on our frozen shoes each morning -- we had to hammer on them with our snow shoes until they had softened up enough to slip in our feet.
Though we were hiking 14 hours a day, we were not able to make our expected mileages and our plans morphed frequently. We eventually arrived at Plan D, which traded in the Continental Divide on our last two days for the more hospitable terrain of lower elevations and made it possible to meet Gail (Jim's mom) for some planned R & R in nearby Lake City.
The highlights of our past three weeks:
- Friends joining our hike - Randy Hulett joined us in Northern New Mexico and Jon Zalisk jumped on for some of the trek through the snow of the San Juan's (Jon may not talk to us again).
- More Trail Angels - Don Roach (Jesse's dad) provided bar-b-qued chicken and many other provisions in Northern New Mexico, and Kathy and Anthony Skaff more than saved our bacon in the San Juans. Lisa continued here constant support by picking us up on Wolf Creek Pass for a night in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and renting us snowshoed. Read more about these saviors on our Trail Angels page.
- Wildlife - Besides a wolf in northern New Mexico, and hundreds of elk everywhere, the little kids are out in force! We spotted a mother bear and her two two cubs mistook us for mom when the mother bear ran off. When the cubs realized their mistake they booked up some nearby trees. And yesterday, we stumbled onto a moose and her calf.
Fundraising OverviewThe 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 VitalsMiles 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!).
The term "Trail Angels" refers to individuals who offer assistance to thru-hikers. Sometimes the "Trail Angel" is well known -- such as a resident of a town who provides water, shelter, showers, laundry, or a home cooked meal. Sometimes a "Trail Angel" comes out of nowhere -- unexpectedly offering a welcoming hand. Below is a description of the "Trail Angels" we have come across on our Continental Divide Trail travels (we will add to this post as we meet more -- most recent encounters show up first):
Leland Fuhrig and Ryan (Steamboat Springs, Colorado)
Leland (a friend of Jesse's from grad school) and Ryan opened up their comfortable Steamboat home to us and some of our friends during our hike through town. They also joined us for an evening of margaritas and grilled meet, and for a subsequent night of savory food and fine conversation at the Seedhouse Campground south of town. Thanks to both for making our northern Colorado odyssey more comfortable and enjoyable. (Picture to come soon!)
Matt, Tracy and Michael Brend (Franktown, Colorado)
Matt, Tracy and Michael met up with us in Grand Lake, Colorado where they provided us with very welcome company and a very comfortable campsite (complete with RV, grill and plenty of entertainment from the talented Michael!). Their shelter that evening also saved us from a night of rain! (Picture to come soon!)
Gail Schoettler (Parker, Colorado)
Gail (Jim's mom) made more than 100 pounds of granola that serves as breakfast each morning on the trail. In addition, she has met Jim and Jesse at every resupply in Colorado, providing comfortable beds, juicy steaks, tasty strawberry pies, and all other manners of creature comforts. Most recently, Gail brought Jesse and Jim back to Parker for some R&R from the trail near Silverthorne, CO -- just in time to miss two days of snows and high winds in the mountains. Alas, Gail is headed to China for two weeks. Jesse and Jim look forward to reconnecting with her in Montana!
Lisa Gavioli (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Lisa (Jesse's fiance) has been our constant enabler during the first 1200 miles of our trip. She dropped us off at the Mexican Border, picked up the tired dogs in Lordsburg, shuttled us back and forth to Grants and Cuba, joined us for a few days ofthe hike in Northern New Mexico, visited us in Lake City, Colorado (bringing us much needed snow shoes!), and drove 7 hours North to the central Colorado mountains to present us with bratwursts and beer for an evening. On top of all of that, she is planning the wedding and holding down the fort (and the dogs!) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A true Angel, Lisa has made our hike much easier and much more pleasant.
Anthony and Kathy Skaff (Hermit Lakes, Colorado)
Our escape route from the snow storms of the San Juan's brought us to Hermit Lakes - a community of summer homes near Lake City, Colorado. What we did not know during the planning stages of "Plan D" was that Hermit Lakes was entirely on private land and that the Hermit Lakes management aggressively prosecutes trespassers. In our efforts to find a place where we might pitch our tarp for the night, we serendipitously chose the door of Kathy and Anthony Skaff as our first solicitation. The Skaffs had arrived for their summer at Hermit Lakes only hours earlier, and they graciously offered us stew, hot chocolate, beds for the night, and perhaps most importantly, a way out of our impending arrests for trespassing. We are indebted to the Skaffs for all of their kindness, and for keeping our criminal records clean!
Don Roach (Coyote, New Mexico)
Over the years, Jesse's dad has provided us with immeasurable assistance in many of our exploits. Our trek through Northern New Mexico was no exception: Don provided us with frequent food, drink, logistical support and fine company throughout. His efforts helped return meat to our bones, a bounce to our steps and a smile to our faces. Don - special thanks for the divine salsa and exquisite bar-b-qued chicken (among the many other favors).
Michael and Anonymous (Pie Town, New Mexico)
Heck... We have to get better and remembering (and asking) names. Coming off a meal of two T-bones, two cheeseburgers and two pieces of pie ala mode at the Daily Pie restaurant, Jesse and I walked outside to see Michael -- a truck driver and aspiring Christian ballad musician. Michael thought that hiking the CDT and the idea of a Continental Divide itself made for "good stories". The other fellow provided us with a cup of much needed gas (there are no gas stations in Pie Town) for our stove. Our time with these two outside the Daily Pie was probably the most entertaining fifteen minutes of our trip.
Anonymous (Snow Lake, New Mexico)
How we failed to get (or remember) the names of these two Indiana turkey hunters is beyond me (hopefully they will email me at jim@marrowtrek.org so we can right this injustice)... We had just finished a three day hike up the Gila River Gorge. The hike was beautiful but taxing -- we crossed the river more than 150 times and were struggling to make our 30 miles a day. We arrived at the Snow Lake campground in the late afternoon to inhale our meager lunch (of Power Bars and peanut butter). The two hunters pulled ambled over and asked us to come enjoy anything out of their loaded trailer. We gladly accepted, enjoying four ham sandwiches and a box of tasty Cheese Nips (who knew those were tasty?). Thanks, hunters, for brightening our afternoon and soothing our grumbling stomachs.
Keith Knadler (Gila Hot Springs, New Mexico)
Keith, a friend of Jesse's and Lisa's welcomed us hospitably to his comfortable digs at Gila Hot Springs. He had cold beers, cozy sleeping accommodation, free (locals only!) pass to the hot springs and organic free range hamburgers from the East Fork of the Gila River! He also lent us his car to handle a few outstanding errands. Our only regret was that we were not able to spend a bit more time relaxing there.
Stefan (Silver City, New Mexico)
It was 8pm, and we had just finished a (very unsatisfying) meal at Bob's Big Burgers in Silver City. We were facing a five mile hike out to the nearest public lands for our evenings rustic lodgings. The road we were hiking was busy, and it was getting dark. Stefan saw us walking by and offered us a futon to crash on, and more importantly, a shower (the first and only shower we had in our first 440 miles). It was a welcome retreat from an otherwise long, late evening. Thanks Stefan.
Carol Baker (the "Trouble Maker") and her husband to be (Lordsburg, New Mexico)
Jesse and I arrived at Separ (an isolated I-10 underpass) for our first resupply. Scooter and Whistler had been worn down by some long, windy days, and Jesse and I had decided to give them a break. Lisa (Jesse's faince) had agreed to drive the eight hour round trip from Albuquerque to pick them up, and Jesse and I were looking at spending the day amusing ourselves in Separ's "Continental Divide Trading Post" (need some fireworks, anyone?). By some stroke of divine luck, Carol and her fiance happened to pull off the interstate a few minutes after we hiked in. Carol -- who rescues abandoned and mistreated dogs -- offered to drive all of us (her fiance, her 3 dogs, Whistler, Scooter, Jesse, I) to the larger town of Lordsburg (fortunately she had a mini van). Their kindness allowed us to spend a relaxing day enjoying Lordsburg's restaurant, library, park, are post office (where our resupply package was waiting).
