We took a leisurely start, which was much needed. The wind picked up to 20-30 mph very early. If we’d been on the trail by 6 or so, we might have had a long enough window to get out of the flats, but I kinda doubt it.
So we left Lordsburg, on trail and on the highway, wondering what it is like to be a thru-hiker on a long road walk.
We skipped the XC travel in favor of road and gasline, which mean more miles of fighting into the wind, but good surfaces. Sorry, not fighting the wind, but becoming one with the wind, as Eszter corrected me.
After a long one-ness section and a pizza break, we finally hit the Gila National forest and continuous road/trail. It was interesting terrain, transitioning from the barren lowlands to mid level forest. Silly sandy terrain, too. That was a surprise. I can see why the locals don’t ride this route.
The return to singletrack was glorious! First singletrack of the whole CDT and it was quite rideable, mostly downhill.Â
The trail then procedeed to ‘trend contour’ (that term gave Ez a laugh) all the way to the base of Burro peak. Beautiful trail. The kind of exploratory riding that makes a bikepackers day. We ran into our first thru-hiker here, City Food, taking a rest. Igave him a safety pin so he could pop his blisters. Oye. Thru-hilkers are hard core.
Our bikes continued being a stellar way to travel right up until we hit the climb to Burro. It was a burly one. Full of loose rock and steepness. I enjoyed it on most levels, but wouldnt look forward to pushing bikes up it again.
The view from Jacks was killer, and well worth the short off trail detour.
Coming down from Burro was unbelievable singletrack. Pine needle goodness, banked turns…. transitioning to chunk and some downhill hike-a-bike. Doh!
We found water a Mud Spring that doesn’t look too bad, and a beautiful campsite. Tomorrow we hope to ride a 25 mile new piece of trail that even the thru hikers are skipping this year.Â
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