“Good luck and have a safe adventure, said Bill at the trailhead just outside of Cuba. He is one of the trail angels who volunteers at a trail camp along the CDT south of Cuba. Last year, Bill gave me a ride to Albuquerque so I could make it to Washington DC to receive the OAK Leaf Award. This year, he gave me a ride from my friend Zoë’s home in Albuquerque to Cuba. How lucky am I to get to the trailhead with someone who deeply cares about the trail, outdoor access for everyone and thru-hikers like me! 

After I said goodbye to Bill, I took a moment to be present. This is it. I’m going! 

It rained quite a bit last week so water was flowing in many places. Soon, I was post-holing the muddy trail. Thick layers of mud got stuck at the bottom of my brand new shoes, adding an extra pound to my each step as I was going up the hill. They were new just for the first hour! The trail improved for a while then I started seeing snow on the ground around 8,700 feet. I braced myself for more snow as I was going higher elevation. By the time I reached 9,500 feet, the trail was all covered with snow! I was originally planning to resume my adventure on 5/17, but I learned that it’s a light snow year and the data showed almost all the snow is gone in San Pedro Mountains to Cumbres Pass at mile 811. I decided to start a week earlier to take advantage of low snow year, but the last week, a surprise storm hit the northern New Mexico, bringing snow in high altitude. 

I enjoyed walking on the snow covered trail since it wasn’t too deep and I was able to move without slowing down too much. I’m now above 10,000 feet. The view from my camp is all snow and beautiful. The snow absorbs sounds. I heard thunderstorms at dusk and it rained and snowed a little bit but now it’s absolutely silent. My body feels good and my foot is just fine. I fell asleep relieved and relaxed.

I left my camp at 6am the next morning. The best time to avoid post-holing snow is super early in the morning, if the temperature drops below freezing, and it did. In the woods, the trees shield the cold temperature so I still post-holed but I was able to walk on the surface of snow without sinking into it in the meadows and open field. Dawn is my favorite time to hike. The morning light illuminates the beauty of nature and I like to salute the sun.

Traveling on the snow, crossing creeks, walking through ice-filled paddles on the trail takes longer and consumes more physical and mental energy. By mid morning, I hit the highest point between Cuba and the Ghost Ranch around 10,500 feet, and enjoyed a long descent that most of it was snow free. 

There are a few backcountry roads that CDT crosses. I came to one of them in the early afternoon and I saw a family with a truck and a tent. It turned out that they are trail angels! Maggie and Steve with their three kids had a table set up with drinks, oranges and watermelon. I asked for water and I’m so glad that I did! I couldn’t find any water afterwards and thanks to them, I have enough water to camp and get to the next water the next day. They were truly angels. I climbed the last steep uphill to the top of Mesa Alta and settled into my camp. 

The next day, I enjoyed a long descent down to Chama River Canyon Wilderness. Once I reached the river, I took the Ghost Ranch Alternate Route since the original CDT would be difficult for a resupply and I was excited to check out the ranch since Georgia O’Keeffe, one of my most favorite artists, lived there. 

I arrived at the Ghost Ranch in the mid afternoon. At the Welcome Center, Margaret, one of the receptionists, greeted me and we learned that my resupply had not made it here. “One of us will go to the Post Office tomorrow morning and pick it up for you. Did you plan to spend a night here?,” said Margaret. I didn’t but why not? Then another receptionist Beth totally set me up to settle in. She gave me comfy towels with shampoo and conditioner plus extra soap to wash my clothes. “It’s about 5 minutes walk to the camp so I’ll give you a ride.” We got into her golf cart and cruised up to the tent only site. “I’ll be down at the front desk so come down if you need anything else.” Another angel made my trail life wonderful. 

The Ghost Ranch is on the land where  many different groups of people called home. I attended the afternoon tour of the ranch led by Susan from the ranch and I learned about this place. The first people are known as the Gallina people who are considered different from other Pueblo people since their home structure was pit houses compared to the Pueblo’s multi-storied buildings and Kivas. They both managed droughts and adopted agriculture to grow what Susan called “three sisters.” They are corn, beans and squash. After Pueblo’s came, followed by then Navajo then Apache. More recent story includes Spanish, Mexican and Anglos.

Before it became Ghost Ranch, it was called “Ranch of Witches” in Spanish. Since this place is also known as one of the best fossil excavation sites in the US, people saw bones sticking out of the red hills and were scared since they couldn’t identify them as dinosaurs bones. There are stories of monsters, witches, bones, giant snakes, people hiding stolen domesticated animals and other things, and murders! Who wants to come here!

Despite all of the scary stories, I felt good energy that flowed in my body. It’s comfortable. Welcoming. Centering. 

Fast forward to this time, the National Ghost Ranch Foundation does the day o day operations, providing educational opportunities for people to learn about this place.

At my camp, I sat down for dinner and saw Kenn, the camp host, coming up in his golf cart. Kenn and I connected earlier and I learned that he lived in Okinawa. In a few minutes of our conversation, I could see him eye to eye because he is someone who understood the Okinawa’s locals brutal experience of war and colonization by the US and Japan. It’s so far from my home country and yet it’s incredible to find such close connection with someone who understands.

I watched the red hills reflecting the evening sun, and the saw a full moon rise. It represented how I feel tonight. I am so full- a full belly, a full of gratefulness and admiration for this place and people sharing their kindness, and a full of energy to continue the journey.

The full moon kept rising high and high into the dark sky. Yes, keep rising. I will too.