There was a storm at our backs as we neared Silver City, a winter storm calling for 6 inches of snow. That night, we had to use tents for the first and last time in New Mexico. I was annoyed because it broke our cowboy camping streak. We had slept out every night in New Mexico. Thankfully, it only sprinkled.
Along the road we crossed through the Acoma Indian reservation, under some beautiful bluffs. In the cliffs there were some very old caves. With the wind that blew through our ranks, I could well believe that those caves had been worn out over many centuries. What else could wind do over time?
We had been walking through a food source without knowing it. The trees around us were pinyon pines, they had little seeds in their cones that were not only edible, but delicious. The fire fighters told us that these seeds sold for more than $30 a pound. This newfound knowledge slowed my walking speed considerably over the last few days. Every 40 feet or so, I would stop and pick some seeds off the trees, eat them, and then pick some more.
The skies are different here. They have lots of different shades in distinct lines: dark blue, light blue, pale yellow, orange, pink, red. It kind of makes you want to be up there in the air, and not this boring brush tree desert.
One nice thing about the change in the weather is that we were beginning to see a lot of golden aspen trees. It is almost as though they give off their own light. Even well after sunset, you walk under an aspen tree stand and see the trail light up.
Many of the old buildings made me feel like I was walking through the Old West.
I recently read an essay where a priest on a mission to Guatemala discovered that artists from the village painted museum-quality artwork on the inside walls of a bell-tower—a place where only pigeons would see them. The story reminded me of Trout Unlimited’s work—behind the scenes, often unnoticed, complicated, hard, and, ultimately, beautiful. What a year. We reckoned with racial injustice as a nation, and looked inward to the fact that we need to become … Read more
One of the fun things about the Continental Divide Trail is that it is a create your own challenge at times. Because the trail is not officially 100 percent completed there are a lot of ways to do alternates.
Because we weathered the storm down in Denver, we remained unaware that there had been very high winds at Lake Granby. Those winds had blown over trees in huge patches, destroying acres and acres of forest.
But the thing about the desert that stands out the most to this Florida kid, there were no fish at all. Not one!
