SUMMARY:  We started hiking at 6:20 am today and finished at 6:45 pm in Lordsburg.  Lots of miles!  Basically we spent the morning in very bare desert on the approach to Pyramid Peak, and the afternoon we spent circling around its base.  To our amazement, there was trail magic at the lst water cache, and we got to meet the rancher who owns all the cow critters around the Peak.  After that, it was one final walk, and we were back in Lordsburg.

DETAILS: What a day!  By 6:20 am, we’d eaten breakfast and packed up for the 1/2 mile walk to the next water cache, where we loaded up on water for 18 miles of desert hiking.

Today was pretty much dominated by Pyramid Peak, a dramatic cone-shaped mountain near Lordsburg.  In the early morning, it was on the horizon, and all day long we were getting closer, until in the afternoon we were circling around its base.

Today we also got lots of practice in crawling under barbed wire fences, and were very grateful whenever there was some sort of gate available.  The gates were quite varied–but mostly the good ‘ol loop of baling wire over a post .  Cows were everywhere, many of them a Hereford/Angus cross, with black bodies and white faces.  Lots of cute calves were scampering about–a lively bunch.  (We found out later that there was plenty of rain this winter and plenty of grass, so as one rancher put it, “The calves are just blooming this year.”)

There were some cow skeletons and remains, though, so I guess not all the cows have had a good year.

On the approach to Pyramid Peak, we were in very BARE desert, with hardly any plants of any kind.  But there were quite a few prairie dog towns, some quite impressive.  At one point in the morning’s hike, though, we were totally baffled as to where the trail went.  We finally “fired up” the Guthook app (it’s a big hassle to get to it, and our iphone battery won’t let us do this more than about 8 times before there’s no battery left, so we are very cautious about going to Guthook).  Yay for Guthook!  It pointed the way, we discovered that the trail went through a cow corral, and we needed to crawl under another barbed wire fence to continue.

We got to eat lunch in the shade of a lone tree–the only one for miles–it was wonderful to be in the shade, with  the temperatures  in the upper 80’s.  When we took our packs off, we discovered that the backs of our shirts are not just wet with sweat, they are also ringed with salt deposits.  Yikes!  We made sure to drink some electrolytes to make up for that.  After lunch, I indulged in a few minutes of admiring the brave wildflowers that were growing near the tree. ( I need my “flower fix”!)

As we got closer to Pyramid Peak, the trail got very rocky, and involved some scrambling.  We were very glad when we reached the dirt road that would take us around the Peak–much easier on the feet!  By 4:00, we’d reached the last water cache before Lordsburg, and to our amazement, there was trail magic!  Gatorade!   Apple pie!  All provided by a trail angel from Ohio appropriately known as “Apple Pie”.  Stummy and Masshole were there, and also the rancher who owns all the cows and solar cow water tanks around Pyramid Peak. We had a great time talking to him and Apple Pie.  “Do you just hang out here, waiting for hikers?” we asked.  And it turned out that no, Apple Pie has some kind of sensing device up the trail, and when a hiker goes by, it lets him know, and he goes out to the cache to meet that hiker.  The rancher sometimes comes too, just to hang out.  He said his family has been ranching here for generations.  “The 1920’s were pretty tough, though,”  he said.  “My grandpa had to go to work punching cows for somebody else, and my grandma took a job being a teacher for the kids in one of the big silver mines up by Pyramid Peak.”  Wow.  That’s determination!  We mentioned to him how frustrating the CDT “trail” had been, with so many marker posts fallen over and lying on the ground.  “Yeah, I figured that would happen,” he said.  “Those CDT people hired a bunch of college kids one summer to come out and put up posts.  The kids didn’t know what they were doing–should of asked the ranchers like me.  The wind blows so hard here that if you don’t dig a really seriously deep hole to put your post into, it’s gonna blow over next time there’s a big wind.  And it’s no joke trying to dig holes here–the ground is really hard and rocky.  Those CDT college kids dug little holes and stuck in the posts and that was it.  No wonder they blew over.”  Sounds like the CDT crew kids needed a bit more determination!

But there were still 6 more miles to walk in order to reach Lordsburg, so we had to exercise some determination and get going again.  So we shouldered our packs and headed into town, even though  we were tired from “pushing the miles” all day, and a little bit footsore  from the rocky trail.  Boy are we glad for our La Sportiva shoes!  The shoes we used to wear would never have coped with trail that rough.

We made it back to the EconoLodge  by 6:45, and met Zippy Morocco in the lobby!  He was actually just leaving, after taking a break to rest up a bit.  We headed for our room and SHOWERS!  Oh man, did it feel good to be clean again.  Between sweating and crawling in the dirt under fences, we were pretty gross.  Then I went in search of something for dinner, and the only thing I could find were the last 2 hot dogs from the Valero gas station next door to the motel, plus some ice cream.  No problem–we were happy to eat anything we could get.  Then we collapsed.  We’ll get back on the trail tomorrow!