Day 1: South from Silver City

Mileage: 23.4 miles (total 0-23.4)

When my day started at five this morning my plan was to make it to the US-Mexico border by hitchhiking from Silver City, NM. I knew it would be tough because it was going to require at least three separate rides, not to mention that I wanted to knock out the 12.5 mile road walk south of Silver City before I started hitching (quick note: the CDT is not 100% complete, so some parts of the trail are on road ... I know, sucks but it's reality).

After I packed up all my gear I finished the road walk in about 3.5 hours. It was a lot of uphill, but I was so anxious to get going I didn't care too much. It was a pretty overcast day but the morning light still illuminated the mountains to the east in varying shades of gold.

My first hitch was no problem, only took about 15 mins with my thumb out and wallah! Jeff, the driver was a 65 year-old traveling salesman. He was quite the talker and we had some interesting conversation. He had recently ended a 27 year-long marriage but had just met 'the love of his life' (...which coincidentally was his dead best friend's wife). Since he obviously had the love thing down he proceeded to gave me the four tips his father gave him about marriage. They were as follows:

1) Women don't want you to solve their problems, they want you to listen to them

2) Flowers and chocolate is cheaper than divorce 

3) Be romantic at least once a month ... his dad suggested getting a motel room (not sure that's my idea of romance, but this is his list...)

4) Buy a comfortable couch for the times when all else fails

Not the worst advice ever, right? Maybe the women in my life disagree, but in any case I digress, so I'll fast forward.

He dropped me at a combo truck stop/Arby's in Lordsburg (...as I'm writing this I really wish I had a jamocha shake). I walked to the I-10 East on ramp full of confidence from my earlier success. 45 mins later I was still there. 90 mins passed and I was still there. Suddenly two hours were gone and I was still there. I had tried everything: smiling, looking non-chalant, wearing my backpack, setting it at my feet, and every combination thereof. I even tried googling 'most effective way to hitchhike' but unfortunately the only study that popped up demonstrated how female bust size was significantly correlated to driver pickup rate (especially in male drivers). Now I thought about stuffing for a few seconds but quickly realized I'd probably be sending the wrong message.

Instead, I gave up the hitching idea and decided to walk the 85 miles south from Lordsburg to the border. And I'm so glad I did. I hiked about 10 miles on the CDT. The wildflowers were abundant and carpeted the desert floor in innumerable hues of yellow, red, pink, and purple. Some flowers were quite large, others dainty. Some were thorny, others had fur. Many grew in clumps, but some stood alone. All were beautiful in their own way.

After I inhaled my Pad Thai (can someone send me Salween?) I walked a few more miles before I setup camp with the sun bathing the peak to the East in orange light. I completed my first day. I'm really tired, but it feels good. So good.