Day 25: Mesas south of Cuba

Mileage: 29.7 miles (494 - 523.7, broke the 500 mile mark!)

The wind howled all night, ripping my tent stakes out of the ground multiple times because the tent walls shook so violently. That's the last time I pitch the tent for a good view on sunrise without thinking about the wind. Of course, it was totally calm when we setup our tents ... but that's the CDT to for ya. I just was glad it didn't snow.

Maniac and I set off again together by twenty minutes before seven. The sunrise wasn't all that spectacular, so all that missed sleep didn't really payoff. While we walked the sun painted the mesas in brick red, like the kind you see above a fireplace. The muddy clay soil still stuck to our shoes from the previous day's rain, making the walking anything but easy.

After we crossed a very muddy (and frigid!) river we starting ascending various mesas in what we found would be the pattern of the day: make a steep ascent, enjoy beautiful views and flat walking on top of the mesa, and then descend either gradually or steeply. We did this five or six times, each affording us a new angle on the surrounding mesas and peaks. The most prominent was Cabezon Peak, which resembled Devil's Tower, a popular climbing spot. It was neat to get so many different angle and see such a great expanse of land.

 

Early on, we passed a ranch house and wondered who they had to kill in order to get that incredible spot. It was the only building for at least 200 square miles so they basically had all the beauty to themselves. I imagined what'd it be like to live their lives. How it would be for a kid to have this as their playground. Or growing old there and seeing how much you've changed, while the landscape has pretty much remained the same for thousands of years.

Maniac posing in his best Fabio imitation

By mid-afternoon, Maniac and I had decided we were gonna push for 30 miles so we could get to a good water source and so we'd be in a good position to make it to town the next day. If we did 30 miles today, we'd only have 15 left before Cuba and could knock that out by waking up early in the morning. 

The mountain lion track we followed for about five miles

Walking on a canyon rim I spotted my first cougar (aka mountain lion) tracks of my trip. It was a little disconcerting because they were very fresh (as recent as the morning) and they followed the trail for miles and miles, traveling the same direction we were. I kept imagining a lion leaping out at one of us and all we'd have to defend ourselves would be our trekking poles. Maniac thought this would be perfectly sufficient, but I wasn't convinced, especially since I was often hiking 10-15 minutes in front of him by myself. A lion could do a whole lot of damage in 10-15 seconds, forget minutes! Eventually the tracks disappeared though and we began to get closer to our goal.

Again, the rain provided for us, pooling in sandstone depressions throughout the day for easy access to water in an otherwise very dry area. As the afternoon wore on, the air got cooler and the sky darkened. I was sure it was going to storm, but luckily it's held off, at least so far. The cool air and clouds were a welcome respite from the sun and definitely helped us reach our goal.

Great snack!

We got to the spring by 7:30 and it was wonderfully cool and clear water - a great change from all the nasty cow tanks. As we were setting up camp, Karma walked up - apparently he'd been close behind all day. I'm regretting my promise to Maniac that I'd wake up at 4am with him, but a promise is a promise. He wants breakfast in town. We'll see about that tomorrow...