LORDSBURGH

CDT: Day 0 – Phoenix to Lordsburgh

Tuesday April 16, 2019

I think we’ve been ready to start on the trail a week ago. There is a certain nervous tension. A bit like waiting to sit an exam, you just want to get started and see if it all comes back. And Hammer feels like we’ve just been marking time till we could get started. Are we ready – maybe, time will tell. This trail will be a different beast.

So finally the day before we start the hike is here. We had to return the rental car and get a Greyhound bus to Lordsburgh in New Mexico. Hammer dropped me off at the Greyhound bus terminal and he drove around the block to the car rental building. Its only the second time in 21 days we’ve been separated and I was anxious for him to return, on foot.

The Greyhound waiting room was busy. And while I was waiting for Hammer, I was asked twice to move as I was blocking something or other. Happy to oblige, but also keen for Hammer to get back so we could check in.

There was a slight delay in our departure. Hammer made it back much to my relief. We checked in and were soon called to board. There was one other CDT hiker on our bus, Emma from Sweden. Her trail name is Coffee Bean – nice, another coffee addict.

The bus pulled out of Phoenix, stopping at Tuscon before Lordsburgh. Much of the landscape south to Tuscon was now familiar.

And the parts of Tuscon we saw from the bus looked really nice. A city surrounded by mountains close by. The bus filled in Tuscon with young families. Not quite sure what was going on but they looked a bit out of place. A bit like us but in a different way.

As soon as we left Tuscon and headed east the landscape changed. The tall cactus was replaced by grass trees and there appeared to be more ground cover. We passed my miles of orchards of some kind. The trees all planted in neat rows.

In another two and a half hours we were in Lordsburgh. What a curious town. The part of town near our motel seems to be in decline. A lot of places are closed and the only people we saw in the late afternoon were a few other hikers getting last minute provisions.

By days end a rolling thunderstorm and howling wind arrived in Lordsburgh. Hope it’s gone by the morning.

Category : USA