INTO SANTA FE
CDT Day 36: Off trail
Wednesday May 22, 2019
We were both exhausted last night and were fast asleep by 7pm. I woke early and caught up on the blog from the comfort of a warm hotel bed. I also had an opportunity to check out some social media. I found that a friend we made through the PCT connection but had never met, Capt’n Kirk was likely to be in Chama sometime today. He was also hiking the CDT and like us he was getting off trail waiting for conditions to improve.
Rested and refreshed we went to Boxcar Cafe not far from the hotel. And this morning my dream came true, I finally got a cappuccino – double shot! It was so unexpected in thus small town. It tasted sensational and I had the most delicious cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting to go with it. Hammer had a huge breakfast burrito. Life is good.
It was soon time to check out of the hotel. We had a few hours spare before the bus to Santa Fe. Just as we were leaving the hotel Capt’n Kirk arrived. It was so nice to finally meet after 3 years of online communication.
We spent a couple of hours catching up on the CDT hike progress and other tales. We could have kept talking for hours but the bus arrived and we were off.
It felt strange to be off trail and to be leaving a trail town. On the bus were 4 other hikers heading to Santa Fe to get snow gear. We were sitting in front of Rango and Wingit. Chatting to them we found that we passed them on trail on Sunday. They had already set up camp when we were heading towards Upper Lake Canjillon. Their story of hitching in that blizzard was similar to ours. And as happens in a hiking community we found a common link. Wingit met Red Riding Hood (Ella) on the PCT in 2016. While we didn’t meet Ella till after finishing the trail, her wonderful grandmather Anne was a loyal reader of this blog. I was so sad to learn that she passed away.
Four hours after leaving Chama we were in Santa Fe. It seemed incredible that the whole bus trip was free.
We got accomodation close to REI and Wholefoods is next door. Now we need to figure out the best way to get to Wyoming
So glad that you were able to get the bus. It is a very important service for the people in the tiny isolated mountain villages. Have fun in Santa Fe. Wish I were in town to show you around! Carolyn
Sent from my Windows 10 device
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It is a fantastic service Carolyn. Such a marvelous initiative. We are moving on to WY and hope to be back on trail soon. But if all goes to plan we’ll be finishing at Ghost Ranch and back here to Santa Fe.
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Ellas mum and Anne daughter here! I still love following the blog! Happy trails
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Wow….so good to hear rjemj. I loved Anne’s energy and enthusiasm in following Ella’s travels.
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One way car hire is always my preference if available because of the autonomy and flexibility. Keenly following your blog and already planning for the CDT next year 🙂
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It is good to hear that you are planning to do the CDT. I agree about the car hire. It took a bit of work to find a drop off location that is close to where we are rejoining the trail.
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