Cuba, NM

Well, I've exceeded my allotted number of offers of free showers/rides from skeezy guys while in town in the past two hours (I usually prefer to get these offers once every NEVER!) so I'm ready to get out of town, but the library was on the way, so here I am. I did the San Pedro Parks Wilderness yesterday and this morning, and now we've only got one high place left--Mt. Taylor, which is in the next few days between here and Grants. It hit 82 degrees yesterday. Life is good.

I camped with Jug and Nitro the night before last and realized that was only the 3rd night out of 162 nights (including day one when I started at 8 PM and camped at the state park three miles from the border) that I've camped with other CDT hikers. Obviously there've been a few nights with other random people in the national parks or Forest Service campgrounds or at a couple friends' places, but not a lot. It was also cool that Nitro knows more about the NFL than any other human being I've met, so we got to gripe about missing the season together.

I've got to go walk the highway shoulder for 6 more miles or so, then tomorrow I'll have 28 waterless miles. I'm carrying take-out from El Bruno's (best Mexican food EVER) so I'll have a delicious burrito for dinner tonight and a slimy piece of Styrofoam to carry all the way to Grants. Again, I'm hoping to finish on the 29th--that'd make it an even 180 days.

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