Start: Hwy 15 Gila River Bridge Stop: Jordan Hot Springs 12 miles Total miles: 198 My tent is soaked. Every time my head touches it my animal beanie gets wet. I put dry socks on my feet but they go into my soaking wet shoes. I slog the 1 mile down the road to Doc … More Day 11: Gila Cliff Dwellings

Start: Goat Canyon Stop: Hwy 15/Doc Campbell’s Post 20 miles Total miles: 186 Overnight sprinkles leave the tent wet but luckily it’s not raining when we wake. Sunny skies soon darken as we drop 5 miles to the Gila River. Beads and I both are not thrilled at the idea of hiking in water all … More Day 10: Gila Feet

Start: Silver City Stop: Goat Canyon 26 miles Total miles: 166 On the road by 6am. Yes, more road walking. It beats down my moral and I focus on all the pain. What I really want to do is hitch. But somehow I push through. The next thing I know, a truck slows to a … More Day 9: Climbing Up To Thunderclouds

Start: somewhere along hwy 90 Stop: Silver City 7 miles Total: 140 What can I say? Got up before cars could see my stealth camp. Road walked. Found Beads, Addy and Gretchen and had breakfast. Checked into Motel 6. Explored Silver City. Spent 8 hours at the Little Toad Creek Brewery and met up with … More Day 8: Tour Of The Gila and Little Toad Creek Brews

Start: hwy 90 at mile 108 Stop: stealth camp on 90 25 miles Total: 133 It’s a leisurely start. 7am. It’s going to be an easy day.  But within the first half mile, I’m so engrossed in my snickers bar that I miss the road/trail junction. I go at least a half mile round trip … More Day 7: The Crows of Burro Peak

Start: Lordsburg Stop: Hwy 90 23.3 miles 108 total miles The walk out of Lordsburg follows a paved road for several miles before heading off through open pasture desert. A cow and her calf are running towards me and I think, oh shit. Forget bears, this cow is going to kill me. I quicken my … More Day 6: Desert Rabbits For Y

Start: Lordsburg Stop: Lordsburg 0 miles Total:85 A zero. No miles. I write journals and post photos all morning. When your face is as red as mine, you can’t go back out there. The sun bake that went down yesterday is unreal. Between the wind and the solar road reflection, my nose looks like a … More Day 5: Sun Bake Cake With A Cherry On Top

Start: South Uhl creek channel Stop: Lordsburg 20ish miles plus 3 roundtrip backtrack Total miles: 85ish The morning is cruiser. Things are groovin’ until I realize that my brand new garmin GPS is not in my hip belt pocket. But I know I had it not far back because it fell out at a gate … More Day 4: When Your GPS Is Lost

Start: Old Hachita Ghost Town Stop: South Uhl creek channel 24ish miles The coyotes sound the wakeup call at 5:30am and I lay there watching the sky slowly brighten. It’s chilly out as we bush whack back to the trail. We reach water cache 3, eat a quick snack, grab water and head back out. … More Day 3: Cross-country Rock Stumble

Start: alluvial wash Stop: Old Hachita Ghost Town 23ish miles After a sleepless night we awake to endless rolling clouds. Thunderstorms a brewin’. On trail by 6:30am, we march towards the darkness. As the pitter pat of rain starts to fall I prep my backpack and myself for the inevitable. I figure this will be … More Day 2: The Smell of Rain and Playa Mud