Start: Mountainair, NM
At the top of a rise, the route left the road and went up and old 4×4 track which quickly disappeared, leaving me with my first cross country travel of the trip; a moment I have long been savoring.
Alas this wash was pretty short before I had to leave it, but I still had a bit of cross country travel to enjoy before I hit a road to take me through some private property.
On the road some sprinkles set in. There was still a chance of rain today, and there were some gray clouds around. The rain lasted just long enough for me to don my raingear. Typical.I cruised the road until the route veered off for a much longer stretch of cross country travel. The route went in straight lines, leaving me to navigate my way across small canyons while staying roughly on track. So much fun.
The landscape was low ridges and hills that some may say is boring, but I was having such a great time making my own way.
All good things must come to an end though, and after a scenic lunch with my legs hanging over a cliff, I joined a series of 4×4 tracks for the rest of the day through the Sevilleta Land Grant. This is private property, but the trail founder negotiated access for hikers with a few easy to follow rules.The land is ranch land, so there were periodic solar or windmill powered wells. I grabbed water at the first one which was like a level of Assassin’s Creed in trying to figure out how to climb, duck, and step carefully to get to the water tank. I did succeed and grabbed water for the rest of the day since I didn’t know how reliable their wells were.
It was easy to roll along the roads and eat up the miles, dodging and weaving between ridges, where each had a new look and color scheme.I stopped for the day about an hour before sunset, next to a juniper where I only had to kick away a couple cow patties.
I was able to sit up and enjoy the sunset as I ate my dinner and planned for how to cross the Rio Grande tomorrow.
