CDT Update: Day 7 & 8

We had a relaxing zero day (day off, zero miles hiked) in Lordsburg, NM.

Lordsburg is hiker central, at least in Southern New Mexico. Every day, five or ten fresh faced hikers arrive on the Greyhound or Amtrak and five or ten tired sunburned hikers walk in across the desert from the Mexican border.

And so, we returned to Lordsburg as tired hikers and checked back in to the Econolodge for a day off.

Deb immediately spotted a large carton of Epsom Salts in the hiker box and proceeded to soak her feet. It seems to have helped too. She is hiking pretty well now, although her feet do have an odd patchwork of tape all over them.

There is not much to the town of Lordsburg. A few motels, gas stations, and fast food places along the interstate highway. If you venture beyond the interstate you can find two Dollar stores and a small grocery store.

As you wander around town you often see other hikers and catch up on the latest hiker gossip — somebody hiked the 85 miles from the Mexican border in 2.5 days, how far is the hike really from Lordsburg to Silver City (various guides say it’s either 59 or 76 miles), and every store in Lordsburg is sold out of Moleskin blister pads.

On Wednesday we packed up and resumed hiking northward toward Silver City. The weather was cooler and the first 10 miles were relatively flat so we made pretty good time even with our taped up feet. The desert was filled with colorful cactus blooms. We passed the 100 mile mark in our journey and are camping at mile 102 tonight.