First Church of The Masochist Hikes

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And with that the first trip of the summer is done! After starting at the Mexican border March 18th I walked about 200 miles along the AZT before switching over to the Grand Enchantment Trail for an even more amazing 810 miles from Phoenix to Albuquerque. More remote, more scenic, a bit rougher in places, and far less crowded the GET was just the sort of trip I was looking for. Next up: Mississippi Source to Sea starting June 5th!

My last night on the Grand Enchantment Trail was a lot like my first down near the Mexican border perched up on a ridge with a view. This time I was looking down at Albuquerque a few miles below and I wasn’t kept up all night by wind. It did take some discipline to stop this close to the end rather than run down the last few miles and start hunting for nachos but there’s still a long summer ahead and best not to waste town funds. Terminus in the morning, Colorado for a few days to recover, then it’s off to the Mississippi source to sea thru paddle!

Today is the big road walk to get between the Manzanos and the final range leading to Albuquerque. Nothing worse than what I’ve done elsewhere assuming my feet don’t melt down on me again. Either way once I’m past this it should just be a few more days until I wrap up the Grand Enchantment Trail

Currently enjoying the last of my morning coffee with a little under 100 miles to go until the end of the Grand Enchantment Trail. Currently around 715 miles hiked since starting at the Superstitions. Today is all about climbing the Manzano range and then there’s a 20 something mile road walk to get through in a few days before hitting the Sandias and then Albuquerque. It’s getting close enough to the end now I’m struggling a bit to maintain my usual long trail mindset of ignoring anything more than a few days out.

And in this section: Rain! Pretty much every day for the last week+ out here on the Grand Enchantment Trail it’s been rain and lightning usually focused later in the day. Fortunately it tends to come and go making the wet gear management fairly easy. I should have less than 150 miles to go at this point and anticipate finishing in Albuquerque around Memorial Day weekend barring more than the usual amount of complications. And then it’s a few days of rest and off to the Mississippi!

Mostly my 600+ miles along the Grand Enchantment Trail have been a gloriously solitary experience with the very occasional one off encounters. But last night I found myself in Socorro with Snapper, Sprouts, and Colonel Mustard making things briefly feel like a more normal trail town. 150 ish miles to go to Albuquerque.

Closing in on Socorro meaning I should be in the last 200 miles or so of the Grand Enchantment Trail. And if you were worried that my weather attracting abilities had failed me on this trip is looks like things have shifted to get a little more interesting. This is a view from the Magdalena Mountains looking back at the San Mateos yesterday as thunderstorms chased me over the crest.

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