With a warm weather window, we wandered… Maggie and I have acquired a fair amount of new gear in preparation for the PCT. New tent, backpack, water filter, shoes, hat, sleep system, various clothing.. While we are confident backpackers, learning the quirks of new gear is something we want to avoid when we set off on the trail.
Winter obviously still has its hold on the high peaks where we often adventure, so we set our sights local and low elevation. About 30 minutes from Santa Fe is open desert and national forest leading down to the Rio Grande. We decided on a short 6 mile hike from Diablo Canyon to a secluded spot by the Rio. This was not intended to be physical training, just a shakedown and field test of our new gear.
We didn’t do ourselves any favors the night before this outing. We had skied Taos and enjoyed a little bit of Mardis Gras night life, so morning of the shakedown was off to a slow start. It was almost comical, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how radically different waking up each day on the PCT would be, to the point where I was feeling worried about whether I had what it takes to complete this long trail. We slept in on our comfy king sized bed, cooked eggs and savored breakfast, then eventually started packing around 10 a.m. Maybe it was the mild hangover, but I honestly felt like I had forgotten how to backpack. What the heck do I bring??
I’m usually not afraid to sacrifice some weight for comfort when backpacking. This idea is entirely contrary to what is necessary for thru hiking. On a typical backpacking trip, you end up back at your car and drive home after a few days. You’ll get over sore shoulders and tired legs after a relaxing day in the office. Thru hiking doesn’t really stop; we expect to be on the trail for at least five months. Carrying an extra pound 2,600 miles is simply a waste of energy, it wears down your joints and muscles. You must pack only what is essential, and this has not been easy for me to accept.
We finally got to the trailhead a little before 2 p.m. While we didn’t carry a full week’s worth of food for this quick overnighter, we did decide to each carry 5 liters of water, ~11 lbs. I know I just said to keep your pack weight down, but this is actually representative of what we might have to do at times on the PCT. We might not see water on some 20+ mile stretches. Also water is considered “consumable” weight, whatever you’re carrying will likely be gone within 24 hours.
The canyon section of Diablo Canyon is fairly short, but it sure is pretty! Maggie and I have rock climbed there once before, but didn’t explore past the first crag. The towering cliffs of basalt come in all different textures and patterns. We pondered why so many geological features are associated with the devil. I suppose all the Christian settlers saw these rocks as grotesque creations from the underworld…
Our trail continued down a sandy wash which meets with the Rio Grande. Easy terrain, but damn, those 5 L of water felt HEAVY. We took a break by the Rio after 3 miles. Turns out all those beers we’ve been drinking on ski lifts have not been helping us prepare for thru hiking. Better late than never, I suppose. We kept on truckin’ on an old road that snakes along the western slope of the Caja del Rio plateau, following the Rio Grande down stream. The pinyon and juniper provided welcome bits of shade from the blazing sun. Seventy degrees felt quite hot after acclimatizing to alpine winter temperatures the last few months. Six miles in and we found our campsite, a little nook by the river bank surrounded by tamarisk, bare of foliage for winter.
Our new tent was the one piece of gear we were most eager to try out. The Z-Packs Triplex, a “three person” tarp tent that weighs in under 2 pounds! This tent comes with no poles, it stands by using two trekking poles and tensioning out the edges. This is quite different from any tent I’ve ever owned, but setting up was easy and with the interior dimensions at 60″x90″, it is very spacious for the two of us. After dinner and sunset, we settled in for a relaxing evening, bundled up with our books around 7:30 p.m. Once our headlamps were off we realized we could faintly make out the stars through our tent. I guess ultralight comes with the added feature of being ultra see through.
We couldn’t escape thoughts of the PCT… Frankly, I’m afraid. I have a tendency to overthink things, and there are still so many unknowns to me. Will I physically be able to complete the hike? Will I be able to eat enough food? I am so glad to have Maggie as my partner because she hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2017, and the Colorado Trail in 2021. Being able to draw from this experience is priceless. She calmed my fears as we lay in the dark,
“You can’t think of the PCT as the whole 2,600 mile hike. You have to break it down into smaller pieces.”
-Maggie (a.k.a. Twinkle Toes)
So simple, yet so profound… It definitely struck a chord with me. You can never get to the end of the trail if you can’t get through tomorrow. Putting the end goal on a pedestal, which is so far away both in distance and time, doesn’t do you any favors. You have to take it one day, one mile, one step at a time.
Cool air settled into the canyon. I thought of my friends and former coworkers in Los Alamos just over the far rim of the gorge, going about their normal lives, probably watching TV in a warm house and getting ready for another day of work at the lab. We were both barely warm enough to get some sleep that night. Come morning, we waited for the sun to rise over the cliffs and start defrosting our tent before we stepped out. Not wanting to treat water from the Rio, we both opted for a cold breakfast with a cup of hot tea or coffee. Hot breakfast, like oatmeal or ramen, is another luxury we often enjoy while backpacking, but to save time and water, a rock hard energy bar, frozen by the night, will have to do some mornings.
The hike out was uneventful. Right back to civilization. I’m trying to relish the small things we have in our contemporary life at home. The ease and comfort we have built for ourselves is nothing short of amazing. Constantly warm, fed, clean, and hydrated. A new lifestyle is coming soon, and while change is hard, I also look forward to the new experiences each day will bring.
Distance Over Time 