Cumbres Pass, CO to Cuba, NM (10/13-10/20): 152.2 Miles
After a successful 5 night road trip in our rental car (which gave us a chance to somewhat rest our bones), we were back on the saddle to finish out the remaining 250 miles. From the town of Chama, we hitched to Cumbres Pass - the exact spot we started on 6/14 after having to skip these miles due to fire closures. From Cumbres Pass, we would now hike south to connect our footpaths to Grants. Cumbres Pass is back in the world of 10,000’. We needed to get these miles done as soon as possible, as winter was still on our heels. The risk of weather is much higher at this elevation.
Within just a few miles of beginning, we reached our final state border crossing: CO to NM. The aspens in the Carson NF provided beauty, but the pines gave us comfort. The days were sunny, but the nights got cold. The pines protected us from wind, some rain and kept us warm - as they have this whole hike.
The landscape quickly changed from gentle, flatter terrain in heavy woods to sand beneath our feet with steep drop offs over ledges. The Santa Fe NF invited us back into the desert, gracing us with cacti, trantulas and snakes.
We were surrounded by red sandstone as we descended down into Box Canyon, which lead us to Ghost Ranch - home of the famous artist Georgia O’Keefe. We got our resupply box at the front desk, bought some snacks in the gift shop and soaked in the views she once painted. Artists were oil painting and sketching artwork on the deck, doing the same as O’Keefe once did.
We continued on with barbed wire crossings, we walked over the roaring Rio Chama River and fell in love with the cliffs and mesas that northern NM had. A non-aggressive black bear followed us for a solid 15 minutes as we trudged away through the muddy trail.
After not having a shower in 8 days or doing laundry in 12 days, it felt so good to arrive to Cuba: our last resupply town before our final stop.
105 miles to Grants
5 more sleeps in the wild
1 more sleep in town
1 bus from Grants to Albuquerque
A flight from Albuquerque to Vegas
Flight from Vegas to WISCONSIN!
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