09    Ghost Ranch - Chama     133 kilometers

Ghost Ranch  

Chama                          133 km

At Ghost Ranch I had the opportunity to listen to an evening of country music with five different live bands, andnd of course good food and time to rest. On the day out after a good breakfast New Mexico wanted to show that it can be very hot too. This was probably the warmest day so far. And this in a canyon with not even a breeze and only going up all day long. The colourful canyon walls were quite a site. I spent the night at a good water source. Having climbed up all day it was another cold night with ice in my water bottles again. I saw a herd of deer and several moose cows. The trail was mostly on old 4wheeldrive tracks or forest roads. Reaching elevations around 10,000 feet I ran into some old snow. Nothing was really difficult to navigate but it was snow. The next night was not quite that cold. Having read "ooops" comment on Thetrailunitesus.com about the snow level between highway 64 and Cumbres Pass and his bailing out due to snow levels I decided to leave the trail at the intersection with highway 64. I tried my luck and the first car I met when arriving at the road stopped and they gave me a ride to town; sorry to the Village of Chama.

I staid at the Chama Trails Motel; a very nice place. Then I moved to a hostel like private home in the village centre. Here I staid with a number of other hikers. The railroad is not yet running. They are preparing it for the 2014 season that is starting coming Saturday. Next stop is planned at Pagosa Springs. REI had a 20% discount sale going on. Taking advantage of this offer I ordered a new sleeping bag with much better ratings then my current one. As I will be at higher elevations in Colorado I thought this was clearly necessary.

View back towards Ghost Ranch after climbing out of the valley

Sunset

A chair waiting for tyred hikers along CDT with snow in background

Rail road sheriff in old uniform in front of rail road waggon in Chama

Store, restaurant and saloon in Chama

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