Tuesday, June 2, 2026
26.6 miles, 3816′ gain/1424′ loss.
Max altitude: 9250′
I was up at 5:45am and hiking by 6:20am. As I hiked the hilly 9 miles to the road, I passed by 3 other CDT hikers – Human, Dad, and Journeyman. It was nice to compare notes about yesterday’s suffering, just to know it was as bad for them as for me. The trail took me up a steep washed out climb to the top of yet another mesa, though it was very pretty in the early morning light. As I walked, I saw 2 hares and some prairie dogs.
I decided to take a small detour off-trail to check out a possibly questionable water source – a cattle trough by an old windmill. This was our only water source since the cache last night and was the last source before town, 4 hot road miles away. An enterprising hiker had set up feed buckets upside down to keep us out of the nasty cow water surrounding the trough. It made for a fun balancing act, with high consequences for failure. But I was shocked to find that while it smelled terrible nearby the trough, the water itself was cold, clear, and filtered wonderfully. I filtered up 2L and chugged half a liter before I left the water source.
I made steady work of the road walk, even though it was hot pavement and it felt like 91 by the time I arrived in Cuba at 11am. I tried something different for this town – I had scheduled myself to stop here and stay the night but I gave myself space to just do what I felt like doing. And the town of Cuba is very small, so I had limited options, which helped me immensely.
I immediately went to the Cuban Cafe for lunch. They gave me endless large glasses of water and root beer, and I enjoyed a fine tasting burrito. They let me pick a table that had an outlet right next to it, so I was able to charge my devices as I ate. Their wifi was very slow, but they did have wifi. Full and slowly rehydrating, I headed over to the Dollar General. I bought a pack of unscented wipes and then walked over to the laundromat.
Thankfully, they had a small bathroom available there, so I was able to easily change into my wash day outfit (extra shorts, rain jacket) and pre-rinse some of my clothes. I started my laundry washing and then used the bathroom sink to wash my hair with a packet of shampoo I got from the Albuquerque hotel. I wiped down with the entire package of wipes and did town chores (like backwashing my filter and finishing my battery charging) while I waited for my laundry. I saw Charm and two other CDT thruhikers around town, though we didn’t chat much. Everyone seemed focused on getting what they needed from town.
Once my laundry was done, I packed up and walked back to the Dollar General to resupply. I bought 2 days of food to get me to Ghost Ranch, and also extra electrolytes since I was ripping through mine in the desert. I also bought some drinks and snacks to eat in town. I then walked over to the ranger station and sat in the shade for an hour, chatting on the phone with my husband, while I waited for the heat of the day to pass by. I saw 3 Great Divide bikepackers as I sat there, and it was interesting to see other folks doing something both so similar and so different to what I was doing.
I headed out of town at 3:30pm. The trail followed dirt town roads for 4+ miles before getting to a closed trailhead. I was lucky to avoid any unpleasantness with loose dogs, since this was a section with a lot of people reporting dog trouble. A pickup truck stopped and offered me a 2-mile ride to the trailhead, and I accepted. I pushed hard once I hit the trail, invigorated from town food and drinks. The trail climbed steadily, and I was so excited to be in cooler temperatures. I saw rain showers across the valley but they never made it to me. Instead, I was able to hike under a partially cloudy sky, with relief from the hot sun. I was secure in the knowledge that I now had a waterproof tent for a home, so it didn’t matter if it happened to rain or not.
The trail wound through damp meadows with hundreds of purple flowers. I was in awe of the massive change from yesterday’s baking, punishing heat. And it was so nice to be among trees again! And I even was able to filter cold, clear water from a small stream! Based on someone’s note, it was the first natural water source (not a cow trough) in more than 300 miles.
At the end of my day, I went a little off-trail to camp out at a trailhead with open privies and trash cans. I stopped at 8:30pm and set up my tent on a firm surface where other tents had clearly been set up before. I had a peaceful night with the space all to myself.
Transcending Mountains 