Mile 13 gila alternate. Too tired to calculate miles from border. Camping at 7464ft.

I un-explode (de-explode?) my pack of all my things which have made it to every corner of my mini hotel room.

Yesterday I learnt breakfast is boring cheap hotel fare, so today I kick those English muffins up a notch Aussie-style with my tube of vegemite and an avocado. Every thru-hiker worth her salt has both in her arsenal. Boom.

I head to the post office, drop off some things in the hiker box at the visitor’s centre then I’m on my way.

This morning it’s an exciting road walk out of town. I get a high five from a local who is excited about my hike! Woohoo! I get an offer of a ride from an old dude who doesnt understand why I wamt to walk 😉 Silver city- seriously awesome people.

The road walk doesn’t last too long and soon I’m in the land of trees and trails, of rocks and lizards, ups and downs,  this ways and that ways.

Some gorgeous red and brown rock formations appear and suddenly it’s all looking a lot more interesting! I get a few pretty vantage points to look out across the valley with beautiful rocks jutting out from the mountainside. They are the kind of rocks that make me hear pan pipes and a young girl calling for “Miranda! MIRAAAANDA!”. Alas Miranda is still not to be found, I have discovered no parallel worlds by walking in and around the rocks, so I march on.

Something amazing happens. There is water. Actual flowing water!!!  No cows to shoo away, no mud aftertaste, still a nice mix of floaters to spice things up, but hooray!

It’s some good climbing today! The perfect mix of ups and downs that gets the heart racing and endorphins flowing. There’s a cheeky steep climb to mark the end of my day and I’m treated to a pretty sunset over the hills, painting the pine trees in honeyed light.

My destination is a water source….which I can’t find as the light is fast disappearing. I’ll get it in the am. I find a terrible spot to cowboy in a very beary looking location and fall asleep making invisiblity cloak (from the bears of course) wishes on the stars.