Day 14 - Into the Mountains!!

Day 14 - 5/29/08
Start - Cuba, NM
End - before 315/144 junction
Miles - a little less than 40

Well today we rolled out of Cuba, NM. The Circle A Ranch was a super nice place, and it would've been all to easily to stick around there for a few days- but we were able to pry ourselves away in order to get back into the mountains. The morning was quite relaxing, hanging out with Erik and Mike- two other CDT hikers-, Kenny and Claire- horseback riders/instructors at the Circle A, and Walter- the caretaker. We got into town around 12, did some grocery shopping and the hit a local cafe for grub. I had two of the biggest bean burritos ever presented to me, and I was most definitely satisfiesd. Didn't even have room for rasberry and pecan pie with ice cream. What a shame, but I'll probably live to see another day. On the way out of the cafe, we met a hiker doing a documentary on parts othe CDT- super interesting guy. Check his website at http://www.lwgear.com/ if you got time. Thne we were on the way. We had about 2000 feet of climbing to do in like 10 miles- powered by frijoles, I made it up the hill, then turned on another forest service road to be greeted by a good deal more of climbing- a rather strenous day, especially after 90+ miles yesterday. But on the good side, we're out of the frickin' desert, thank baby lord jesus. Now we're making our through the Santa Fe Wilderness- it is awesome. Kinda what we've been waiting for. Abundant water, great camping, great views, nice roads, and hellacious climbs. All signs point to .... mountains!!We stopped a little early and made a nice fire for the first time this trip. Nice and relaxing. An early start tomorrow should deliver us pas El Rito, NM hopefully. Only a few more days of New Mexico left. I can't to hit Colorado. Going to be amazing. Well probably to catch the proverbial zzzzs.Eat well, ride hard, live long. Stewie out.