Hit the trail about 11:30am after answering emails in the hostel and arranging a shuttle ride for the end of my trip, from Silver City, New Mexico to the airport in El Paso, Texas. Felt sorry to be leaving the hostel – it’s a cool place and I met some interesting folks there.
I took the hard road up to Marshall Pass (Road 203 instead of the 4% railroad grade Road 200) and ended up walking 2/3 of the way because the road was very steep and very rocky. I crested Marshall Pass about 6:30pm with looming clouds and raced downhill to the sweet campsite about 6 miles away. The campsite was in a grove of aspen trees with a creek nearby. It was cold and damp so I made another big ass fire. It rained most of the night and I woke up to the mooing and snorting of a herd of cows in my campsite, munching on the grass under the aspen trees.
