Daily miles 8.5 miles
Total miles 8.5 miles
Camp elevation 8300 ft
Great first day on the trail.
Purple drove us down to the border and we got to the trail head around noon. The parking lot at the trail head is a destination for the views and there were other folks there snapping pictures. Saw some border patrol guys with machine guns as well.
We walked down to the Mexican border which was 1.7 miles, snapped some photos and then headed back to the trail head where there was some picnic tables and had lunch. Interestingly, the border is only a barbed wire fence here. Looking across the valley to the east, it is a big black stripe…. Apparently it is a large piece of plastic.
We said our goodbyes to Purple and started up the trail around 2:30. It was a solid climb right away, gaining around 3000 feet in a few miles. The trail was well switch backed and good walking. The climb was nice as temps were cool for much of our afternoon.
Being this close to the border, we are aware that seeing signs of folks making the journey into the US from Mexico is not uncommon. The only signs that we came across were some water bottles and electrolyte bottles of brands that we have seen sold in Mexico.
Our first water on the trail was in the evening. We grabbed a liter each and walked a half mile to a camp spot in in the ridge. It is breezy and we can hear the wind howling. In the distance, we can see lights of towns on AZ and Mexico.
It is already quite cold and we are in our bags at 7:30pm. Darkness was at 6:30.
Full moon tonight!
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