CDT - Day 24 - Lava Fields
This morning I woke up to a cold morning in the Cebolla Wilderness, I didn't see a single hiker all day yesterday on the trail, and nobody walked past my campsite during the night. After taking down my tent I hiked about a mile up the road to a solar well that started flowing as soon as the sun hit the panels. I filled up 2 liters of water and set out to hike another 20 miles.
After about 12 miles on the brown line road walk, I took a side trail up The Narrows. This was a steep climb and hike for about 3 miles, before bushwhacking my way down a very steep canyon to the La Ventana Natural Arch. In the parking lot I ran into Bank and Mos who had just finished the same hike to the arch. They were hitching a ride to Grants, and I continued the road walk along the highway until I reached red line at the Acoma Zuni Trailhead.
The Acoma Zuni Trail goes for several miles along a very rocky and exposed lava field. It's an amazing area to hike, but wow the lava is hard on the feet. After several miles I just wanted it to be over with and back on a normal trail. I didn't want to camp in the lava field but I was running out of time. I managed to find a decent spot under a tree thanks to the comments in FarOut. I can safely say this is my first time camping in a lava field.
Tomorrow will be several mow miles of lava field before I'm out of the Acoma Zuni Trail.