Day 24 to Brazos Ridge

We dropped down to Hopewell Lake this morning. While we were getting water, we met Dave and Bev Burdette, local mt bikers from Chama. They gave us great info on the CDT. Dave had tried to ride the last few miles of trail in NM last week and was turned back by big snow drifts and lots of dead fall. They confirmed that tent caterpillars were infesting the aspen, but unlike the mt pine beetle that is devastating forest in CO, the aspens would survive and leaf out in a year or two. They had done a lot of trail work on the local trails and were great to talk with. They would be the only people we'd see on all day.

We misplaced the trail again for a few miles but this time it was truly a scenic detour with great views of Brazos Canyon. On one descent, we ended up herding a hundred head of cattle. They had totally over grazed the valley. Too stupid to just let us pass, they stampeded- trampling the trail to dust, defecating every where, mooing as if a pack of wolves was after them. Fortunately, the next valley was beautiful and pristine, grazed only by a couple of elk. The trail here was spectacular but the sheer drop and high winds were unnerving.

We stopped for an early dinner at Lagunitas and filled up with water for a dry camp. In the evening we climbed to the Brazos ridge, at 11000 feet the highest point on our journey, and camped. To the southeast, the fires around Los Alamos colored the sky purple. To the northwest, the snow capped South San Juans in CO fell into silhouette. We couldn't believe this was our last night on the trail.