From the spring where I camped last night, I set out this morning with a big day ahead--31 miles to cover. Over 20 of those miles were on a flat but very rocky dirt road, so the going was very slow.

I ran into quite a few thru-hikers that I had been seeing since the Mexican border, so I got to say goodbye to them, as I was planning to take a couple weeks off as soon as I finished this section, and I was unlikely to be on the same stretch of trail with them again.

After the first 20 miles we began to gain a lot of elevation as we were going to summit Mt. Taylor, an alternate route on the CDT that was recommended because of the really good views. As I got close to the summit I got cell service and received a voice message from a park ranger asking me to give him a call. Once I reached him, I learned that my truck and trailer that I had left outside of Grants NM had been towed and impounded and were on an impound lot somewhere in Grants! That was very disheartening to hear, especially because I wasn't sure how I was going to get my vehicle back. Through my family contacting officials in Grants, I was able to discover that the vehicle was being held not far from where the trail passed through Grants. Obviously, my plans to ride to the trailhead south of town were going to have to be scraped for now, but at least I would be able to ride directly to where my truck was and get the much needed food and water that were stored there, so I would not end up stranded with the horses at the end of the day.

#2018CDT