With the change of plans yesterday I decided to try push to the 3rd water cache. This would be a really big day, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it since it would be 22+ miles. Yesterdays hike of 20 miles felt good until around 18 miles which was consistent with how I felt hiking from silver city, one more mile a day was comfortable but anything more would be the pits. By this logic a 19 mile day should be ok but anything more would hurt. So just to be on the safe side I packed an extra liter of water in case I had to call it quits before the water cache.
The hike went well, I finished that long stretch across the valley and climbed into some nice hills with a valley running through them. It was still bare and harsh like the rest of NM but it had some great cliffs for me to admire. Coming out of the valley I was on a dirt road with a gentle downward slope. I think this is what allowed me to finish the hike to the water cache. If it had been cross countrythe whole way I doubt I would have made it. Having to stop and find the next marker is surprisingly touring and stressful. When I got to the water cache it was right next to a road, I normally try to get at least a half mile from roads but I was just so tired that I setup camp and went to bed. It's weird being back in hiker schedule calling it a night as soon as it gets dark.
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