Jiimmy's Journal

[Jiimmy]

Guanajuato
A charming town. A lot of history. And lots of hills, plus old mines and underground streets.

What stands out most from my week long visit is the baseball:

1. It’s very laid back. Normal folks are selling food and drinks, kids play on the field between games.
2. There is none of the corporate advertising that plagues every MLB experience.
3. It’s affordable. I had trouble spending more than $10 during a double header, entry and all. You can also bring your own food and drinks.
4. Kids, at the request of their parents, lean over the fence to pass beers to the umpires and coaches.
5. Scoreboard is analog, by hand.
6. A huge natural rock wall is the left field home run fence. If the ball falls back to the outfield it’s live, if not it’s a home run.

San Miguel de Allende
Similar feel to Guanajuato. I stumbled upon a really elaborate plant market. It took up the entire park.

Santiago de Querétaro
I wasn’t here long, just enough to see an art museum and a few plazas.

Mexico City
Quite a good subway system! Huge city, but when you get out into the neighborhoods it feels like any other small town.

Puebla
I recommend Museo Amparo.

Oaxaca
A week of rest in a quiet area of the outskirts. Hardly saw the town.

Juchitán de Zaragoza
It started feeling tropical here, humid and hot. This is also where I started to regularly hear languages other than Spanish.

I sub-let half of my Airbnb one night to a traveler from the UK. We were heading in opposite directions, so we both had stories of the other’s road ahead.

Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Good feelings about this one. The locals were very friendly and chatty with me, maybe because there’s not a lot of tourism.

[Frita]

How are the travels?

[Jiimmy]

Yo Frita! Thanks for the comment. Been meaning to post an update.

After Mexico, I visited Guatemala for a little over a month, most of which was spent doing some volunteer work. My brother joined me as well for a few weeks. We built a bathroom and did some other work at a school. I volunteered there in the past, 8 years ago, and caught up with some old friends.

The summer plans are shaping up. Likely a long hike (southern half of the CDT?), and hopefully some bikepacking/touring trips. I found a volunteer-run bike shop in the area, and nabbed a pretty sweet early 90s hybrid/mountain bike for $130. I’ll add a rack and it’ll be ready.

[Jiimmy]

Red line

[Frita]

Thanks for the update, Jiimmy, it sounds like a great trip. Your spend is down and more adventure on the horizon, awesome!

Did you fly back or bus while touring more? Also, in light of the news, I am curious if you ever felt unsafe.

[Jiimmy]

I flew back to the states from Guatemala City. I had sworn off flying, and hadn’t flown for four years, but convenience and speed won the day.

Nah, never felt unsafe. People there seem to live much more of their lives outdoors (due to lack of A/C perhaps?), which dilutes the proportion of weirdo encounters to background levels, and allows there to be a lot of eyes on the situation. Whereas in Phoenix everyone seems to hide indoors, except for the folks who have nowhere to go.

[sky]

Do you have any advice for low cost through hiking?

[Jiimmy]

Don’t go crazy buying the latest and greatest gear.

Don’t spend much time in town. Resupply, have a huge supermarket picnic, and hit the trail. Minimize restaurants, alcohol, and hotels.

[Western Red Cedar]

Red line

That red line looks promising

It has been a little over a year since you left work. Any thoughts or updates on the psychological side of leaving work for a life of nomadism?

[Frita]

Thanks for the update and impressions of safety through your travels in Mexico. I found it interesting how you decided that your old style of moving every few days to a week was no longer for you, seemed to enjoy volunteering in Guatemala and catching up with old friends just as much, and gave yourself some flexibility to fly home. Ditto to @RWC’s question.

[Jiimmy]

Yo WRC.

It’s much better on this side of the 9-5, that’s for sure.

More free time and fewer distractions bring the age old questions to the forefront. What is the meaning of life? Is it silly to think there’s a meaning to any of this?

I can see how people would feel more comfortable with a hectic life so they never have time to ponder their existence.

[Jiimmy]

Frita - Yeah, I feel like I dialed in my preferred form of travel. Slower and more project oriented.

[Jiimmy]

If any of you are looking for a ~60 mile backpacking trip in the southwest, I recommend the Arizona Highline Trail. 20 of those miles are shared with the Arizona Trail, the other 40 are not.

Very well maintained and well marked. There are bailout opportunities about every 10 miles, and even a few trailheads with an outhouse. You won’t see much information online, but water is plentiful, my longest dry stretch was 6 miles. Best time is April/May or Oct.

I just finished this morning. Quite nice.

[Jiimmy]

I’ve been journaling on the CDT, thought it would be fun to share it here.

Starting body weight 170, base weight 10.5

8/15/23: Began in Rawlins, at Carbon County Public Library, heading Southbound towards Mexico. Bounced back and forth with an aussie couple, who I saw walking out of town right before I began. Also met Coop. He waded into a nasty pond and filled my water bag for me. Shade incredibly sparse. Went further than I had planned, 26. No trail yet, today was 20 miles of dirt roads, 3 miles of cross country without a trail, and 3 miles of a paved highway. Saw a horned toad, deer, and heard coyotes at night. One passerby pulled over and gave me a bottle of water.

8/16: slightly more shade opportunities, still have only been on dirt roads. Saw the aussies and copper again this morning, but now I think they’re ahead of me. 2 mile shortcut. Have hiked 49 miles, but map shows I’m 51 from Rawlins. Making good time, but this section is so damn boring.

8/17: saw the aussies again, but they’re not aussies, they’re from New Zealand. It took 63 miles, but I finally got my first footpath, instead of a road, and also the first real forest. So nice. Saw large birds, reminded me of turkeys, but smaller. 71 miles so far. 9 more to highway 70 (Battle Pass/TH), where I’ll attempt to hitch into Encampment/Riverside. Overnight there were a few showers and I heard a bugling and grunting elk very close by. It’s the very beginning of the rut I’m told.

8/18: resupply in Encampment/Riverside. Nice little town. Easy hitchhikes. Entered my first wilderness area, Huston Park Wilderness. It’s very nice, lots of meadows, lots of water. Walked through my first thunderstorm. It was short lived but there was lightening very nearby. Luckily I was in and out of forested patches during the storm, so I had shelter when I felt like I needed it. Last few nights, when setting up the tent, when rising from a squat, my knees creak and pop. Not painful, but interesting. In other news, I finally figured out how to pitch my tent well every time. If I adjust the length of one tie out everything falls into perfect harmony. It was a tough one to learn. Saw three hikers today, all new. We talked a while and walked together a bit. They started northbound in Mexico, hiked through half of Colorado, then flipped all the way up to Canada. They’re nearly done, maybe 2 more weeks. They’re ready to be done too, taking the shortest route possible, etc. that’s why I chose a two month trip, because I remember that feeling on the PCT of just wanting to be done. The last half was still fun, just less so than the first half. I will cross into Colorado tomorrow morning.

8/19: made it into Colorado. Saw two hikers today, spoke with one. Kermit has been backpacking since 1973, when he hiked the Appalachian Trail. Fun to talk about the cool places we’ve both been, on Arizona Trail and PCT. He’s a bit out of shape, but is slowly ramping up from 6 miles a day to 10 in two weeks. He says it’s hard to stay fit after 50.

8/20: it’s interesting to read the FarOut comments from the last few months. The difficult snow conditions in June, and the terrible mosquitos and flies in July. I can’t help but smile at the perfect conditions I’m having. I’m definitely becoming a fair weather section hiker. If I’d hike the AT it might be over several Septembers or Octobers. If I’d repeat the PCT it might be April in the desert, and several Septembers for the rest. Didn’t see any other thru hikers today, but lots of weekend warriors near the trailheads. I’ve hiked 135 miles so far, after 6 days. Feeling good.

8/21: Had my first painkillers today. Hips are quite sore, but only when laying down. I remember they were like this on prior hikes too. Just need to get back into the swing of this lifestyle. Saw about 10 hikers. Briefly talked to one, she was doing a section northbound. She thought my name was Blue Moss when I said Lumos. I didn’t correct her. Late in the day I passed a group of six Girl Scouts setting up their camp by Fishhook Lake, they were having a great time. Been eating thimbleberries when I see them. Will try red currants when they appear next, I have seen a lot but just learned they’re edible.

8/22: Made it to Steamboat Springs. Got a ride in a camper van from a dude from Sedona. I hadn’t been hotboxed in a vehicle since high school! We talked about Rocky Point and the Grand Canyon. It was a long paved road walk in the afternoon and evening. 13 miles, made it through, there was a bit of a rainstorm too. Type 2 fun. Ryan the young road-tripper from Spokane stopped and gave me water. Perfect timing as I was just about to filter some murky stagnant stuff. His water will see me through to spring water tomorrow morning. Didn’t see any hikers today, not even in town where we seem to bunch up the most.

8/23: Met Jim the trail angel in Arapaho NF. He had a logbook to sign, and he was nearly up to 200 hikers this year. Many more are on their way through too. I made an early camp at 4:30. Beautiful area, down in the bottom of the valley a mile south of Hyannis Peak. Sheltered under several mature pine trees, with no dead ones in the area to worry about, soft pine needles to add some cushion, and a creek 100 feet away. While setting up camp, Mando walked by. He will complete his triple crown within a week. He says the CDT isn’t really a social trail, so he only carried his fiddle (he carried a mandolin on the AT, hence the name) for about half of the trail and then sent it home. He’s the only hiker I’ve seen in two days! Looks like tomorrow I’ll get to my highest elevation so far. Parkview Mountain at 12,296’.

8/24: I got a glimpse of Mando this afternoon. He was running the Parkview ridge in between storm clouds while I was still on the ascent. He’s the only person I saw today, hiker or otherwise. Today was a day of ridge walks and grand views. There will be lots of that in the rest of Colorado I’m sure.

8/25: Saw two male moose around noon just a few paces off the trail. Also passed a northbound hiker. He’s completing the trail at a pace of 250 miles per year. Lots of rain lately, and a huge downpour last night when I was in the tent. Everything got wet, buckets of condensation and nowhere to hide. Condensation isn’t too bad usually, it just runs downs the inside walls of the tent, but coupled with a not too sheltered campsite and pounding rain, that condensation on the interior wall spritzes onto you with each raindrop. It was a rough night, but tonight is a hotel night in Grand Lake! I took a route into Grand Lake that is 18 miles shorter than the ‘red line’. This cuts off the section that goes into Rocky Mountain National Park. They’re requiring permits and bear canisters and I can’t be bothered to jump through the hoops.

[sodatrain]

Nah, never felt unsafe. People there seem to live much more of their lives outdoors (due to lack of A/C perhaps?), which dilutes the proportion of weirdo encounters to background levels, and allows there to be a lot of eyes on the situation.

I am amazed at how much of my days I spend outside here in Guatemala. It's delightful.

And the people here are really what make it such a great country. People are (mostly) warm and friendly and welcoming. Yes GT has it's problem but every place does. The major areas (Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitlan etc) are all at about 5000' /1500m so the climate is fantastic.

[sodatrain]

Guanajuato
A charming town. A lot of history. And lots of hills, plus old mines and underground streets.

What an absolute gem of a destination. I was there earlier this month and absolutely loved it. It felt a lot like Italy with small winding streets. I walked past the baseball stadium - I'll have to catch a game next time.

[mountainFrugal]

I’m definitely becoming a fair weather section hiker. If I’d hike the AT it might be over several Septembers or Octobers. If I’d repeat the PCT it might be April in the desert, and several Septembers for the rest.

Thank you for posting your trail journal. I think this is a great insight.

[theanimal]

Thanks for sharing. How'd you decide upon Wyoming as a starting point? How much weight did you lose on the PCT?

I'm not much a fan of road walking myself, so I think if I ever did the divide it would be via bike.

[Jiimmy]

@animal

I think it was 170 to 160 after 30 days on the Arizona Trail, then I lost 5 more on the PCT. I’m 6’1”.

Regarding the starting point, I knew I didn’t want to hike the whole thing start to finish in one year, after last year I knew it would lose its charm after a few months. I chose SOBO out of Rawlins for two reasons:
1) You can hike through to Mexico in nearly ideal conditions (Late Aug/Sept in CO, Late Sep/Oct in NM).
2) You ease into the trip with ~100 easy miles.

Currently I’m thinking I’ll split the northern half into two years, going NOBO (less sun in your face).

[sodatrain]

Interesting. My cousin is trying to talk me into taking a swing at the whole thing next year. Sounds cool but... Wow that's a lot. And I have this theory that the people who hike and love the whole thing are loving it, at least in part, to their several months hiatus from the rat race. And for those ERE/Semi-ERE/whatever, it strikes me that the same experience will just hit very differently. Fairweather section hiking sounds kinda cool!