​After a flurry of last minute errands, a shake-down overnighted in Joshua Tree, and getting our lives together enough to handle another thru-hike, we soon found ourselves in a silent, nerve wracking car ride up to Los Angeles’ Union Station. We boarded a train to New Mexico late at night, and as soon as we did, I felt invisible, and transient. It sunk in that it really is just me and everything in my pack.

We drifted off into a restless sleep and woke with the sunrise in Arizona, watching canyons and desert rock formations cruise by in the window. Traveling by train was no longer scary but felt almost comforting. The pure nervousness I felt in the car to the train melted away to reveal genuine excitement. In Tucson, I spied some cuben fiber. Another hiker. One of us! One of us! 

Soon we were at Lordsburg, the start of our hike. While the train was long, it actually went by much smoother and more comfortably than a plane ride. It was so calming looking over the desert landscape from Arizona and New Mexico. It was flat. Very, very flat. 

We disboarded the train and the conductor wished us luck. We walked to the Motel 6 in town where we were staying for the night until the CDT shuttle picked us up in the morning to take us to the border. The motel is nice enough, and a tumbleweed blew across the parking lot to welcome us. Oh, Lordsburg.

We saw a few more hikers trickle into the lobby while I found a “business center” and took care of some emailing I needed to do (we will see how planning a wedding while hiking goes...)

We got dinner at the restaurant in town and waited for Dan, whose bus was delayed, to show up. It was great to see him and we settled into a pretty good nights sleep given the circumstances!