Day 38: Chama, NM, 0 miles, ~640 miles total

Much of today we enjoy the comfort of our room at the Station Inn. Gabriel reads. I blog.

We sit on the porch and watch the magpies walk about the lawn. They have a determined graceful stride. As they dip beaks into the grass, tail feathers bob up, black and metallic  blue.

We make plans for the next part of our CDT adventure. The updated avy forecast gives us much to pause and think about. What’s the level of risk we are willing to take? Would we go out on unknown terrain with a forecast of wet slab avalanches and still consolidating spring snowpack in the Cascades? No. We’d chose another route or endeavour for the weekend.

Thru-hiking isn’t out and back. We run the risk of getting three days into a 70-mile leg and getting to slopes that aren’t refreezing overnight. Do you turn around or take the risk and plunge ahead? Having to make that sort of decision doesn’t sit well with us. We want to enjoy the thrill and challenge of the mountains when the snow settles.

So we are road walking for a bit and then hope to take a tourist detour for a spill that will give the snow time to consolidate. Details to come.

For now, it is all somewhat of a flash back to the PCT in 2011 when there was 200% of the normal snowpack and creeks were at peak meltout when we entered the Sierras.