After a year of learning, planning, and getting my gear dialed in I’m finally ready to begin. I got up at 4:00 AM to catch a small plane to El Paso. I’m on the plane now with a fantastic view of Canyonlands.

The flight was good, although the landing was pretty windy/bumpy.  I took an Uber to the train station for just $14.  The train was 4 hours late, but once inside it was awesome.

While waiting at the train station I met several other thru hikers.  I’m the only newbie but I tried to act somewhat like I knew what I was doing.  Sparky is a 60 year old electrical engineer going for his triple crown (the AT, PCT, and the CDT).  His friend Ghost Hiker is also going for her triple crown.  They were very nice and gave me a lot of good advice.  I also met Robert – a 60 yr old dentist from Iran who now lives in a storage and his car.  Robert is a very interesting guy.  I’m having trouble reconciling being a dentist with living in a car. Half his gear he made himself.  The other half is expensive stuff.  He is quite a contrast between extremes and I find myself wondering what his life must be like.

I also briefly met Twigsy and Rick Smith.  They seem like they are going to haul and they have the shuttle tomorrow so I doubt I will see them again.  Rick was a submariner which was a little funny because he was well over 6 feet tall. I wonder how many time he cracked his head getting around in a submarine.

Everyone has been friendly, happy, and excited. When we got close to Lordsburg the train crew announced over the intercom that we have several CDT hikers going to Canada and starting in beautiful Lordsburg, New Mexico.  😀

As we started pulling into Lordsburg I noticed all the burned out and dilapidated buildings next to the train station. Lordsburg appears to be a sad little town that has hit hard times. A mile walk from the train station brought us to the Econolodge at the southern end of town.  The room is good. I am happy and excited.