Oh baby, it was cold last night. No frost or rain. Just cold to your bones kind of temperatures. The sky was crystal clear, the stars were bright, and the ground was a mix of pine needles and duff. I must’ve worn all of my garments I have in my little backpack. Thank goodness for the goose who sacrificed all his feathers. I wore my down pants, down jacket inside my down sleeping quilt with my down pillow! Thank you my lovely and warm, feathery friends.

Our trek today was black asphalt all day. For being road, it actually was quite stunning. The county route was unmarked, meaning no shoulders or painted centerline. It is a bit of a free for all. All vehicles and bicycles behaved, except for the one yahoo! He was driving way too fast, barely gave me enough room to breathe and was much too close to my hiking partner Fearless. There always seems to be one who just can’t follow the rules of the road. Back in the day, I called that “Job Security!”

As we were walking, Suzie, a Trail Angel from Silver City stopped. “Do you need a ride, a place to stay, a bag of Potato Chips?” I jumped on the offer for chips. She was returning hikers 23 and Newt back to the trail. We also took her up on the option to stay the night. We exchanged info and carried on.

For lunch, which was on the road side, we chilled and took our shoes off for a bit. Jen did a little work and I ate. Afterwards, we had a nice walk, with much of it downhill. As we grew closer to Silver City, a nice guy from Albuquerque stopped in his Prius. Would you like a ride? At this point, I was finished with the roadway and we had done our due diligence of walking for the day. Sure, we’ll take you up on the offer. Aaron gave us a ride to Old Town Silver City. What a quaint place to land.

We headed into the Palace Hotel which was endorsed by both FarOut and other fellow hikers. It’s an old Brothel turned Hotel, with three ghost-like characters that many travelers share stories of. We booked a room for the following night, then walked to the local watering hole. The “Little Toad Creek Brewery” was also highly recommended. I haven’t had a beer in awhile and it was time to wet my whistle. They have a few favorites and I found a hoppy IPA while Jen ordered a Mojito with Parmesan Garlic Fries. Yummy!

After our brief visit to Old Town, we headed to the Visitor Center. Suzie picked us up and whisked the two of us to her place in Santa Clara. It’s just outside of town and has a beautiful vista of the local and life-sustaining copper mine named Chino Mine. It’s one of the deepest and most active mine in the US. As mines go, to me, it’s also the most unique mining operation with colorful terraces. I’ve never seen such a deep quarry in my lifetime!

Suzie made us dinner, chicken thighs with turmeric rice, carrots and tomatoes. This woman is the real deal. She has a Double-Wide Trailer in which one side is set-up for hikers, while she has a separate living quarters for herself. We each had on-suite bedrooms with private kitchen and dining area. It was much more than we expected.

After a quality night of sleep, Suzie greets us in the morning with homemade French Toast with honest to goodness real maple syrup, a dollop of Greek Yogurt and Juice. What a treat! We took showers, did our laundry and then she took us back to Silver City.

Jen and I walked the city streets indulging on pastries, drinking espresso and yes, once again, writing postcards. Then Suzie picked us up again, and took the two of us for a hike to Big Trees! Yep, we did a leisurely hike around the biggest and oldest Alligator Juniper Tree in all of New Mexico. After walking two plus miles, we arrived at the Mother Tree. Her trunk measures over 70’ in circumference and is close to 100’ tall. If that wasn’t enough, she drove us to Chino Mine. No rest for the weary but we sure saw Silver City and all that it has to offer. So now you know what a thru-hiker does on their zero!

I never planned nor had any intentions of exploring Silver City like Jen and I have. I just thank my sweet Lord for introducing us to his earthly angel Suzie. How grateful and what an incredible opportunity to see this enchanting place called Silver City, the Gateway and southern utopia of New Mexico .

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ NIV