CDT#2 - Planning

[Gambit McCrae]

Planning on returning to New Mexico for another 5 days in the desert July 1st. This time slackpacking with wife supporting!

Lordsburg to Gila Cliff Dwellings is the plan over 5 full days of slackpacking.

Lordsburg to Silver City - 3 days - 74 Miles
Silver City to Cliff Dwellings via Hwy 15 alt - 2 days - 45 miles

The last 55 miles or so are on pavement so mileages can really be adjusted/ cut short to where ever I end up at the end of day 5

How bout that heat though?!! Gunna be gruesome or not too different than April? Got up in the 80-90's in April, from the history graphs online looks like the biggest difference in these months is the nightly lows rather than the daily highs. I don't know due to lack of experience with low humidity.

[Traveler]

FWIW - Over the years I have found cotton to be my go-to fabric for hiking in desert environments. Though I normally wear manmade fabrics in most other environments to reduce hypothermia potential, I prefer cotton in hot arid climates like deserts as the fabric wicks moisture from the body and tends to trap and hold it as it evaporates which cools the body in the process. If camping overnight I will usually bring manmade fabric clothing for better warmth retention.

Since you are planning to do a slack packing adventure, you have a unique opportunity to bring both cotton and manmade fabrics with you to try each yourself. If you do, I would be interested in your experience with that.

Have fun!

[Miner]

Leaving Lordsburg is paved for a short while and the last 9 miles into Silver City are paved as well as the area near the Gila cliff dwelling ruins. But there is trail and some wading in the Gila after you leave Silver City. Certainly not 55 miles of paved road, unless you are voluntarily road walking most of it, which some people do, but the trail through there isn't that bad once the water levels drop some. Not much is worse than walking asphalt on a hot day.

My experience of that section was in an April, so can't comment on May. The only part that was really hot was the first 15 miles out of Lordsburg which is exposed with little shade. After that, you get into partial shade as you are amongst trees since this section is higher than the previous one by the border.

[Gambit McCrae]

Leaving Lordsburg is paved for a short while and the last 9 miles into Silver City are paved as well as the area near the Gila cliff dwelling ruins. But there is trail and some wading in the Gila after you leave Silver City. Certainly not 55 miles of paved road, unless you are voluntarily road walking most of it, which some people do, but the trail through there isn't that bad once the water levels drop some. Not much is worse than walking asphalt on a hot day.

My experience of that section was in an April, so can't comment on May. The only part that was really hot was the first 15 miles out of Lordsburg which is exposed with little shade. After that, you get into partial shade as you are amongst trees since this section is higher than the previous one by the border.

I am voluntarily walking hwy 15 due to lack of road access on the gila alt, and not wanting to do an extra 75 miles on the standard route. I can end the trip getting as far as I can on the why 15 alt, hopefully getting to the cliff dwellings in setup for the next trip.