I left my camp before my generous neighbors were stirring. After a quick pottie stop at the tidy outhouse, I started walking along the gravel road. I enjoyed grand views of the sandstone cliffs south of the river. No traffic for several hours. In two miles, the road turned north away from the river. After 7 miles of road walking, I reached US Hwy 84 and walked a half mile east to what I thought was the Ghost Ranch visitor center. I found a set of boarded-up buildings. Where was the driveway to Ghost Ranch? Probably farther east but I wasn’t sure. My efforts to flag down a car were fruitless until a sheriffs deputy stopped and confirmed that it was a mile further east. I walked along the highway for half a mile then hopped the fence and struck off cross-country toward the buildings I could see. The multi-colored cliffs near Ghost Ranch were impressive (see photo). When I arrived at the visitor, I found Timber sitting on the porch. He had scored a ride for the entire road walk and had passed me. I got my food box and organized my food bag. Timber kindly bought me an ice cream - cookie sandwich. Shortly, hikers Sprinkler and Music arrived and rented rooms for the night. I visited the museum and ate lunch. Timber and I started hiking at 1pm. We walked along a small stream in a canyon then climbed out of the canyon to the mesa top. We walked thru piñon-juniper woodland past one cow pond then to another where we called it a day. I enjoyed hiking and chatting with Timber this afternoon. It was wonderful having water, albeit somewhat murky, at camp. 16.6 miles today. 80 miles to Chama in 4 days.
