Despite the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) having numerous starting (or ending, if you're one of those weird southbound hikers) points, many people (myself included) consider Crazy Cook Monument to be the “official” southern terminus (probably because there's a monument there with the CDT logo and an inscription that says “Southernmost Point”).
The Bootheel (that is, the southwestern corner of New Mexico defined by a straight, north-south border with Mexico on its eastern side) is 50 mi by 30 mi (80 km by 61 km) and occupies an area of 1,500 mi² / 3,900 km². There are very few water sources in the Bootheel and most hikers have water cached at five different locations along the trail. It's truly the desert.
Eight-five miles (137 km) of trail lies between the southern terminus at the US-Mexico border and the town of Lordsburg, New Mexico; it's an excellent introduction (or a lame end) to a Continental Divide Trail thru-hike.
The road down to the southern terminus (it does not always look this nice).
Crazy Cook Monument – why did they decide to put it all the way out here? Who knows? Seriously, who knows? Tell me.
Surprisingly, the start of the trail was much better marked than I had expected.
We began taking alternates as early as day two of the trail.
Checking in at a water cache to look in the register and see who is ahead of us.
For just $10 you can (or at least could) have water cached for you at five different spots in the Bootheel. The beer pictured was cached by us.
Breaks in the Bootheel are largely dictated by the availability of shade.
Sunset on the (mostly) featureless horizon of the New Mexico Bootheel.
The stars in the New Mexico Bootheel are some of the most spectacular I've ever seen.
Cowboy camping (sleeping without a shelter) is a very doable in the Bootheel.
The Big Hatchet Mountains define our first couple days of hiking (the trail stays north of them).
And who said hiking wasn't a team sport? Crawling under (or leaping over) fences – a classic Bootheel activity.
There are some big climbs in the Bootheel (…get it?).
Appa completing as much of his morning routine as possible without leaving his sleeping bag.
Moist demonstrating the art of positioning your campsite so that it will be shaded from the sun in the morning.
Occasionally we found ourselves in a wash – great shade opportunities depending on the time of day.
At one point we decided that we would “take a break at the next shade” and then hiked for more two hours.
A rare Bootheel water source; this water actually looks surprisingly good.
“Follow the posts” is a fun game to play in the Bootheel. Can you spot the Appa waiting at the water source?
LOOK! SOMETHING COLORFUL GROWING IN THE DESERT! LET'S TRY TO TAKE ARTSY PICTURES OF IT!
The road walking on the Continental Divide Trail begins quite early in the trail – get used to dirt roads in New Mexico.
What you can expect to see for many days in a row hiking to/away from the CDT's southern terminus.
The real problem in the Bootheel isn't the sun or the lack of shade – it's finding an acceptable place to make poop.
There isn't much climbing in the Bootheel – you're mostly going around and between things.
Ignoring where the official “trail” may be and instead following the path of least resistance is probably a wise decision down here (just keep an eye on those posts…if there are any).
If you're more interested in reading about the New Mexico Bootheel (and want more pictures, then check out the following posts:
