GDMBR Day 62 | 2016-09-21

After a noisy night, the hunters came back from their hunt with a catch and of course it had to be celebrated, I went further on my way into New Mexico. The landscape alternates between barren areas and more overgrown, hilly and mountainous pieces. The New Mexican landscape is very varied and surprising. I think it’s very beautiful. I come across old deserted buildings with stone and clay walls. They fit perfectly in this landscape. Yesterday, while I was having my lunch-feast I read a story from Daniels dad, about a big rattlesnake Daniel had encountered on his way to Pie Town. And of course, in the morning, on a gravel road there was one laying in the sun to warm it’s cold-blooded body. However, at the same time I spotted the snake I hear a big truck closing in from behind. I park my bike on the road and grab my camera. The truck stops and driver Curtis gets out. Off course he hadn’t seen the snake from his high cabin, but he wanted to give me a chance to move upwind before he passed me with his big truck. So I wont disappear into an enormous cloud of dust. As soon as he spotted the snake he became interested by it as well and shoots some pictures and a movie with his mobile phone. According to him you don’t come across big rattlesnakes like this a lot. Mostly the tiny “prairie-rattlers”. This rattlesnake is angry with us and sizzles and hisses like there is no tomorrow. He isn’t making any plans to move into the safety of the bushes either. What ever we try, he just stays put. A potential road kill. Luckily Curtis’s truck blocks the whole road, no car can get passed. Not that there are a lot of cars here… Eventually after making enough pictures and movies, with a long chain from the truck, hanging loosely between Curtis and me, carefully we could slide the snake to the side of the road. It took us some effort, but eventually the snake chose wisely and disappeared into the bushes. Curtis thank you for your help and patience! 
Along the way, somewhere in the afternoon a nice man and his small dog in an ATV caught me up.  He wanted to know where I’m from and where I was headed. Every year he and his wife went along with their sons to hunters camp, more or less like camp-host and hostess.  The took care of the food and kept everything tidy. But after all this years he wanted to explore the area. So he went out with his ATV and his dog. “Do you need anything?” he asked me. I replied I could always use water. Well he didn’t have it with him, but he would go and get some water at the camp. Isn’t that nice? A little while later he returned with 4 bottles of water! Great, thanks man! A short while later I met a CDT hiker named “Toe”, he also could use some water so I shared mine with him. 
I was tired after the bad night, the heath and cycling, so I put up my tent early on a deserted “campground” and slept for about 11 hours. The whole night, 360˚ around me I could hear the Elk calling and the coyote’s howl and bark. Beautiful sounds.