Thursday, May 29th

We got up extra early today, 4:30 am. We had a long drive to the starting point, marker 118, and we wanted to beat the heat. When we started, it was still a little dark but there was very little traffic. We are walking beside the Magdalena Mountains on the LaJencia Plain. There is also the Magdalena Fault between John and I and the mountains.We saw two groups of antelope today but not as many as we have seen in the past. About the 8 or 9 mile marker we heard an explosion somewhere in the mountains and then about a half hour later another explosion. My theory is that there is some sort of mining going on. On we walked through Water Canyon and our stopping place for today, marker 134, we walked 16 miles. Today I found a hemostat, four beer can openers, two pocket knives in dubious condition and two coyote teeth. We know they are coyote teeth because John found the skull and I did a little dentistry work and got the teeth out. Stay tuned ....

PS: One week ago, John and I walked through two days of rain, sleet and snow at Pie Town, New Mexico. Today in Socorro, New Mexico the temperature reached 99 degrees.

Friday, May 30th

We started at marker 134 today, just a few miles outside of Socorro. We walked into Socorro and had to say good-bye to Highway 60, our old friend. We have been on Highway 60 for weeks, since Vicksburg, Arizona. We passed by the RV park we are staying and both John and I took a bathroom break. As I was joining John, Audrey was waiting for us. Audrey is a reporter for the El Defensor Chieftan, one of two local papers in Socorro. Audrey took our photo and as she already had much information about our walk, bid us a safe trip. We walked on about 4 miles and came to the small community of Luis Lopez. This is a farming community on the Rio Grande, which runs south through Socorro and this community. We had a few encounters with dogs here, but they seemed to be friendly, seemed being the key word. "Good fences make good dogs". On we walked until we came to another small town, San Antonio. San Antonio is a farming community also. Irrigation ditches from the Rio Grande provide the water for farming. San Antonio, Texas has it's River Walk and San Antonio, New Mexico has it's Irrigation Ditch Walk. It is also the birthplace of Conrad Hilton, the founder of the Hilton Hotel chain. Paris!, are you getting this!. About a mile before we finished, a lady named Pat, pulled over and chatted with us. She had seen us walking with Jolie Blonde in Magdalena. She said that she and her husband owned a spa resort in southern New Mexico. John gave her a brochure and told her what we were doing. We walked on to the junction of Highways 1 and 380 where Carol was waiting. Monday we turn east and into the desert. I found a fork in the road today and took it. Stay tuned....

PS: I would love to hear from you. If might be easier to email Carol and I, instead of making a comment on the blog. Our email address is dickcarol.mattson@gmail.com

Wednesday May 28th

No walking today, instead Carol and I did the laundry and made an appointment for Jolie Blonde to see the vet, she has an ear infection. Also, we need to go to the post office and see if we can get our canopy fixed. In the evening we were going to go see the new Indiana Jones movie, but Carol wasn't feeling very well, so we'll go it some other time.

Monday, May 26th

Ruth dropped us off at marker 86 today.It was chilly and windy. We are still walking in the San Agustine Plains. It is flat pastureland where cattle and antelope graze. After a few miles we came to the VLA, Very Large Array. The VLA is the most powerful, flexible and most widely used radio-telescope in the world. It consist of 27 antennas in a Y-shaped configuration. The VLA in an interferometer, which the data from each antenna can be combined electronically so that the array effectively functions as one giant antenna. We walked on with the VLA watching our every step. This is jackrabbit day. We have seen more jackrabbits today than any other. It is also a very windy day. We have fought a very strong crosswind all day and it takes more energy just to walk straight. Carol picked up two very tired walker today at marker 102. I found an "over-size load" sign today and a penny. Stay tuned.....

Sunday, May 25th

John and Ruth cooked breakfast for everyone this morning. Egg, ham, bacon, biscuits and gravy, orange juice and coffee. Thanks, it was delicious. And for lunch, we grilled burgers with beans, potato salad and deviled eggs. Two great meals. After lunch, we decided to go to the Kelly Ghost Town which was a few miles out of Magdalena. In 1870 miners discovered lead, zinc, silver, copper and even some gold.

In 1870 a post office was established and at it's peak, Kelly had 3000 residents. But like so many western towns, Kelly was plagued by indian attacks until Magdalena was established. A railroad was contructed from Socorro to Magdalena to carry ore down to smelters in Socorro. Today nothing is left but the ruins of the mine and a few foundations. After touring the Kelly Mine, Ricky and family said their good-byes and headed back home to Las Vegas. Tomorrow we start walking again. Stay tuned ....

Saturday, May 24th

I got up this morning and went over to John and Ruth's RV for breakfast. They graciously invited me over for an egg sandwich and coffee. Thanks! Ricky, their son, was eating breakfast also. Ricky, who is an F-15 pilot in the US Air Force, is joining us on our walk today. After breakfast, we were off to the starting point. The point was were we rescued the elk yesterday and was near mile marker 70. We started in a valley that contained dozens of elk. After about six miles, we came to the small town of Datil. There was a gas station/convienence store there and we went in to buy an ice cream bar. There was also a very nice, rustic western style restaurant. We ate our ice cream bars and Ricky ordered a cup of coffee. John struck up a conversation with a young man that said he had just come back from Bahrain and was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. He knew about Habitat and gave John $2. toward the building of a house in Hot Springs. Then Ricky asked the waitress how much he owed for the coffee and she said there was no charge. You can meet a lot of nice people walking across the United States. On we walked and came to the Plains of San Agustin. We are out of the mountains and the Plains of San Agustin are pastureland, high altitude pastureland. It was once an intermountain lake. We saw dozens of antelope grazing, but they had to share the pasture with herds of cattle. We came to marker 86 and Ruth and Carol picked us up. I didn't find anything today, but we did walk 16 miles. A word about Ricky. I don't think there are very many people who can wake up in the morning, decide to walk 16 miles and then just go out and do it. Good job Ricky! Stayed tuned .....

Friday, May 23rd

Today is a day that I don't think I will forget for a long time. We got up this morning to discover that it had rained/snowed all night. It was cold with some snow on the ground. John and I both thought the weather would get better, so we decided to walk today. Ruth took us out to marker 62 and off we went. Before too long it started snowing. The wind wasn't blowing, so we thought it would be OK. Then it started snowing, big time. They were the big, wet type of snowflakes and before too long, the ground was covered. On we walked in thr snow and saw a herd of seven elk cross the highway ahead of us. It was getting worse and we were hoping that Ruth or Carol would come and rescue us. They didn't come and on we walked. We are in the Datil Mountains in the Cibola National Forest. We entered a little valley and saw what we thought was a deer on the right side of the highway. Later it turned out to be an elk. The elk just stayed ahead of us and was trying to get over a fence, but for some reason couldn't make it to the other side. Instead it continued just off the highway and just ahead of us. Then it came to an opening in the fence that had a cattle guard. The elk started across the cattle guard and as we watched, fell with three legs struck in the cattle guard. I thought it had broken a leg. The elk was lying on its side and John and I cautiously approached it. It couldn't move as three of its long legs were hopelessly stuck. In the meantime, Ruth had arrived to check on us. We told her to wait at the next marker which was just a few hundred yards down the highway. After the fell, I montioned for Ruth to join us as I thought there might be some rope in the car to rescue the elk. As I was signaling her to join us, a local rancher stopped. We told him that we were trying to get the "deer" out of the cattle guard. The first thing he said was, "that's an elk". The other things he said can't be repeated as he was a foul talking rancher. He looked the situation over and went back to his truck and put his gloves on. Then he grabbed the elk by the neck and I was able to free one of the legs. The rancher was still holding the elk by the neck, which at this time was struggling to get free and in about ten seconds of effort, it did get free. It walked away about ten feet and just looked at us. I think it was in shock. My hands were so cold by then, I didn't even think about taking a photo. We thanked the rancher and started back to town with Ruth. Ruth said she would have been there sooner, but got behind two snowplows. She told us that there was a lot of snow back in Pie Town, probably three or four inches. We got back and went to work in the snow, disconnecting utilities and hooking up tow cars. John had to climb on the roof of his 5th wheel and sweep the snow away before he could retract his slideouts. Finally hooked up, we were off to the Western RV Park in Magdalena. When we came to the place on the highway where the elk had fallen, we discovered that the elk was still there. We were taking photos, when John and Ruth's son, Ricky, along with his wife, Katie, and sons, Jack and Sam, pulled over onto the shoulder. They live in Las Vegas and were joining us for the weekend. We all piled back into our RVs and cars and headed for Magdalena. Ricky said he was going on to Socorro to buy some warmer clothing, but what he really did was drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico to pick up his sister and John and Ruth's daughter, Jonna, and her kids. It was a very pleasant surprise mini-reunion for John and Ruth. We walked 8 miles in the snow today. Stay tuned ...

Thursday, May 22

We started at mile marker 45 today, with marker 60 as our goal. It was cold and cloudy this morning, with possibilities of rain and snow. We started walking and it didn't look good.

We were followed by a horse for about a quarter of a mile. He, or she, was fenced in and couldn't get out, but it was obvious the horse was well taken care of and was not afraid of humans. On we walked and it was getting darker and darker. Then the rain came, only it wasn't rain, it was snow. Lots of it and the wind was whipping it all around. It quickly covered the ground and John and I also. And as quickly as it started, it stopped. The sun came out and we thought we were going to have a pleasant day. About that time, Ruth came to rescue us. She said that it was snowing back at the RVs and she thought we might be in trouble. We declined her offer and kept on walking. Big mistake, for the wind picked up again and here came the rain/snow again. This time we had stopped at a general store and took shelter behind a bear totem pole. The store was closed. The wind let up some, so we started walking again. Big mistake #2. This time we couldn't tell if it was raining, snowing or sleeting. It was actually doing all the above. Carol came by this time and we accepted her rescue offer. We went back to the RVs, me to rest and for John to take a nap. Carol returned us to where she picked us off. Just 2 miles to Pie Town and the RVs,

It started snowing again and by the time we got back to the RVs, we were covered in snow. This time, we ate lunch. Remember, the elevation here is 6,879 ft. and weather conditions can change in a hurry, and they do. Not having much sense, we started out again, passed through Pie Town, crossed the Continental Divide and kept walking. The wind picked up again and this time we hid in a culvert. We didn't get wet, but it sure was windy. Just as we crawled out of the culvert, Carol came by to rescue us again. She said it was snowing fiercely back at the RV park. We declined her offer and kept on walking. Carol came back for us at marker 62 and picked us up. We had passed the 700 mile mark and had walked 17 miles today. Not bad considering today was by far the worst weather we have encountered. Today I found a Michigan and an Alaska license plate. John actually found the Alaska plate and gave it to me. I don't think he wanted to carry it. Stay tuned .....

Wednesday, May 21st

Today we started at mile marker 30 with our goal mile marker 45. After about 4 miles, we entered the town of Quemado, New Mexico. We did something different today, we had breakfast. John was hungary, so we stopped at the Chuch Wagon Cafe, home of the biggest chicken fried steak in New Mexico. We pooled our money, $9. dollars, and split a stack of pancakes. They were delicious, thick but light and fluffy with plenty of syrup and butter. And coffee. We thought it might slow us down, but it didn't seem to and on we walked. We didn't see any deer, elk or antelope today. They seemed to be in higher country and now we are walking in a valley. The wind became fierce and there must have been gusts up to 30 or 40 mph. Walking was difficult the last six miles, but we came to marker 45 and Carol and Jolie were waiting for us. I found a quarter that John thinks I planted the day before and a table knife. After lunch, we all went to the Daily Pie Cafe for what else, PIE. This is Pie Town ! It was very good but overpriced at $4.75. The other cafe in town, Pie-O-Neer, was closed. Stay tuned ......

Tuesday, May 20th

We got an early start today for two reasons, one, we had to drive 45 miles to our starting point and the other to beat the heat. We did something today that we had not done in the past. We took Jolie Blonde with us. For those who don't know Jolie, she is a 7 year old yellow lab, although she is mostly white. She is a good tempered dog and loves to be outside. The highpoint of the day may have been driving to our starting point. We have seen a few elk and antelope on our walks, but today driving to our starting point, we saw dozens of elk and antelope. And just about 30 minutes into our walk and it wasn't totally daylight yet, we spotted just up ahead a herd of antelope crossing the highway. So did Jolie Blonde. I didn't think she would chase deer, antelope or elk, boy was I wrong. She took off after the antelope and probably chased them for a quarter of a mile. She finally gave up and joined us again. We saw another small herd of elk and a lone antelope the remainder of the day. It then started getting hot and Jolie started feeling the effects of her long chase. She was getting tired. I had carried two bottles of water for her and she drank the first bottle at our first break. The remainder of the day I had to ration her water or we would have run out. Carol met us at mile marker 30 and two walkers and one tired dog was glad to see her. Fifteen miles for the day. I found a dime and a wrench. Later that day, we met Heesoo Chung. Heesoo was walking the Continental Divide Trail. I need to add here the Pie Town, New Mexico sits astride the continental divide. The town motto is, " It's all downhill from here". Heesoo is a geophysicist, is not presently employed and wasn't even looking for a job. Hiking the CDT was more important to him than any other thing right now. He needed a ride to the post office and I offered to take him and on the way I told him about what John and I were doing for Habitat. As he got out of the car, he handed me a $20. bill and said this was for our fund raising effort. Thanks Heesoo!

Also, we are parked next to Truman, his wife Cathy and Cathy's brother, John. They are all in a 5th wheel and Cathy and John are hiking the CDT also. Truman is the support team. They had a black lab, Grizzly, that played with Jolie Blonde most of the time. We explained what we were doing for Habitat and they made a generous contribution to Habitat. Thanks! We also met Nita that day. Nita was a long time resident of Pie Town, was one of the pie maker of Pie Town and owned two homes in Pie Town. She has turned her old home into an overnight rest stop for hikers on the CDT. There is no charge, the house is open, just come on in, rest, clean up and visit with other hikers. Pretty neat. Stay tuned ....

Monday, May 19

Yesterday being Sunday, we attended the Community Presbyterian Church in Springerville. After the service, Carol and I washed clothes at the local laundromat. We were getting ready to move to Pie Town, New Mexico the next day. About 9:30 am we pulled out of the Bear Claw RV Park in Eagar, Arizona and headed for Pie Town.

We thought we would be doing some dry camping as there was no advertised RV parks in the area. We lucked out and came to the Pie Town RV Park right in Pie Town.

As we were setting up, I noticed two bikers across the road having lunch. They were Forrest and David, two students from Lubbock, Texas who attended Texas Tech University. They were biking the Continental Divide Trail that just happens to run along side our RV park. The Continental Divide Trail runs from the border of Mexico in New Mexico to the border of Canada in Montana. It is 3200 miles long. We told them what we were up to, took photos and wished them good luck as they bicycled north to Canada. About Pie Town, in the early 1920's, Mr Clyde Norman, who liked to bake, began making dried apple pies and began selling them along Highway 60. It became a tradition to buy pies at Pie Town and now they celebrate the annual Pie Town Pie Festival on the second Saturday in September. Stay tuned ......

Saturday, May 17th

Today we started at the Arizona/New Mexico state line. Good-by Arizona, hello New Mexico! Mile markers start over, so our goal is mile marker 15. We are still in high prairie country. This is cattle country also, although I don't know what they eat. The grass here is mostly brown. This is also deer, elk and antelope country. We saw two antelope this morning early in our walk. We also saw quite a few cottontail rabbits and one jack rabbit. We are on Highway 60 heading east toward Red Hill. There is a story about how Red Hill got it's name. In 1836, a prospector named Adams staggered into the town of Pinos Altos. With multiple arrow wounds and close to death, he told several people gathered around him that he had been prospecting in the north. When they opened his knapsack they found a fortune in gold. His only marker to tell where the goldfield was a red hill in the distance, where he described gold lying everywhere. Adams died before he could give more details and the place he described has never been found. We came to Red Hill and the only thing there was one red house and two horses. In fact, we only saw two houses on our entire walk today. The weather today was pleasant compared to the weather a few days ago. Chilly in the morning, warming up as we go, but the winds picks up and is blowing against us. We arrived at marker 15 and after a short wait, Carol and Ruth arrived to pick us up. They had our lunch, an egg sandwich.

Yummo! Today I found a fork and a spoon. Stay tuned.

Friday, May 16th

Today, John and I started at the Casa Malpais RV Park, with the Arizona/New Mexico state line as our goal. Off we went and we soon crossed over the Little Colorado River, which is formed by snow melt in the White Mountains. On we walked, through Springerville and beyond. We climbed our first steep hill and had a great view of Mt. Escudilla, the 3rd highest peak in Arizona, part of the White Mountain Range. We could see patches of snow near the top. The road was very straight and the weather was cool. Then came the highlight of the day. Helga stopped. Helga pulled her car over to the side of the road to see what two guys dressed in orange were doing walking on the highway. The first thing we noticed was Helga's companion. He was a dummy, sitting shotgun and she called him Mark Twain. Helga was "only 76" as she put it, was from Germany and had a job as a nanny in Long Island, NY. She saved her money, quite her job, bought a car and started traveling the US and Canada. She had an embroidered flag that she showed us. She had embroidered the route of all her trips on the flag. There must have been 4 or 5 trips represented on the flag and the trips went from coast to coast and included Canada. We gave her a Habitat brochure and wished her a safe journey. She wished us the same and was off for more adventures. We walked on, thinking we should come to the state line anytime.

We finally did. We made it to New Mexico! We walked 16 miles today, tired but happy we had made it to New Mexico. Today I found a sweat shirt jacket, a screwdriver, a socket and .28 cents. John and I have a friendly competition to see who can find the most money in each state. He beat me in California, $1.89 to $1.64, but I won in Arizona, $5.17 to $3.17. Stay tuned ...

Thursday, May 15

We didn't walk to today, both John and I we tired, so we took the day off. Carol and I decided to visit the Casa Malpais Archaeological Park right here in Springerville. Tours are given at 9am, 11am and 2pm, we took the 2pm tour. The tour starts at the Springerville Chamber of Commerce building, which also serves as a Casa Malpais museum. We followed our guide out to the park, which was about 2 miles away. This site was occupied for about 200 years and then was mysteriously abandoned about 1400 AD. There was a great kiva where the inhabitants had their religious ceremonies and we climbed up a steep basalt staircase which led to the top of the mesa. Very interesting Indian ruins. We left the ruins and went to Safeway for some grocery shopping. While there, we called John and Ruth and asked them to check our RV canopy as it was beginning to get windy. They reported that the wind had blown the canopy onto the roof. We got out of Safeway as soon as we could and went to inspect the damage. I wasn't as bad as it could have been.

The canopy was on the roof, but was not damaged. And the supporting arms seemed to be OK. Luckily, the son of the RV park owners is a RV technician, so we called him and he came out to inspect the damage. He said it wasn't too bad and that he could fix it tomorrow. Good news. We slept better knowing that. Stay tuned .....

Wednesday, May 14th

We are starting at mile marker 370 today and our goal is the Casa Malpais RV park in Springerville, where we are staying. 16 and a half miles away. It was cold today, so John and I had put on layers of clothes. We could see our breath as we started. It had to be in the 30's. But after about an hour or two, things changed. The sun came out and was hot, but the wind was still blowing and it was cold. Before the day was over, we both had shed clothes. The highlight of the day was when John spotted two grazing antelope. They were quite a distance away, but we got a good look at them. We are walking through the 3rd largest volcanic field in the US. There are dozens of hills all around us that 50 million years ago were active volcanoes. The rocks are mostly black. We finally made it to our RV park, and there was Ruth, Carol,Jeannie, the manager of the RV park and Judy Hayes, a reporter from the White Mountain Independent. She interviewed both John and I and said we could expect an article in the next paper. Then she got out her checkbook and wrote a check for $27. Come on readers, if a perfect stranger can write us a check, so can you. Today I found two spoons, a New Mexico motorcycle license plate and .31 cents. Stayed tuned.

Tuesday, May 13th

Ruth took us out to the starting point today, mile marker 354 and dropped us off. Our goal was to walk to marker 370, 16 miles. It was cold this morning and the weather forecast called for "chance of rain showers" Like good boy scouts, John and I wore our Gortex rain gear. Be prepared! On our walk, we passed the Midway Station, a gas station and convenience store. It probably got it's name by being halfway between Show Low and Springerville. It was getting cloudier and darker as we walked. The countryside today looked like pastureland with a sprinkling of cedar trees. It is also deer, elk and antelope country. Oh yes, and cattle too. Then it happened, we could see it coming. It started to rain and the temperature dropped, drastically. The rain was a light mist and didn't bother us too much. The villain was the wind. It started blowing and the wind/chill factor must have been in the 30's. It was cold! Fortunately it didn't last long. The sun actually came out, only to disappear again. But the wind stayed with us all day. It has been very windy around here lately. On we walked to the highest point on this section of highway, 7550 ft. John Goodman said it best, "This is the high point of our trip". On we walked a few miles and there was Carol to pick us up. Today I found a knife, fork and spoon. Stay tuned ....

PS: I would encourage everyone reading my updates, to go to the Garland Co Habitat for Humanity website. There you will find not only my blog, but John Goodman's as well. John and I are trying to raise enough money through this " Coast to Coast Walk" to fund a Habitat house in Hot Springs, Arkansas. About $40,000. is needed. We are asking everyone to pledge 1 cent per mile that John and I are walking. Since we are walking 2700 miles, that would mean we want you to pledge $27. We feel this is the "Wal-Mart" approach to raising money, everyone can afford it.

Please send your pledge/check to ...

Coast to Coast Walk

PO Box 171

Hot Springs, Arkansas 71902

Of course, you can pledge more if you so desire. We have had two individuals pledge $1.00 a mile!

Monday, May 12th

Yesterday was Sunday and we took the day off and it being Baptist Sunday we went to the First Baptist Church of Show Low. The pastor preached exactly 15 minutes too long because it was 12:15 by the time we got out of church. We went to Licano's Restaurant to celebrate Mothers Day. Then we went to Home Depot where we bought a small, portable gas grill. If the wind stops blowing we should have some delicious grilled meat. How does hot dogs sound?

Today we started at mile marker 340. We walked through Show Low and beyond. Is everyone sick of hearing about Show Low? OK, that's the last time I will mention it. Upon leaving (that town) the landscape changed. We are now in the cedar woods. Well, not exactly woods, but there are no pine trees here, just cedars. On we walked and did it ever get windy. We are headed for Springerville, which is at 7000 ft elevation and we should get there by Thursday or Friday. We did have one first today. We saw our first bobcat road kill. It was duly recorded and certified by John Goodman. Today was a good day for road junk, I mean treasures. I found an ADOT (Arizona Dept. of Transportation) orange sweatshirt. Just my color!, a Tennessee license plate, a table knife and spoon, a wrench, a chisel and .39 cents. Stay tuned .....

Saturday, May 10th

Carol drove us out to our starting point today and was it ever cold. Temperature must have been in the 40's, our coldest day. Our goal today is to reach Show Low, 16 miles away.

The first event of the day was a good one. We saw an elk. Big buck with a big rack. He saw us and off he went. On we went, mostly uphill, but not quite as steep as the 2 previous days. We came to a crew picking up litter along the highway. John explained what we were going and they wished us luck. Later they passed us and honked and waved. We came to Corduroy Creek which was very pretty. Overall the scenery was not as spectacular as the past two days, but beautiful in its own way. We are passing through tall pines today.

We finally came to the edge of Show Low and waited for Ruth and Carol. Monday we will walk through Show Low and beyond. Today I found 2 sockets and a screwdriver. Stay tuned ....

Friday, May 9th

Today we started at mile marker 310, still on Highway 60 going to Show Low. Carol delivered us today as Ruth wasn't feeling very well. This is Apace Indian land. On both sides of the Highway is the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and is inhabited by the White Mountain Apaches. The Apache will allow you to enter their reservation with the proper permit and if you don't have a permit, better stay of their land. Our first event of the day was a jackrabbit jumped up off to the side of us and we got a good look it. It was downhill for about 3 miles until we came to the Carrizo Creek. Very pretty creek and valley, but all within the reservation. Up we climbed pass the community of Carrizo. We were on an uphill climb just past Carrizo community when John spotted two deer off to his left. I came up to join John, but only got a slight view of the deer. Now we need to see some elk. On we went and we came to the only convience store we had seen since leaving Globe. We wanted some ice cream and the only thing that wasn't working in the store was the ice cream case. No ice cream today! On we walked and came along side of a very pretty stream and valley that soon became a canyon as we were climbing higher and higher. Carol was waiting at mile marker 324, 14 miles today. I found a pruning shear and a saw blade. No coins today. Stay tuned ....

Thursday, May 8th

Yesterday we did not walk as we had to move our RVs from Globe to Show Low. We drove down into the Salt River Canyon, which we had walked, and up the other side, which we had not walked. We are now camped in Fools Hollow Recreational Park just outside Show Low. How did Show Low get it's name? I'm glad you asked.
Two men owned a very large ranch here and one needed to by the other out, but they couldn't agree on who should leave, so they started playing cards with the winner getting the ranch. After hours of playing with no clear winner, they decided to cut the cards, low card wins. The name stuck, Show Low.
Today we did walk, 15 miles. From mile marker 295 to 310. We walked uphill most of the way. out of the Salt River Canyon. About 5 or 6 miles into our walk, who should show up, none other than Joe Chott and his son, David. They were going fishing on the Black River, which flows into the Salt, and knew they had a good chance of seeing us on the side of the road. And, we were expecting them as Pam had emailed the night before that they were coming our way. Joe returned my swim trunks that I had forgotten at his house. On we went through some very beautiful country. We are now completely out of the desert and into the pinewoods. We should be in Show Low by Saturday. Today I found a womens swim suit top and .02 cents. Stay tuned ....

Tuesday, May 6th

We started today at mile marker 279 on Highway 60, between Globe and Show Low. We saw a sign that said there were elk in the area, but the elk weren't cooperating.
On we walked, all downhill for a change. We came to another sign that informed us that we were entering the San Carlos Apache Reservation.Then we entered the Salt River Canyon and did the scenery change. Awesome! The canyon looks like a miniature Grand Canyon. Down and down we went as the highway meandered lower and lower to the Salt River. A word about walking downhill. The highway here is very steep and we are walking down. My hips hurt and John's calves are hurting. This didn't happen going uphill. And as unbelievable as it sounds, we both would rather walk uphill. We finally got to the bottom where we met some nice folks that said that they had seen us walking for the past 3 days. They took our photo and wished us good luck. We crossed the old bridge, pasted the white water raft rentals and continued our uphill walk on the other side of the canyon. The attached photos are mostly of our descent. Today I found a screwdriver, a spade drill, a Rapala fishing lure, a paint scrapper and .02 cents. Stay tuned .....

Monday, April 5th Cinco de Mayo

We started at mile marker 260 today. Still on Highway 60 going from Globe to Show Low. We saw a highway work crew sweeping the shoulder of the highway and wondered if this was going to be the highlight of the day. Thankfully it wasn't. Shortly after that, we saw a Golden Eagle. It was under the culvert or bridge we were crossing and I guess we startled it. It flew out into the open and we got a good look at it. It was a very big bird and soon flew into some trees and we couldn't see it any longer. On we walked until a jeep pulled over to the side of the road. It was Suzanne Kay, a reporter for the Copper Country News. She took our photo and didn't ask many questions as she got most of the information from Ruth. On we walked, mostly uphill. We are walking in the Tonto National Forest and the Apache Mountains. John documented a skunk roadkill and we saw a ground squirrel scamper across the road. On we walked, and walked and walked, all uphill.

We came to mile marker 272 and then a short distance later, we came to mile marker 275, the shortest 3 miles I ever walked. The mile marker here were not right and we decided to go by the odometer in the car. On we walked, uphill and uphill. We are almost out of cactus country here. There are prickly pear cactus and that is about all. There are more cedar and pine trees as we gain altitude. We finally reached the top, 15.8 miles. I found one penny today. Stay tuned.

Saturday, May 3rd

Today we started just outside of Miami, Arizona. We walked through
Miami, Claypool and Globe today. Copper mining towns. With the price
of copper going up, they have reopened the mines and they are going
strong. Took some photos of some old mining equipment and the
processing plant. We kept going until Highway 60 turns north to Show
Low. We came to a sign that said, "State Prision - Do Not Stop for
Hitchhikers." Funny thing, no one asked if they could give us a lift.
We came to mile marker 260, 17 miles today. But the big news is that
we reached the 500 mile mark and John and I toasted with warm
Gator-aid. Today I found a spoon, 2 sockets and .10 and a half cents.
Stay tuned ....

Friday, May 2nd

We did not walk yesterday. I was sick with a sinus infection and just felt like I couldn't walk 15 miles. But today I'm much better and we walked 14.5 miles today. We started at the other end of the Superior Tunnel. We are now in the Pinal Mountains and we are walking up a very pretty gorge. The sun was shining right into our faces and taking photos was impossible. On we walked until we came to an Arizona State Police officer. He had his radar gun out and was looking for speeders. He was a nice guy and even posed for a photo.
On we walked. We took orange flags with us today as we knew that there would be some tight places on this stretch of highway and we wanted to be very visible. We came upon a community called, "Top of the World". Not a whole lot here, an RV park, a few houses and some trailers. And I don't know why they call it' The Top of the World" as it isn't even on top of the hill we are climbing. But it did have one interesting thing, or make that two. There were two old railroad cars there. They looked very old and one was protected by a shed that was build over it and the other and most interesting one, was a few hundred yards away. There was a "for sale" sign on it and it said that it was built in 1860 and that General Grant had ridden in it. I guess that was before he was president. Anybody want to buy an old train? On we walked toward Miami, Arizona. We pasted by a huge open pit copper mine. And we also came to a bridge that we were happy to get to the other side. Not much room. We walked until we were almost to Miami. Tomorrow we will walk through Miami, Claypool and Globe, Arizona and head for Show Lo. Today I found a spoon and .53 and a half cents. Stay tuned .....