10 Grain Hot Cereal (My favorite)

Solitude

Sample Pack

Pack Weight

American Discovery Trail 10 1 11

 

Journaling is so hard for me. What do I want to remember? What is useful for others? And it takes time. This is especially true as it's not a thru-hike. I may get as far as eastern Colorado in little segments. Or I may just branch off to other roads on the way and stay a little closer to home. For me, the trail makes planning simpler, but I'm not constrained by the trail.
Anyway, for thru-hikers. If you go north on Aspen about 1/2 mile, there is a McDonald's, Subway and Little Caesar's Pizza. And a laundromat. This is the easiest chance for laundry going through Pueblo. For those who aren't purists, just go west a little bit and you will intersect 227. However, this shortcut also misses an interesting segment of what used to be Mexico.
Lesson for the day. Never pass up a place to pee. For women, there aren't many places along this leg.
I'm finally getting into the farm country that is the history of eastern Colorado. In one field, they were harvesting beets. In the old days, they went by train to Sugar City and Holly. Now, I don't know.
Stopped to watch a guy on a small combine cutting something like hay, but I don't know what it was. Then down the road was DiSanti's Farm Market. I stopped there and got a good homemade bean and cheese burrito for $1.50.

Today as the first day I carried a pack along this trail. Not real heavy, but it was interesting watching people's expressions. Some gave a friendly wave. Others looked away, perhaps thinking I was homeless.

-Gram Cracker

American Discovery 9/30/11

Stockyard Rd and 227 to Aspen (South Road)

Miles: 2

Round trip miles: 4

Total steps: 7,059



 Another day hike from home. Initially, it was kind of a messy walk along a busy road. But that's only the case heading eastbound. Coming westbound it wasn't a problem.

But that didn't last long and shortly I crossed the Arkansas River. In the early 1800's this was the northern border of Mexico. Almost like magic, the graffiti disappeared. There wasn't even any covered over.

There is a point of interest with a history of the area just off the road. It's worth reading.
It's a Hispanic neighborhood with Hispanic architectue. The people were friendly and waved a lot from their cars.

I passed the Pueblo Boy's Ranch which is or kids with behavioral problems. They have stables there with little horses.

I walked along the Bessemer Ditch, an irrigation canal for the farm areas. I wouldn't recommend drinking out of it, but it's nice to look at.

The ADT is a different kind of hiking. I'm finding I enjoy it. For now, I'll keep doing these nano-hikes. Once the time changes, I'll just do weekends and go further each day.

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