Article and Photos by Mary Alice Murphy, unless otherwise noted.
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Saturday dawned blustery and chilly, but the weather did not deter a continuing presence of visitors in Silver City's Big Ditch Park to visit the vendors and booths, relating to all thing Continental Divide Trail-related.
Some highlights of those in the park included Dave Menzie, who had taken samples of water from San Vicente Creek and done coliform tests on them. He put in the sample as colorant, which fluoresces under black light. "The amount of coliform in the water varies by the day and season. Sometimes, it's high, but more often than not, it's normal."
Two sets of hikers were photographed during the time this writer was in the park. The first, a trio of men, were geared up to continue their trek along the Continental Divide Trail northward to Canada.
A second set of three included Dion Pagonis, Andrea Rego and Christina Thomas, 8. They had begun their trek along the CDT near the Mexico border, and planned to reach Canada by mid-October, with a few breaks in between. "We have already completed the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trial, this is our last big hike to complete the Triple Crown. This is the hardest trail, but Christian broke the record for age on the previous two trails. They hail from Crested Butte, Colorado, and work all winter to make the summer hikes possible.