Swine Flu, Drug Smugglers and Coyotes, oh my!

We've decided.

Team Creason is headed to Columbus, New Mexico and will hike north to Canada. The stats on snow levels in Colorado on Postholer.com seem favorable for a northbound hike. Of course, another storm or two could dump a bunch on snow on Colorado between May and mid-June when we reach the 14,000 ft San Juans in Colorado.

We leave at the beginning of May and aim to reach Glacier Park and the Canadian border before the beginning of October.

We've booked tickets on man's least favorite Grey Dog. We hope not to acquire swine flu over the two day duration.

We'll be deposited at Deming, NM, where we'll have just enough time to shop for groceries and pack up a few boxes to mail to points north before catching a shuttle south to Columbus, NM.

Columbus is convenient for a number of reasons. It is 3 miles north of the Mexican border. It is accessible by regional transit bus. And it is smack-dab in the middle of the drug smuggling violence. What more could you ask for?

I checked with a friend who works with the US Marshals Service to ask what she knows about the New Mexico border towns. "Don't go there," was the predominant theme of her reconnaissance.

But hikers and trail angels who chime in on the cdt-l listserve don't have any horror stories. Well, at least the families of hikers caught in crossfire haven't filled us in. Mostly, both hikers and trail angels have been stopped and searched by the Border Patrol.

Fingers crossed, we'll dodge the flu and the bullets and reach Canada by the end of September or beginning of October.