Bonita Canyon, NM

The kitten I found with the trail angel

Coming out of Grants, a kitten jumped out of the desert shrubs and pur, meow, and rub against us relentlessly. I’m allergic to cats, but this stray seemed so love-able–like it had been a house cat until quite recently–that we didn’t want to abandon it to die attempting to fend for itself in the wild. Yet–our destination for the day was 22 miles away from where the kitten found us and how can two thru-hikers carry a kitten for that many miles? Well, the kitten refused to be carried, but as soon as we set it down, she hiked after us, meowing all the while. We found 24-pack of beer boxes by the side of the road, and tried to carry her in those, but she hated being carried, but as soon as we set her down, affectionately rubbed against us and meowed, begging to not be left behind. Eventually, we called the Mumms, trail angels in Grants that we stayed with, got a ride from a local on a dirt road, and met up with the Mumms who saved the kitty. We only got about 10 miles done that day, but we felt great about saving a kitten–and the kitten hiked almost 6 of those miles with us!