Somewhere-In-New Mexico to Somewhere-In-Arizona
(I wrote this entry prior to receiving a BUNCH of information and numerous pictures, all shown below. LOTS of pictures!)
Just a brief update to the guys' travels. I spoke with Rigid last night around 10:00PM Eastern Time. It seems I'd just caught them coming out of the Petrified Forest in East Arizona...
In fact, Rigid mentioned they were just getting on Rt 191 from I-40 headed North toward the Four Corners and on into Utah when I caught him. Though he said on this night they'd be seeking a hotel. According to Rigid, the winds were howling between 40 and 50 mph and there was just no way to set up camp...
Below are the accounts and the pictures Overtime and Rigid have collected over the last two days... I've copied the entry and I'm pasting it into the blog verbatim... Enjoy!
From Overtime:
Tuesday, May 6, 2008.
380 miles today.
Total for the trip:3340 miles.
"Today began with my waking up in the middle of the night, looking up, and seeing about ten trazillion stars. First thought – how beautiful. Second thought – someone stole my tent. Then I remembered that with no rain potential, I did not put the rain fly on and my tent has a mesh roof.
That resolved, I went back to a very restful sleep.
I need to make some delayed comments that were just too foggy for me to remember last night.
After breaking camp at Big Bend on Sunday, we rode out the back way to Terlingua, home of the World Championship Chili cook off – going into its fifth decade. Had breakfast at the Chili Pepper Café (should have been a big warning flag there), ground central for the championship.
My bowels should recover in a couple of days.
Bull, if you are reading this, you have GOT to make this ride on your V Max.
Grab some crotch rocket buddies, trailer your bikes to Lajitas and make the run both ways on Texas Highway 170 from Lajitas to Presidio and back. Runs adjacent to the Rio Grande for much of the way – don’t need any fences here. If you can, make sure someone has a helmet cam. Trust me on this one. They have a nice Inn in Lajitas from which to base.
We continued North through Marfa and Fort Davis and on into the Davis Mountains.
All very pretty and even saw a small herd of Antelope near Fort Davis.
After exiting the mountains, we kinda ran out of scenic Texas and decided to make a high speed dash and get to somewhere near Silver City NM to spend the night.
Irony?
We ended up at the City of Rocks State Park, about 25 miles south of Silver City.
Didn’t know what to expect, but the country was looking pretty bland until we crested a ridge and there, in the middle of nowhere was this huge field of very big boulders, completely surrounded by high desert and scrub brush. We checked in and settled for the night were I penned the previous missive by lamplight while Steve sawed some serious logs.
This should get me back on track vis-à-vis blog submissions.
This morning we broke camp, showered, and hit the road. A few miles down the road we spied a truck stop and had a mediocre breakfast served by a bad waitress with a worse attitude.
While waiting for Steve to break into the wireless web in the motel next to the diner, I struck up a conversation with a couple of locals who suggested that we detour up NM 15 to Pinos Alto and to the cliff dwellings beyond. Only about 20 or so miles they said.
So we did.
Crossed the Continental Divide just before getting to Pinos Alto, and proceeded up a road slightly over 15 feet wide, with no markings.
After about 20 miles, averaging close to 10 miles per hour over a road that had constant 5 mph (or slower) hairpin turns, blind corners and severe drop offs, all of which are a whole bunch of fun on top heavy Harleys, we finally saw a sigh that stated “Cliff Dwellings – 48 miles”.
New Mexico Road Block
As there were no indications of camping facilities, we decided to abort the attempt. After successfully completing 9 point turns (top heavy Harleys, etc) we made it back to Pinos Alto and down to our chosen route, Highway 180 N. heading to Eagar AZ.
Again, some really pretty country.
West Texas Scenery
We started noticing it getting cooler, and were soon digging for the warm clothes to layer up. Being the rocket surgeons that we are, we finally figured out that we were moving progressively north and steadily climbing – to over 8000 ft. As our maps didn’t give a real good indication of elevations, our first clue should have been a small burg named Alpine. Got down to 45, which doesn’t sound too bad except when you are doing over 60 mph and dressed for 75 degrees.
Ride was still beautiful, but somewhat disconcerting as there were virtually no shoulders, high banks on one side and very steep drop-offs on the other. It demanded solid attention to riding as it would have been terribly unforgiving of a moments distraction.
Decided to tour the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Very pretty, but the wind was once again very strong and the temps were dropping again as darkness set in.
Went a short way east on I-40 to pick up out intended route only to discover the nearest motel was over 90 miles away, and no designated camping sites either (was way too windy and cold to camp by now anyway). We had been beaten into submission by the wind some time prior to this, but we were somewhat disappointed to find out we still had another 1-1/2 on the road in darkness and cold. To top it off, I had lost my face mask and the frame on my night driving glasses broke as I was putting them on. Fortunately, Steve had a spare pair, and I rigged a half assed bandana and off we went.
When we hit Ganado, with still an hour to go, we made a strategic decision to divert East to Window Rock and find a room (42 degrees on arrival)– which is where we are now.
Steve is waiting for me to finish and will add some photos."
And apart from what's not pictured above, here are those photos!
Feral Pig From 2 Nights Ago
More Wild Life
Janet and Jerry
Mexico Divide
Camping in City of Rocks
ATW '08
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