"The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of
adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects
interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." ~ Daniel
J. Boorstin
128 miles to the border...it can be done in one day.
Quick recap of events since Grants. Erik, Christine and I pulled out
of Grants enroute to Pie Town several days ago. The section was very
beautiful, volcanic canyon country with cool rock formations, ancient
lava flows, and natural arches. Although it rained off and on all
day, travel was steady and cool.
Pie Town was excellent, a very welcoming and appreciative place for
divide riders. The pie, of course, was exceptional and in adequate
supply. Erik and Christine liked it so much they decided to stay on
another day to rest, while I elected to head out. I really enjoyed time shared with them and miss their energy. Hope to see them if they come in before I head back to Boulder.
I was rather surprised how rugged the southern NM divide mountains
were...kind of like a pinion/juniper/pine version of the TVD with
sections of alpine desert plains thrown in for fun between climbs.
It took a full three 65-70 mile days to get through it all. I met up
with a professor from El Paso who hooked me up with some bottled
water. Thanks for that! I was running very low. Lots of bugling
elk at night to complement the coyote sounds.
The last day into Silver City started with a series of significant climbs
through a stunning section of the Gila NF. It had rained that night
but the road wasn't too bad. I met up with a great group of Las
Cruces lawmen headed home from a hunting trip up in the Gila. Thanks
for the laughs, encouragement and Food, guys, you made my day! The
food they gave me turned into energy expended when the sky opened up
into a five hour long downpour. Soaked doesn't begin to describe the
state I was in. At least it wasn't real cold.
I finally made it into Silver City late in the evening after being harrassed by an aggressive group of three dogs through and about three miles
past Hanover. Somebody never heard of a leash. After the rollers into Silver City, I linked up with my folks and had a fat dinner. I cannot put into words how much I appreciate them coming down for the finale of all this. Thanks also to my sister for the card (cool), cookies, and other treats!
I bid for the border very soon. Until then...
Mileage to date: 2729.45
