Day 8: Holbrook, AZ – Twin Arrows, AZ

Given the long day yesterday, we took our time getting out of our hotel and didn’t get on the road until after 11. This was fine though because the temperatures have dropped significantly, with a high in the 70s it’s nice to be riding midday.

Last night we looked over our route and found a mistake in our plans – we were intending on staying the night in Winslow, AZ and cutting northwest to Cameron in a 80 mile day. But the recommended route on that 80 mile day included at least 40 miles of dirt road – something we had not noticed before. More often than not, riding on dirt roads with our heavily loaded bicycles is a challenge as the tires tend to sink into patches of soft dirt or gravel, causing a loss of traction and balance.

So we re-evaluated our route and grudgingly accepted the fact that there were no other paved roads in this part of the state besides I-40. Flagstaff is 90 miles from Holbrook but we found a casino and hotel only 65 miles out and set our sights on it.

Interstate riding is efficient but monotonous. The grades are so smooth that it’s hard to tell if you’re going up or down, and the curves are so wide that there’s never a sense of wonder of what’s around the next corner. At every onramp there’s a sign telling bicyclists to ride only in the shoulder, a kind reminder that it is allowed.

Two construction projects threw a wrench in our plans as we watched our precious 8 foot shoulder dwindle to nothingness. The only alternative was to ride in the construction zone, on the other side of the orange barrels and concrete dividers – a strategy that was blessed by the construction workers on-site. And for a brief mile we had an entire section of interstate to ourselves, removed from the roaring traffic that had been diverted to the other side of the median.

To quote myself from nine years ago and two hundred miles to the northeast, “Storm clouds glided across the sky, reaching down with tendrils of rain.” We managed to avoid most of the rain as we made our way across the flat desert landscape and the tall mountains near Flagstaff drew nearer. The headwinds of the morning turned into a brief hour of tailwinds before returning in full force as we slowly pushed through the last 20 miles to arrive at our destination for the night.

Only 10 more miles of interstate tomorrow before we can cut off and head north towards Utah.

Notes from Donald: “Riding on the interstate all day brought a new set of challenges but we were at least luckily able to thread the needle between rain clouds and only get a little drizzle.”

Today’s mileage: 71 miles

Total: 514 miles

Day 7: Alpine Divide Campground, AZ – Holbrook, AZ

Leaving camp, we only had to climb for a couple minutes before reaching the mountain pass at 8550 feet and beginning our descent. Clouds had come in overnight and the sweat-inducing temperatures of yesterday had been replaced with cooler weather. We raced downhill, propelled by a mild tailwind, towards the town of Springerville.

We reached Springerville 20-some miles in and grabbed a late breakfast. There were two options for where to stay for the night – staying in the town of St. Johns would make this a short day – only 51 miles, or we could try and stay in Petrified Forest National Park. We dialed ahead to the park and they informed us that if we arrive by 6pm we would be able to get a wilderness permit to allow us to walk a mile from the road and pitch our tents.

So we headed onwards, delaying the decision of where to stay until we reached St. Johns. The 30 miles from Springerville to St. Johns went as quickly as the early morning miles and we rolled into town around 1pm. There are only two listed motels in town, one of them appeared to be closed and the other had complaints of bedbugs so we decided to make it to the national park for the night.

After a quick meal we pedaled onwards towards the national park. Our mild tailwind from the morning became a crosswind as we turned west and the passing cars somehow became even more infrequent. This 57 mile stretch between St. Johns and Holbrook is very remote – there are no towns and no services – it’s rare to see such long distances in the states.

The pine forests of the morning were long gone – they had opened up to low shrubs as we descended through the mountains. Lower still, green grassy plains took over and the landscape turned into rolling hills. As the miles went on the distance between hills grew greater and greater as the terrain smoothed out, the grasses gradually receded, and we entered more desert-like country.

This desert-like country is where Petrified Forest National Park lies and we made it to the park entrance with 20 minutes to spare to pick up our permits.

In the visitor center we are told that we would have needed to arrive an hour earlier to get a wilderness permit – it seems our guidance over the phone earlier was wrong. The ranger tells us that instead of camping in the park we can camp in a parking lot advertising “free camping” right outside the park. It’s right by the highway but at least it’s free and convenient.

That is, it’s convenient until we found a sign that says “no tents.” We inquired within the store next door and were told that only RVs are allowed and we’d be “chased out” if we tried to camp there. So the only option remaining is to cover 19 more miles to the town of Holbrook. We refueled a bit and hit the road, riding into the sunset.

Darkness fell and we still had 10 miles until town. Luckily the shoulder is very wide and not too bumpy so the few cars that did pass were able to do so at a safe distance. The final miles into town were not too hilly and, after running into a few motels that were sold out for the night, finally found a place to stay.

Notes from Donald: “Since we started at such high elevation in Alpine we had thoughts of lots of easy downhill miles which helped us get our first century together! I was really eager to camp at Petrified Forest National Park but events conspired to not allow that.”

Today’s mileage: 117 miles

Total: 443 miles

Day 6: Cosmic Campground, NM – Alpine Divide Campground, AZ

We awoke to hot temperatures, even early in the morning. Packing up camp always takes longer without a picnic table on which to organize gear and to lean the bike against, so we didn’t get on the road until after 10.

It was to be a mountainous day with lots of climbing and the hills started right out of camp. The sun beat down and my gloves, helmet straps, and shirt became covered in salt from sweat. The grass and shrubs yielded to pine trees as we approached a lone cafe for lunch, having knocked out a third of the climbing and distance for the day. The Adobe Cafe & Bakery was a lifesaver, being the only store we passed before evening.

After a good lunch we headed onwards, out of Gila National Forest and into Apache National Forest. The wind decided to be a neutral party today, offering equal amounts of headwinds and tail winds as we wound higher and higher into the mountains. A herd of 40 elk crossed the road in front of us, jumping carelessly over the barbed wire fence on either side of the road.

After a couple more hours of hard climbing we arrived at the crest of the hill which was also the border line between New Mexico and Arizona. The town of Alpine lies a few miles past the border, in a high valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. After a dinner in town we headed up on one last climb to our campground for the night, Alpine Divide Campground at 8500ft.

Two-thirds of the campsites in the Alpine Divide Campground are under construction, leaving only the four campsites by the road open. There’s no water so we have to make do with the little we’ve carried until the next town in the morning. Sleep is fitful, simultaneously sweating and freezing, while listening to the lullabies of the bleating Elk passing nearby.

Notes from Donald: “After a lot of climbing we made it to our third state! Hello Arizona!”

Today’s Mileage: 50 miles, 5875 ft of elevation gain
Total: 326 miles

Day 5: Silver City, NM – Cosmic Campground, NM

We checked out of our cozy hotel after the rest day, still with sore legs but at least replenished for the days ahead. The multi-day Tour of the Gila bicycle race had moved into downtown Silver city for the day with riders completing multiple loops of a 6-block square around downtown. We made our way across the race course and the road started climbing immediately out of town.

After a few miles of climbing we crossed the continental divide and the road began to descend. These morning miles were a breath of fresh air after the first three grueling days of the trip. We were moving quickly and covered the 28 miles to the town of Cliff in a little under two hours. There’s one restaurant in town and we stopped for lunch.

Towns are about every 15-25 miles apart here and often have one store or cafe. There’s a very different feeling from that of southern New Mexico – the influences of Mexico are gone and these towns are more like small-town America.

The road today was hilly but there are no massive climbs like Emory pass two days ago. We continued on, entering Gila National Forest once again and stopped for a break in a picnic area. It’s sunny and warm but the 5000-6000 ft elevation keeps the temperatures from being too miserable.

We had chosen Cosmic Campground as our destination for the evening – it’s a in a designated dark sky sanctuary. There’s no water in the campground so we stocked up in the town of Alma before the final climb of the day. Today we had enough time to set up and cook dinner before things got dark, and we stayed up late looking at and photographing the stars.

Notes from Donald: “Leaving Silver City we got to experience some amazing European-style roads. I had always wanted to go to a dark sky sanctuary so I was excited to spend the night there.”

Today’s mileage: 78 miles
Total: 276 miles

Day 4: Rest day

We stayed in Silver City today to give our legs a rest, plan our route, resupply for the days ahead,  and eat a lot of good food.

We’re headed up highway 180 next, back into Gila National Forest and towards Arizona. Not sure what reception will be like for the next few days – we’ll check in when we can.