Day 89 - Mimbres, NM to Silver City, NM

It was a cold morning when I rolled out of the tent. We had decided the night before to continue straight to Silver City instead of travelling up north to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. It would have been pretty far out of the way and we didnt really feel that the trip was worth it.

I noticed I wasn't getting much water out of my bottle while I was brushing my teeth. I opened it up to find the cause.

Aside from the cold, the skies were clear!

It was a short ride to Silver City - only about 25 miles or so.



On the way there, we passed by the Santa Rita Pit Mine and learned a bit about the history behind the towns we were passing through.




We spent the majority of the day at the library and walking around town.



We found a fire department that let us set up our camp next to their station. They also gave us the first showers we've had in 7 days. It was marvelous.

Total mileage: 25

Day 95 - Tucson, AZ

Brenda gave is a tour of downtown. We stopped at a bunch of her favorite places and got to meet some local artists. 

We stopped by the monkey house - their downtown house with a refinished mini golf attraction in the yard. 

We stumbled upon another figure from the closed mini golf course while wandering about town. 

The highlight of day was all the Mexican food we got to eat, though my stomach would disagree. 

Total mileage: 0

Day 94 - Tucson, AZ

Today we made a trip up to Mt. Lemmon for some pie. I was really glad I didn't have to bike up the road, it was pretty gnarley. 

On the way down, we also stopped at Agua Caliente Park. There used to be a hot spring here, now it's going dry. 

We did find a few tangerine trees though. 

Total mileage: 0

Day 93 - Tucson, AZ

Here it is, what I've been waiting for: In N Out Burger. 

We spent nearly the entire day being lazy. It was incredible. 

Total mileage: 0

Day 92 - San Carlos, AZ to Tucson, AZ

We were not much in the mood for riding today. We decided early into the ride that we would try to hitchhike to Tucson. 

There was a sign of salvation at the top of a mountain pass. So close to civilization!

Though the views from the mountain pass were quite beautiful. 

Luckily, the rest of the road wasn't very challenging. 

I got a nasty flat just before we reached gas station we were going to try to hitchhike from. It turned out that tubes don't like to be slammed into boulders at 20 miles per hour. 

We managed to find a truck that let is throw our bikes in the back. The owner of an ice delivery company gave us a ride for 70 miles into downtown Tucson. 

After a short 15 mile ride from downtown, we made it to the Heuttners!  We were greeted with beers and smiles. 

I was also provided with a buzzer so that I could shave my face. It was nice to look human again. 

Total miles on bicycle: 55

Day 91 - Three Way, AZ to San Carlos, AZ

The morning started off with a big climb, but the rest of the day was relatively flat. At least the first 65 miles were. We ran into a guy who was cycling around the country. He told us we should get out of the Indian reservation we were in as soon as we could. So we pedaled hard. Apparently they have a big problem with gang violence. And drunk driving. 

I found milk for $0.50. 

We weren't able to escape the reservation so we camped out at a casino just before the border. After having dinner, we pulled a few bucks from our pockets and hit the slots. 

Total mileage: 108

Day 90 Silver City, NM to Three Way, AZ

Nothing special today. We climbed another mountain and passed the Continental Divide. A lot of climbing. We found shelter for the night at a park ranger station that had facilities for cyclists. Oh, and we crossed into Arizona!

Total mileage: 85 ish

Day 88 - Hatch, NM to Mimbres, NM

We left Hatch at a pretty decent hour in the morning. We had a big day ahead of us and I was ready to go. After discussing cutting our trip shorter, I was in much higher spirits than the day before.

The first sight of the day was this bad boy. What it is used for, I have no idea.

We found Caballo Lake State park just in time for a break before we started our ascent.

Though murky, the lake was very beautiful.



Back on the road again, we had a long ride up to Hillsboro. We didn't gain much elevation, but we sure climbed for a while.



The views of the surrounding areas were very nice.



Hillsboro was an interesting little town. I kind of liked it. It was small and just dropped into the mountains. Hillsboro also meant lunch, so I was very happy to find it.



At first we were rather disappointing with the town, not realizing that there was more up the road for us to see. The downtown area was quaint, and most things were closed on Wednesdays.



Except for this place. It seemed like the entire town was here. It must be famous. I had myself a burger with green chilies and a slice of delicious pie and ice cream to wash it all down with. I didn't want to spend the money, but I wanted to help out this little town that provided an oasis to passing cyclists. I also wanted a burger.



After a troublesome ride post burger consumption, we made our way into the Gila Forest.



And so the climb began.



9 miles and approximately 3 or 4 thousand feet. I dislike climbing, so I was pretty unhappy during the entire crawl up the mountain. Brian loves this stuff so he zipped right on up.



The views, however, are spectacular.



Here is a shot of everything we just rode on, from the top of Emory Pass. Those mountains off in the distance are where Caballo Lake is - where we started our ride.



Though I hate ascending mountain, the descent is always wanderful.



The sun was beginning to go down, so we  had to cruise down the entire length of the western side of the mountain.



I tried my best to capture the amazing scenery around me while riding, but the pictures didn't turn out that great.



Well, this one wasn't so bad.



Some of the rock formations that we rolled around were spectacular. The diversity in the area was also very impressive.



Like I said before, sunsets in New Mexico: they don't get much better.



After the sun went down, we found ourselves in a small town called Mimbres, where we managed to pitch our tent behind a church. It was freezing cold. I knew well before climbing into bed that my crappy sleeping bag would not be keeping me warm during the night.

Total mileage: 81