Again we would need to take an alternate route due to the blasted PB mud between Cuba and Grants. This was a longer multi day, and remote stretch, and not worth gambling getting stuck for multiple days. All of us had already used our spare brake pads, so that was another consideration. The paved route between Cuba and Grants went through Navajo owned territory, and not much reliable knowledge about food and water options. It would take at least two days to get to Grants, so we stocked up appropriately.
The winds were in our favor as we headed out in a westerly direction out of Cuba. This would be a big help since the landscape was pretty barren with no shade either. We made good progress and eventually reached the first reported gas station. The building next to it didn’t look like much, but was surprisingly well stocked with some food and drink options inside. We rewarded ourselves with some cold cokes and ice cream. We asked the person at the counter about any other places like this, and she reported that there was a new convenience store about 40 miles further where we considered camping. Wow! Nothing was even mentioned about that on any of the GDMBR forums, other than “good luck with that” comments.
Finally put on my New Mexico patch
Super friendly shop dog
The winds were still in our favor and we arrived at that next town, Pueblo Pintado, much earlier than we had planned, and that new convenience store was there as told. We asked the attendant about camping options, and he pointed to a field next to the community center. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, and we didn’t want to bake in the heat, waiting to be able to put up our tents. There was no public land listed on our maps further towards Grants, so it was likely we would have to “boondock” on private land if we opted for that. We all decided it would be better to get more miles in and chance our luck on finding a camp spot later.
The road now turned more southward, and we lost our wind advantage. The hills on this section were a bit more pronounced, so our overall speed did slow down quite a bit. It was interesting to see what apparently was a Native American on an e-scooter passing us one way, and then coming back the other way with considerable speed. A couple miles further we saw him pushing his scooter along the road, which apparently had run out of battery power. There was not a single building in sight for miles, so we all wondered what he thought he was doing, and where to?
Fangs of the storm
At one point we were in this wide open section that had some threatening clouds ahead. There was absolutely no cover or place to hide, so we just kept going. It looked there was a gap between two storms on either side of the road, and we just hoped we could squeeze in between. No such luck today and we got hammered pretty quick with rain, hail, and strong winds, with lightning right above our heads. We got our rain jackets on, but the rain had already soaked us pretty good. As far as the lightning, the advice is to get in a lower ditch, and crouch down. However there were no ditches or anywhere to hide, so we kept peddling on. I had regrettably sent my rain pants home and got pelted with hail on my bare legs. Same for Hamish and Jess. I was just worried that the hail would get larger (golf ball size) as we can in the West, and not thinking about the lightning danger. Luckily the storm didn’t last that long and we were safe further down the road. Phew!
The sun was beginning to get lower on the horizon, and we all kept looking on both sides of the road for camp options. Mostly all barbed wire fences and locked gates. I did spot a nice little church along the route what seemed to be a small village. We stopped and knocked on a few of the small houses/shacks to see if we could get permission to camp nearby. Nobody answered their doors so we just waited to see if someone would drive by. After many minutes, and seeing nobody, we decided to continue on a bit further. We knew that there was an active coal mining operation a few miles further, but couldn’t imagine that being a good place to camp.
I was determined to find something before it got too dark out. Finally I noticed a partially open gate at a cattle grate crossing that had this huge amount of tumbleweeds accumulated. We had to dig a path through those weeds and found a couple places to hide our tents behind some large juniper bushes. It sure didn’t look like anyone had been around here in a long time, and all the cow paddies were well dried up.
A few cars/trucks drove by on the road next to us, but we seriously didn’t think anyone couldn’t have cared less what we were doing, even if they could see us. Hamish did have a bright red tent, and he noted he probably should have had one that was a bit less conspicuous, especially on Indian lands. 😄
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