Nice and peaceful this morning when I got up. Ready to tackle another day here in New Mexico. I would be entering the Gila National Forest today. Amazing how much forest I have seen so far in this state. I imagined more desolate and open countryside instead. New Mexico is typically referred to as the toughest state to ride on this route and I can confirm that. Not the highest passes to cross, but lots of steep, up and downs, on rough, or muddy terrain.
I didn’t have a particular place I wanted to stay tonight. It would either be in a primitive campground, or wild camping. Really no difference from my perspective.
Dried up mud road
It was a similar ride as yesterday, although I was feeling a lot more energetic and positive. I stopped at a bridge at a stream and found a good place to sit and have a second breakfast. Three cars pulled up at the other side of the bridge and got out to walk around a bit. One of the guys came over to ask me about my trip. He has genuinely interested, especially when he told me they were following the Great Divide themselves, and wanted to do as much off-road as possible. Two of the vehicles were capable 4x4’s. One a Jeep, and the other a Ford Bronco. The third was what looked like an old VW hatchback wagon that needed a new paint job. I spoke with the driver who said that he rescued it from a junkyard in Moab, Utah. It had been sitting there since 1989. He replaced the engine with a Subaru one, and changed out all bushings, rubber mounts, and suspension. It still however was still two wheel drive. I was impressed with his enthusiasm and desire to take his project on such a grueling trip to the Canadian border. Wise of him to do it with his friends who could pull him out with a winch if needed. I warned them about the “mud” too. I liked their spirits about taking something like this on!
Converted VW
The afternoon started to bring on dark clouds earlier than expected. I was in the Canyon part of the forest with those rocky, up and down roads. I had passed the flatter section earlier that had that dried up, mud full off deep ruts from vehicles trying to get through. I was thinking about the trio I had met earlier, and how they would fare if it got wet there. I could hear thunder, and the dark clouds were to the sides of me and behind, but still relatively clear straight ahead. I was not in a good section to stop anyway, so I kept pedaling.
Later that afternoon I saw a sign for the Black Canyon campsite, so I pulled in to take a look. It was right at the bottom of a long downhill I had just done, and the start of a steep, and long uphill. There was a pretty good size creek next to the campsite that had water flowing nearby. The place had picnic tables and even a small portable toilet which was unusual. As soon as I stepped off the bike it started to rain. Well, that made it clear I should stay here for the night, and not tackle the muddy uphill in the rain. I got my tent pitched pretty quick and put all my stuff in the vestibules on the side. It was still only 4pm, but it made no sense standing outside in the rain, so I climbed in, put on dry clothes, and had an early dinner. I never got out until the following morning.
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