Thurs. Sept. 29, 2016,
Silver City to Hwy 146, mile marker 9
Start - ~6100'
High pt 6200'
Lo pt. ~4400'
End Elv ~4400'
Climbing ~1000'??
Miles ~69.6
Total time 8:00
Ride time 6:50
Day with BOB 50
1 continental divide crossings, #29?
More blue sky greeted the day this morning, making me feel better about the long day planned. I want to finish the remaining 125 miles of the route in 2 days instead of the three recommended in the guide. Glenda is with me now, and there is no camping on route for the trailer, so we have arranged a pickup where Hwy 146 starts the final 65 miles dash to Antelope Wells and the lonely border crossing there.
The day starts with a rolling and climbing18 miles of Hwy 90 through chapparell like landscapes with squat desert oaks spread apart at regular intervals.
I pass the giant Tyrone mine before getting to my turn to Separ and leave the pavement behind for 33 miles. There are now more downs than ups, though sandy in places. It gets steadily drier and desert like as the route drifts further away from the consolidated mountain ranges. Soon the largest plants are yuccas to accompany me on this last section of backcountry. I see almost no one; except for one rancher, a road crew, and a sole border patrol jeep just outside Separ on I-10.
About 5 miles in on the dirt, I bag another divide crossing, though really the road and the divide follow a modest ridge together for several miles. Once again I look to the right and that leads to the Colorado River and the Pacific; to left, the Rio Grande and the Atlantic. I marvel at the sameness of this ridge to many others, yet here in this spot it has this distinction.
I stop at the trading post in Separ and they offer me ice and water before I go.
Eight miles of dirt frontage road along I-10 brings me to the pickup point, and I am done with the dirt!!! The remaining portion of the route is a paved 65 miles of empty hwy to the border. It is still early, so I decide to knock out some more miles to shorten tomorrow's ride. Glenda catches up with me 10 miles in ( only an easy 9 miles to Hachita and some biker only camping), and shuttles me to Deming and the RV park, where dinner and a hot shower await in my short term future. I find I am tired from the day and should sleep good tonight.
