Into New Mexico!

Sunday we woke up early, packed our camping gear (we're getting good at it), and road 15 miles into Del Norte. While filling our tanks we asked an old timer where we should eat breakfast. He told us Boogies, which is owned by a guy who used to pick his nose when he was a kid and the nickname stuck. Funny. Good breakfast.

Earlier we bought a 2-gallon gas tank for the longer stretches between gas stations in New Mexico. We thought we might need it so filled it up today.

After breakfast we began the climb to the highest point of our trip, Indiana Pass at 11,910 feet. It was beautiful up high. The open meadows were green and lush against the rich blue sky. We were lucky to hit this section on a Sunday and thus avoided all truck traffic from the big mine at Summitville. Doug of course stopped and took lots of pictures.  We will update the blog later with them when we get access to a computer.

The road wasn't bad but we did have to gear down on some of the tight and narrow turns on the way down.

The water in the rivers here are full of natural chemicals you wouldn't want to drink. (Can't remember the names but pretty sure one was arsenic).

At the base we came to the scrappy little town of Platoro. We stopped and shared a peach cobbler. Bleck! It was terrible.

To get to Horca at paved highway 17 we had to ride across 23 miles of washboard road. We kept searching for the smoothest bit, but got rattled and pounded by this dirt road.

From Horca we climbed smooth pavement up to Manga Pass at 10,200 ft, and past the Toltec Scenic Railway and a hugely bloated dead cow.

Four miles the other side of the pass we turned left on the 117, a rough and rocky narrow road that lead us into The Cruces Basin Wilderness and the State of New Mexico.

The 117 turned into the 87. It was rough going and I thought it would never end. The trail (it could hardly be called a road) kept splitting and coming together.  Sometimes we would choose the good one, sometimes the bad. Navigation was tough too and I was particularly attentive because I didn't want to waste gas in this long desolate stretch, and run out. The terrain was rough and we spent most of our time in first gear using a lot of gas, which fueled my anxiety.

Doug in his 350 had an easier time navigating the terrain than me and my heavy 990. I dumped it once and couldn't get enough leverage to pick the bike back up. Doug was ahead but had luckily stopped for directions at a turn and had turned off his bike so he heard me yell for help.

Once we made it thru about 20 miles of this stuff and summited, the road became better. The scenery was beautiful,  but I must admit I didn't enjoy it very much. Purple clouds were all around us and I figured we wouldn't avoid them today

Doug must have been a hankering to finish because I couldn't keep up with him today. Yesterday he couldn't keep up with me. Weird.

We finally pulled out of the remote region - 60 miles and 3 hrs!

Highway 64 lead us 4 miles to Hopewell Lake where we were to enter another 20 mile remote stretch to El Rito. There was a huge purple mass of clouds sitting directly in our path.  And no matter how "well" we "hoped," I didn't think we'd get lucky this time.  So we solicited the advice of a local. A Mexican looking guy who was out fishing with his daughter had just come out of there and his opinion was very clear: TAKE THE PAVED ROAD. So we made sure there was a gas station in route (we were low) and headed east and north on the 64 and then south on the 285 to Ojo Caliente, 40 miles away.

The clouds were ominous in every direction and we were headed straight for a big purple mass. We kept getting closer and closer. The winds started picking up. The road became wet. We were chasing the rain. And then, right as we felt some small drops, we curved right, right into the path of the sun, with clouds in all directions, and it lead us into Ojo Caliente.  The bells from Harry worked again. :-)

We decided to call it a day a stopped at a cute motel, The Taos Trail Inn, on the main drag, run by David and Pam.  They quickly cleaned a room and got us set.

The kickstand on my bike had broke its welds and would not work properly.  Doug figured it out (I'm a mechanical retard). Pam knew just who to call and an hour later a guy in a welding truck came over and welded the kickstand for us - for FREE!

While Doug and I were finishing up a pizza across the street,  we could hear this angelic voice singing, "somewhere out there, beneath...."  It was Pam! We went over and talked with Pam and David on the front porch,  listened to their life story (they were professional musicians - Pam a singer and David a drummer and band leader), and had Pam serenade us with her lovely voice.

Hard day. But nice detour.

We will get back on course tomorrow.