Open Miles: The Great and Scenic Divide

It's cold out here. Today we woke up to cold toes, frozen water bottles, and wind that all the down in the world couldn't save us from. It was 30 degrees last night, and since TJ gets cold when it's 50 degrees, I was pretty sure he wouldn't survive (he did, don't worry).

Luckily we haven't hit any snow yet, and after one more night around 6,000 feet we'll be moving down to lower ground.

Despite the cold we've had a nice respite from the desert over the last few days. All these pine trees have left us longing for New England, although we've heard it's pretty cold back there too. Of course you've probably been missing the desert as much as we've been missing fall, so enjoy these lovely scenes from the West:

Also, check out the last post "Life at 9,000 Feet" for some more pictures and updates.

Day #26: Mimbres to Silver City, NM

In hopes of going to a library and showering for the first time in...too long, today would be a short day.

After prying all the icicles off our toes, we departed for Silver City. An unanticipated amount of climbing later, we arrived in town.

Aptly named for all the mining operations that this area is known for, we passed a huge open pit mine on the way into Silver City:

Not much to see here...off to Arizona tomorrow!

Miles: 20

Day #25: Hatch to Mimbres, NM

We left Hatch pretty early in order to avoid the worst of another incoming headwind. Luckily we had only 26 miles to go before our path turned west again...taking us over the Divide! At 8,200 feet it's not the tallest pass around, but we heard that the road was incredibly beautiful.

The first 26 miles took us through chili country, which was filled with some pretty interesting sights and smells. One second I would be engulfed in a mouth watering adobo smell, only to be hit with a terrible rotten chili pepper smell the next.

Look at all these chili peppers!

At the end of our northern stretch, we hit Caballo Lake State Park, which otherwise would have been our destination the day before. We took a short rest, enjoyed the views of the lake, and prepared for the encroaching climb.

After turning back west, we came upon Hillsboro at the foot of the pass. Unable to refuse the delicious smells coming out of the local Hillsboro General Store Cafe, we went in for lunch. A burger, a slice of homemade pie, and some ice cream? Yes please.

Back on the bikes, we began a beautiful ascent over the divide, on a very quite road that wound through the mountains. The ride was stunning, and we were even greeted by a vista overlook at the top. Enjoy the sights:

With the quickly sun setting, we made yet another cold decent down the pass to the very small town of Mimbres. Since it was dark when we arrived, the only thing we could find was a small church. Luckily they had a great camping spot in the back, so we set up the tent and cooked a delicious pasta dinner.

As the air got colder and colder, we knew we were in for a brisk night....good thing I came prepared.

Miles Crushed: 82
Divides Conquered: 1

Day #24: Las Cruces to Hatch, NM

Today we had grand plans, but none of them happened the way we anticipated. First, we spent all morning at the Las Cruces library, which unfortunately allowed us to accomplish very little. Next, we got absolutely crushed by a headwind that cut our goal distance in half.

If there's one thing New Mexico has a lot of, it's wind. Every day it seems to be blowing the wrong way, and today was no exception. Even worse, the weather reported that we would have a tail wind.

At 2:45 we rolled into the town of Hatch morally defeated. The sun would set in two hours, and we had only gone 35 miles. Oh well, more time to eat local Mexican cuisine.

After the sun went down, we made camp behind a church and hoped the wind would be in our favor tomorrow.

Scenes from the road: