Today we rode from our dispersed campsite in the Pina Mountains to a dispersed campsite at the Salty River. We again had hot weather with barely any clouds. The road surface, yeah, a barely rideable double-track with rocks and loose gravel, to nice gravel, and also pavement.
Riding statistics: on Wednesday May 15, 2024, the 7th day on the Western Wildlands Route route, it took 12:09h (05:44h moving time), between 07:02 and 19:12, to cover 69 km (43 miles), including 1215 m (3986 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 12 km/h (7 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 29 °C (88 °F) with a minimum of 13 °C (56 °F) and a maximum of 38 °C (106 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 2 days, 1 hours, 57 minutes and 49 seconds of cycling time to cover 695 km (432 miles), including 8356 m (27416 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.2 km/h (8.8 mph).
We left our campsite around 6am. It has been a very quiet night. I slept without the rain-fly on my tent. For a great part of the night I was in the moonlight, and saw many stars. Temperature was good, warm early night, and colder in the morning, but still totally OK. No regrets of sleeping without the outside tent.
Immediately out of camp the big challenge of the day started. We had to climb 1km in elevation over a distance of 10km. With the steepest section to start with. It was without a doubt time for our first serious hike-a-bike. It was a 20 minute struggle. Sometimes getting the bike only 20cm further, take a step, and repeat. After that section we could cycle for a while. But eventually it got too difficult again and we switched between biking and walking. The whole section took us almost 3 hours. Definitely type 2 fun! Once at the top we entered a pine forest, and it even had a little stream. The atmosphere immediately changed. The environment felt less harsh and difficult. We now had a 20km downhill into the town of Globe. Most of the downhill was on a nice gravel road, the last section was on a paved road. The whole downhill barely took 45 minutes. We only required braking, hardly any pedaling. The further we went downhill the more the environment returned to desert (like).
Globe is a bit bigger town, which also seem to be depending on nearby mining activities. At the Safeway we ate a big breakfast (for me a ceasars salad, potato salad, orange juice, and a Greek yoghurt). Man, that tasted delicious. Next stop was a laundromat. Love clean clothes. I used the bathroom (which was really clean) to get thoroughly cleaned up. After a final stop at a grocery store for water, we left Globe. Plan was to ride to the Salty River. A river from the mountains towards some lakes. There seems to be a recreation area where we will cross the river via a bridge. I read it wad also used for rafting, so there should be water in it. After about an our we reached the recreation area and quickly found the spot, tipped by a previous rides, to get to the water easily. There was already a lady sitting at the water edge, and a man fishing. She was very kind and told use we could get in the water easily, that there is a current and that we should enjoy. We went for a fresh swim, that boosted moral. We got into a chat with the lady and man. He (Steve) is a retired Marine, and she (Dee) works 6 months a year as a tory guide, e.g. At National Parks. The other 6 months she drives around in an old campervan. Steve also has a really nice dog, Griz. They are friends, without benefits. Steve already has a girlfriend, according to to himself he actually has several dozen. They lookup each other multiple times a year, and go in the back country. Already soon they offered us a beer. We decided to share one because we still had to look for a place to stay the night. They immediately asked us to join their spot where the campervan was parked. It was Public Land so no issues with authorities. We accepted their offer. We continued to chit chat at the waterfront and had a good time. Steve is a real Patriot / Republican /… (his own words). So, always a gun present. They did not judge us, we did not judge them, told stories about our lives and had a wonderful evening at a campfire. Dee even made us burgers. We drank a few more beers, and around 9.30 it was time to go to bed. Not.much later, without a warning, a very strong wind started, with fierce gusts. And yes, my tent was on a wonderful spot with a view, of course and ideal place for the wind. It was a bit uncomfortable. We had a great afternoon and evening. Very, very different people, but all four of us enjoyed meeting up.
Gallery
Looks good Eef! Enjoy the swim