Today we rode from the dispersed campsite close to Grand Canyon National Park to another dispersed campsite on the Navajo territory after Cameron. Today with blue skies to start and end the day, during the day we had some clouds. Overall warm but not too warm. Most of the day we rode on a paved road, except for a few kilometers where we entered Grand Canyon National Park, and the Navajo territory.
Riding statistics: on Tuesday May 21, 2024, the 13th day on the Western Wildlands Route route, it took 12:17h (07:41h moving time), between 06:56 and 19:14, to cover 127 km (79 miles), including 914 m (2999 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 16 km/h (10 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 25 °C (80 °F) with a minimum of 4 °C (38 °F) and a maximum of 40 °C (110 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 4 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes and 8 seconds of cycling time to cover 1331 km (827 miles), including 17023 m (55852 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 13.9 km/h (8.6 mph).
Around 6am we left our dispersed campsite just before a small off-road entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. We had to cycle 20km to Desert View. This is on our route, and there is a small store where we can buy some food for breakfast and for our ride to Cameron. Unfortunately, the stores only opened at 9am, so we had some time to kill. Besides enjoying the incredible view, I also used the time to cleanup myself in the restroom, and rinse some clothing in there as well. The morning sun had my clothes dried before we left. We also talked to some people while waiting, some are interested once they see our bikes. A few of them where Dutch.
At 9.30 we finally left Desert View and headed towards Cameron. We mainly used the main road, sometimes there was an alternative in our route plan. Which was great actually, we rode a part of the old road which was now deteriorating and grasses and bushes where growing our of the road. Halfway we also stopped at a viewpoint and talked with two ladies selling jewelry. They were interested in our trip as well.
Once we arrived in Cameron we first stopped at the visitor center to buy backcountry permits to enter and stay in the Navajo territory. After that we decided to visit Burger King to eat some wraps and drink some soda. Meanwhile I could study the map for coming days and try to decide for the required water and food, and where to stay. Knowing that, we went to a gas station store to buy the required supplies.
With loaded bikes we left Cameron, we had to cycle 30km to our entry into the Navajo territory. It was a dangerous road (65mph), with a small and sometimes non-existent shoulder. Fortunately we could take some parallel roads, some where easy to ride, others not sure much. On one we even had to walk our bikes into an empty riverbed and back out.
Finally we arrived at our entrance into Navajo territory. Time for a short break and check the diffent locations where we are allowed to camp. Since it was already afternoon, we decided it would be the first one (10km) or when possible the second one (26km). We made it to the second one. It was a bit of a search since the location are not marked, we only have to coordinates, are the location shown in the app we also use. Eventually we found ourselves a nice spot between the cows. While setting up camp, having dinner, and prepare for the night, we also heard the coyotes sing in the distance.
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