November 5
40mi/64km
+3500ft/1050m
It was a freezing night last night, and since our shoes were wet yesterday, we got to put on frozen shoes this morning. Fortunately, we didn’t have to get our feet wet for the first time in four days, so we did get our feet dry and warm eventually.
Though we still saw some heavy damage to the roads today, thankfully there was no major mud sections to deal with. It was much smoother going. That didn’t make it easy. We haven’t climbed like this since Alaska. Short, steep climbs of 9-12% that reminded us of the Dalton Highway.
Halfway through the day we joined Rim Road 300, which follows the Mogollon Rim. We’ve camped up here, hiked up here, and even ridden our bikes up here, another reminder that we’re getting closer to home.
Sunset is at 5:30 now, and we like to set up camp before dark, so our days are definitely shorter. Tonight should be a few degrees warmer than last night and stay above freezing, so our coldest night just might be behind us. We are at 7800ft/2375m elevation tonight, which might actually be our highest campsite along this journey. I’ll have to check that later.
