March 13th, 2008 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (Arizona),USA (New Mexico)
Today’s distance / ???????: 49 miles / 79km
Average speed / ????: 8.2mph / 13.1km/h
Time on skateboard / ????: 6h 01m
Total skateboarding distance to date / ????????????: 3435mi plus 280mi (?) / 5528km plus 450km (?)
Ascent / ??: 345m
Descent / ??: 615m
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N32.47.16.0, W109.32.47.4
At the usual time, a few minutes before sun-up, I was up and getting ready to leave for another day of skating. For the first time in quite a while, I was feeling great. Anxious to get on the road, anxious to see what lay up ahead. The wind was still blowing when I retired to my tent last night, but like the last five days, it was calm in the morning. A slight tailwind even.
I was on the road by 8:05am, about an hour after sun-up. Breakfast was sultana bran with reconstituted powdered milk.
The funny desert trees stood proudly in the morning light.
Ten miles down the road, I entered Arizona, and my world changed forever. At last, smooth roads. Smooth, rolled, blacktop.
The roads in New Mexico were acceptable. The roads here in Arizona are exemplary. Excellent. Smooth, quiet. Luverly.
The scenery has changed, also. Tighter valleys. The mountain tops are closer. The contours and lay of the land is more understandable. Clearer passes. Distinction between up and down.
Once again, as if by clockwork, the westerly wind arrived in force at 12 noon. I was feeling good however. Blow as hard as you may, you dastardly wind! I have a smooth road! Nothing can stop me! I would come to regret those words, as you will see in the next post…
It was a long hard climb out of Duncan, uphill and into the wind. The top of the ‘pass’ came around however, and I felt the gentle downward slope towards Safford. The wind prevented any easy coasting downhill however, and I had to push even though I was heading downhill.
Amazing hills and surrounds here…
Like yesterday, I took shelter around 5pm and ate dinner, carrying on after a short rest for another two hours. Instead of using my hammock for shelter today, I sat in a large culvert under the road, out of the sun and wind.
I was still 10 miles away from Safford when it started growing dark. Time to stop and camp. I jumped a fence and found a spot just out of sight of the highway behind a not-so-grassy and very stony knoll.
Love the sunset photo! (And the Dr Seuss photo's good too!)
Yes! Very Dr Seuss! Good spotting.
Coconut trees are a bit like that too.
Those desert trees look a bit like the Australian black Boy grass trees. Did you ever see any when you stayed in Oz?
Amazing the sunset!!And I like the photo of Arizona sign.It's very narrative.
