Day 37
Distance: 118km
Climbing: 1125m
We tried to get an early start from the toaster house but when I went to add some air to my rear tire I saw a number New Mexico’s famous goat’s head thorns embedded in it. I pulled one out and the hole leaked rather than sealing up the way it should with a tubeless tire. The hole was too small to plug so it was a mystery that had me close to trying a tube, even though tubes in the desert are a recipe for frustration. I had added a lot of sealant to the tire when I set it up so I didn’t think it would need more, but as soon as I added some everything sealed up and it held fine. I guess the puncture I had had to plug back in the first week or two plus many small punctures since then had depleted the sealant.
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Most of the ride was in pleasant juniper or ponderosa forest but there were some more barren sections as well. Some sections of the road were frustration washboard, but overall it went quite quickly.
A truck with two hunting guides stopped and they filled up our water bottles and gave us beer for the end of the day. They were incredibly nice and generous, and greatly simplified our water situation. Without their refill we had been planning on a dinner and a breakfast that didn’t need much water as the next source wouldn’t have come until mid-morning tomorrow. Now we can enjoy oatmeal and coffee! We’ve avoided alcohol on this trip mostly so as not to interfere with our sleep, but also because it doesn’t t necessarily add to an already great experience, but we truly couldn’t say no to such generosity and decided to drink the beers then and there as they were cold and it was nice treat as it was so unexpected and kind. We only had about 16km to go to where we planned to camp and despite the morning’s tire delay and the beers we still made it to camp at a very average 5:30pm.
We also got our second elk sighting: this time a mother and offspring, or perhaps two females. While making dinner we could hear both elk and cows in the distance (cows are the one constant of this trip). All through the evening there were many interesting animal noises, but nothing concerning.
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