March 4, 2012
Day 8: To Petroglyphs campground
I got away from the motel in Tacna at 9:30, heading north towards the Gila river. Nearly all of the flat land is irrigated farms.
I took the back roads north, east, north, east, following the pavement. But the pavement ends after 20 miles where the farms end. Afterward the road is dirt for 19 miles through desert. At first the dirt road is smooth and fast. The second half is rougher and crosses a few washes where I had to push the bike through deep sand.
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I started to see saguaro cactus, the first obvious sign that I'm entering the Sonoran desert.
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2 years ago
The terrain was so easy that the long stretch of dirt roads wasn't difficult at all.
2 years ago
Pavement reappears for a few miles near the community of Hyder. There is a store but it's closed on Sunday (today is Sunday). So I had no services at all today.
East of Hyder the road is dirt for the remainder of the day, 17 miles. 6 miles past Hyder I turned right onto Rocky Point road. A sign warned that it's a "primitive" dirt road. Part of it is washboarded, but nothing too severe.
Rocky Point road goes on the edge of an interesting volcanic zone. On my left are dark colored hills - cinder cones. The surrounding desert is mostly dark colored lava rocks that look different from the light yellow rocks and sand in the surrounding region.
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Tonight's campground has no water, so in Hyder I filled my water bottles and gallon jug at a church. But somewhere on the dirt road the cap popped off the gallon jug and all the water poured out. Fortunately I passed an irrigation canal near the end of the day and was able to filter water from the canal.
It was past sunset when I arrived at the Petroglyphs BLM campground at 7 PM. The campground is scenic and is adjacent to petroglyphs that I will see tomorrow.
Today's terrain is flat but the distance is long and half of it is dirt roads. It was sunny all day with gentle wind and a high temperature in the 80's.
Today's route is really in the boondocks. I saw fewer than 20 cars on the road.
Distance: 74.4 mi. (119 km) 36 miles unpaved
Climbing: 889 ft. (270 m)
Average Speed: 10.3 mph (16.5 km/h)
Today's ride: 74 miles (119 km)
Total: 457 miles (735 km)
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