March 5, 2012
Day 9: To Ajo
In the morning I got 3/4 mile down the road before realizing I forgot to look at the petroglyphs. So I went back to the petroglyphs which are right next to the campground.
The pile of volcanic rocks is almost completely covered with petroglyphs. This type of rock must work well for making rock art.
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Leaving the petroglyphs, I turned east on Sisson road, but it quickly turns into deep muddy ruts. So I backtracked and followed the main dirt track which goes south, east, south, east to pavement at Citrus Valley road. From there it's 1 mile south to I-8 where I pedaled the access road 2 miles into the town of Gila Bend.
I quickly stopped for a Subway sandwich, groceries, and cash, then began the long ride south to Ajo. 42 miles, gaining 1000 feet elevation.
There are no services between Gila Bend and Ajo, but the road has heavy traffic. Or maybe it just seemed heavy after a day on no-traffic dirt roads.
South of Gila Bend highway 86 passes through the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range. It's the only place in the U.S. where the Air Force is able to drop live bombs for practice. Several fighter jets flew over, mostly in pairs. I was never able to get a picture of them because they come and go so quickly at low altitude. I got a picture of helicopters which move more slowly, giving me time to stop and pull the camera out.
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This part of the Sonoran desert is mostly creosote bushes with very little cactus. Kind of monotonous.
The narrow paved shoulder is cracked, with large weeds growing in the cracks. I mostly pedaled near the white line.
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It was past sunset when I arrived in Ajo. Coming into town I noticed two motels, so I had dinner at Dairy Queen. Afterwards I discovered that both motels are full. So I bought a 25 cent gallon of water at the water kiosk and continued south through town. I camped in the desert a mile outside of town. Finding a decent free campsite in the dark is frustrating, but I got lucky. My site was out of sight, unfenced, and had no No Trespassing signs. But like most sites like this it was strewn with broken glass.
Ajo is thriving thanks to a big copper mine near town. It's somewhat of a tourist town, but not much.
Today was a very long day. Long distance, dirt roads, uphill trend. High of 80F with light wind. I got my first mosquito bites today.
Distance: 84.1 mi. (134.5 km) 17 miles unpaved
Climbing: 1775 ft. (538 m)
Average Speed: 10.6 mph (17 km/h)
Today's ride: 84 miles (135 km)
Total: 541 miles (871 km)
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2 years ago