Michael did not quite make it in before the pie shop closed, so I had him a chicken sandwich and some pie waiting on him when he arrived. It was a pleasant stay at the Toaster House and I sincerely hope the family can figure out a way to keep the house available to hikers and bikers. The rumor around town is that they are attempting to donate the house to the Continental Divide Trail somehow. Meanwhile, I hope people that stay continue to take care of this treasure.

Today started the three day ride to Silver City where water will be limited and climbing should be plentiful as this will be the last significant climbing of the route. The plan for the 180 mile stretch is to simply split it into thirds and it just so happens two camping areas allows for such nice and neat arithmetic.

Today would be the smallest amount of climbing as it ramps up 1000 more feet each day as far as elevation gain throughout next couple rides. Apache National Forest was the area I throughly enjoyed today and it was nice to smell the pine trees again as we entered the forest.

The inevitable happened early in the route this morning as my rear tire has been on it’s dying days and I was hoping it would make it to Silver City where there are bike shops. Bike shops are rare on this route and that is one of the reasons why I carried a spare tire.

The tire was replaced and it will not be a tubeless setup until I can get to Silver City, so I will take it easy to avoid pinch flats from the larger rocks in the road. Slow and steady hopefully gets the completion certificate.

I was able to find some wide open places today as I transitioned from one forested area to the next. Seems the mountains always pulls us right back in for some good riding.

I was fortunate enough to see a small group of elk and pronghorn today. It had been a couple days since I have seen my larger four legged friends.

As I got within nine miles of my planned campsite, a road sign clearly stated that the road was closed five miles ahead. I kept pushing on hoping it was not because of the faint smell of smoke in the air. Once I got to the five mile point, the sign clarified exactly what type of vehicles should continue.

The informal campsite is at the opposite end of the road closure and according to a local rancher, that should be the worse of it as far as road conditions and the smoke smell is from controlled burns. That takes away a couple worries and of course I consulted the boss lady and she gave me all the fire reports for the surrounding area since I do not have the interwebs out here.

Michael planned on following my plan for the next few days to Silver City and I will be waiting for his arrival later today. It will be nice to talk about today’s scenery and events and share more laughs about it all later this evening.

Tuna packages are my dinner options for the next couple of nights with peanut butter and Nutella smothered on a tortilla as my daytime meals, so life is good!