sevralprojex

This was a good one. It suprised me and traveling became incredibly harder every day. After Mt. Hood it was desert all the way to the SE corner of CO. After 75 miles of CO it was desert again.

I’ve inherited a tiny plot of desert land about 30 miles south of Albuquerque, MN from my great grandpa Ed. The only person to visit this plot was he himself about 40 years ago. It was a housing developement with dirt roads grated and everything, but it never took off and was abndoned shortly after.

 Checking out my tiny plot of deserted, desert wasteland was my reason for this tour. It was a nine day solo tour.

Highlights:

8:30 at night in Eastern OR showed a temp. of 97 degrees. This was a mild day.

I was bummed out when I reached what I thought was the Idaho border and found out it was still 152 miles to Ontario.

 My sleeping mode was much different from past tours. I ended up sleeping at rest areas nearly every night. The ability to wash up made it relatively comfortable. A few nights it was very cold, but I was able to sleep in the bathrooms. One was on the floor unter the sink. That was the best! I kept hitting the hand wamer every couple minutes. It was like 75 in there by morning. The other two times I slept on a toilet, sitting up.

On my way, the second day out of Salt lake, I hit a 50 mile stretch with no stops. I was lucky to find a flowing stream early on. I was totally polluted, but it was better than its absence. All the other 25 or so river beds were dry as a bone. 25 miles into this strethch I saw a gas station way off in the distance with “Yes, Were Open” painted on the wall. There were cars and people at the pumps. I decided to pour my remaining grub water on my head, but decided to be extra carful in case of some odd bad luck. As I approached the station I saw a fence surrounding the property. The cars were abandoned and the people were mannequins. 25 miles left to go.

I saw the arches of Moab. I saw the Grand Canyon. I saw the Sonoran Desert. I saw the “worlds largest egg.”

I crashed on the Northern switchbacks of Sedona, AZ.

 NM is the worst. Hwy 550 took 3 days to finish. I spent all of those days yelling to pass the time. That road is hot, flat, straight, and deserted. No towns, no alternate routes, just a busy hwy. Every 40 miles or so there is a gas station. Oh the head wind, that f-ing head wind. That bastard wind started in Boise and became increasingly stubborn day after day. It slowed my pace to a crawl.

My friend Deli introduced me to Pops. He was very nice and gave me a place to stay in ABQ. He later gave me a down sleeping bag for the rest of my trip!

 In the morning in Flagstaff it was 38 degrees. By the end of the day I reached Pheonix where my relatives Rich, Laurie, Ricky, and Tom live. It was 108 degrees there.

 I spent all night climbing a pass that dropped down into Durango, CO. At 5 AM I reached the summit and made a 10 mile super fast descent. It was 37 degrees. I scared a lady with my demeanor while asking where I could find a stack of pancakes.