(Sun, 3/2/25; 18 miles, 788 feet of climb)
Today was a super short day, out of necessity. It’s only 41 miles from the Cholla campground on Lake Roosevelt to Globe, but the problem is, it is a 6600 foot climb. I just don’t think I want to do that much climbing in one day.
So the only choice is to split it up into two days: 17 miles a the first day, with 2600 feet of climb, and 25 miles the second day, with the remaining 4000 feet of climb. The younger me would’ve laughed at that, but I know my limitations, and I’d always rather finish the day wishing I could’ve gone a little further, than dragging in exhausted at a late hour, wishing I could’ve quit earlier.
Because it was such a short day, I was able to linger in the campsite for a while. That was great, because I had scenic views of the entire Roosevelt Lake and the mountains behind it right from my campsite. I talked to several other campers, cooked a breakfast of oatmeal and hot chocolate and coffee, and finally got on the road about 10:00 am.
The only stop along the way was a marina. I thought I would get some snacks, but it turned out they have a restaurant too! So I got fish and chips, assuming it would be my only real meal for the day.
I crossed a large suspension bridge by a big dam, and decided to launch my drone. It was a little scary, but I got some epic drone videos, small snippets of which you’ll see in my Facebook post.
I got to the RV park in Roosevelt Estates at about 3 pm, and secured an $80 room at the little motel because I don’t there is camping for tents. (And I really want a hot shower and a bed, to get some solid sleep tonight.)
It turns out there was a little bar right here in the RV park! So I had a little more to eat — I was going to get a salad, but nothing like that on the menu. So I got some shrimp and “chips” (tater tots). There’s no breakfast anywhere around here tomorrow, so I ate a little more than I would’ve normally today. In fact, there is absolutely nothing tomorrow until I get to my destination. So I guess I’ll be filling all four water bottles and lugging them up the hill.
The weather has been absolutely delightful, but that will be changing tomorrow. The predicted high is 54°, unlike the 70s and 80s I’ve enjoyed the last two weeks.
Tomorrow will be my biggest climb ever while hauling 94 pounds of touring gear. The most I climbed last year in 35 days on the eastern half of the southern tier was 2500 feet. I climbed 2700 feet earlier in this trip, but tomorrow will be a whopping 4000 feet. There may be some walking involved.
I haven’t had a day off in 10 days, so I’m going to take a rest day after tomorrow in Globe. So all I have to do is make up that 4000 feet, and I’ll be able to relax and recover.
I’m very excited to have dinner tomorrow with a very old friend. I’ll write more tomorrow if it comes true.
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TRANSLATIONS/BACKGROUND: “CANTBIRD” = CA-AZ-NM-TX Bike Ride, my own nickname for the 1000 miles on the western half of the Southern Tier Bicycle Route, from San Diego to El Paso, using maps from ACA (Adventure Cycling Association). (I did the 1500-mile eastern half in March 2024, which I called GUMBIRD [Gulf of Mexico Bike Ride].)
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LINKS:
Old-fashioned BLOG if you have friends who don’t use Facebook:
“Old Scouter” Facebook page if you want to follow big adventures with more pictures and video clips (but not unrelated personal posts):
“Old Scouter” YouTube page (when I get time to edit after the trip):