Day 209: Rattlesnake Gap, AZ

We left Silver City once it had started warming up into the 40s.  It was Alea's turn to ride, and she had undulating hills until we reached the Continental Divide for the third and final time on this trip.  From there it was mainly downhill or flat, and mostly with a tailwind.  She covered the first 37 miles to Buckhorn, NM, then it was my turn to take over.

From Buckhorn it was mainly an uphill ride, but with light traffic and/or decent shoulders the whole way.  Our intended destination was one of two National Forest campgrounds that are just over the Arizona border along what for most of the day had been New Mexico Highway 78.

The elevation profiles on our maps suggested that the climb at the end of the day would be more difficult than it turned out to be.  And the weather was perfect for climbing - sunny and in the 70s with mostly fair winds.  So my 33 miles passed pleasantly enough, and I ended the day with enough energy to enjoy the remainder of the day.

We got to Rattlesnake Gap early in the afternoon, arriving at Black Jack Campground to find large groups of what seemed to be hunters setting up camp.  Of course it is night time now and the guys all seem to be drinking beer and partying, so it's hard to imagine them all heading out before dawn to go hunting, so perhaps they are here just to ride their ATVs and earn a hangover?

The campground is free, with pit toilets being the main amenity provided.  It is dusty and a bit overused, but otherwise it is a nice enough place to camp for one evening (and the price is right).  And there are a few other couples camping here, so it's not all one big man-camp of drunken revelers.  

We were a bit surprised to find that we get a couple of bars of LTE coverage up here, thinking that we would be in an internet blackout off and on until we get nearer to Phoenix and Tempe.  But we are glad to be able to keep up with blogging, banking and all the other chores that are facilitated by having access to the internet, as it keeps that stuff from piling up too high in the meantime.  

We were a bit concerned about some of the weather forecasts  for today showing temperatures dipping into the twenties tonight, but where we are camped is between a town to the east with a forecast low in the 30s and a town to the west with a forecast low of 52.  We're hoping that it will warm into the 40s quickly enough in the morning, as that's a decent enough temperature for bundling up for a long decent out of the mountains.  From here on out we should experience warmer overnight temperatures, at least until a cold front moves in to change the weather pattern.

The view from Rattlesnake Gap.

A preview of coming attractions....