Day 15: Safford to Buckhorn 78.5

Odo 3216.6

I try to get out early, but 8:45 is the earliest I manage. It's still
the earliest yet , but I was hoping for 8! It's 41 degrees as I leave
town, and there is a light headwind. The first 10 miles are an Arizona
specialty: the stealth climb. After that, I turn onto a new road,
and it's the same story. After about 7 miles, though, it starts
looking like a real climb. I pause, however, to look at the sign for
the Black Hills Back Country Byway. As I coast up to it, bad sounds
come from the freewheel. I have never had a piece of equipment that
wanted to self-destruct as much as this suntour freewheel. I start
trying to think of something I could use to tighten the lockring.
Luckily, a service truck has pulled up for a mowing tractor. It seems
that the raidator must be cleaned often because pollen from some
plants causes the cut grass to stick to it. One of the guys happily
produces a leatherman tool (guaranteed for life he grins) and I tap it
with a rock to tighten the ring. We talk about the usual for a little
while, and they wish me well as I leave. The climb, meanwhile, starts
getting serious after another two miles. After a bit of a grind, it
flattens slightly, and I get into a good groove. After the top, it's an
11 mile downhill, and I'm quickly in a place called 3-way. I eat lunch
at the gas station and get another coke and sandwich at the store.
There are no more stores for the next 40 miles.


The road begins
another "flat" climb for the next 4 miles, then it gets serious. Real
switchbacks, and still some of those optical illusion climbs. Several
times I think the next stretch is going to be downhill, but it never
is. On one of these "flat" stretches I go by the "WWJD Church".



Then in the distance I see the road carved into the side of the mountain.
Is that really 7 miles of climbing away? Traffic is down to one car
per 20-30 minutes. This is the hardest, most rentless climb yet.

near the top, I see I really have climbed a bit!

After I get to Buckhorn, and the last chance for liquor store, they
tell me about how dangerous that road has been. Recently, they said,
the highway dept fixed the guard rail, not looking down the mountain,
and the people who crashed were not found for another two months. I
stay at the Buckhorn RV park; it gets down to 15 degrees. All of my
cokes froze!