Day Twelve: three way, grasshoppers, climbing black jack

When we left Safford at 6:30 we immediately began climbing, first over a smaller pass of 4750 feet then over a higher one of 6295 feet.

At the top of the first pass we met a group of about ten bike tourists on a week-long sag-supported trip with Timberline Tours out of Denver. (Sag-supported means there's a vehicle, a "sag wagon," which carries all of the gear so you don't have to) There were a group of them who had just climbed the other side of the pass and were about to coast down toward Safford.

From mark on a bike 08

Between the two peaks our maps showed a town at about 3700 feet by the name of "Three Way."

Three Way?? THREE WAY??? Our imaginations blossomed... (maybe we should stay here a few days??)

...then wilted as we realized the origin of the town's name comes from the "three ways" into and out of it we decided not to spend the night there after all.

There was only one building in Three Way, a tired grocery store, so we ate lunch there and bought provisions for the evening knowing we'd be dry camping in the mountains tonight.

Just as we were getting ready to leave Erin rolled up. We had already been there an hour and it was already hot so we continued on, leaving Three Way at noon to begin the ascent.

Klaus commented on something that I'd never realized: that there are fences EVERYwhere. It's true.... every single piece of isolated, parched, treeless, shrubless, hard, cracked, desolate, God-forsaken hardscrabble had a barbed wire fence protecting it. Why? he wondered aloud. Even the hell hole some people call Glamis had fences.

A sign along the way:

From mark on a bike 08

Today is grasshopper day. They've been increasing in number since we left Safford. Now, on the way up the mountain, their numbers blossom. Never have I seen so many grasshoppers.... THOUSANDS.

From mark on a bike 08

From mark on a bike 08

And you know what I found out about them today?

THEY'RE CANNIBALS!!!!

The road was covered with the crushed carcasses of the insects. There were enough so that if you closed your eyes and walked from one side of the road to the other (assuming you didn't stop to eat dead grasshoppers) with EVERY SINGLE STEP you took you would step on an ex-grasshopper. When a grasshopper would inevitably hop into the road to join his friend he would be the next victim.

Here's a picture of a grasshopper having a friend for dinner.

From mark on a bike 08

There were SO many, I wondered: "How do they multiply so fast?"

From mark on a bike 08

After about three miles of climbing we met another tourer going down.

His name is Rick Brindell, from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He's one of those guys who is REALLY excited about life, exuberant about the good and the bad. He started his trip in Cape Girardeau and followed the Mississippi river until it crossed the Southern Tier ACA route. We talked on the side of the road for about half an hour until we had to get going.... we still have eleven more miles of steep uphill climbing through Black Jack Canyon (which is next to Buzzard Roost Canyon, which is next to Rattlesnake Canyon - love the names).

As we climbed, one turn of the crank after another, one yard after another, one half mile after another, one mile after another, the valley began to spread out below us. Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen getting to my brain, but I was ecstatic.... What we saw was some of the most spectacular scenery I've seen. It was a panorama of colors and textures unable to be captured on film... though, of course, I tried. I've taken so many pictures I'm down to one SD card.

From mark on a bike 08

From mark on a bike 08

From mark on a bike 08

From mark on a bike 08

From mark on a bike 08

From mark on a bike 08

Erin passed us with a little less than a thousand feet of altitude left. He's a strong rider and is only carrying half of what Klaus is carrying and only twice what I'm carrying so he was able to breeze by us.

Klaus taught me a phrase used in Germany to describe something easy: "I could fart that with one cheek." It's become a common expression now. Stopped on the side of the road, sweat dripping off my nose, my shirt clinging to me, I look up at the seemingly neverending 8% grade and say, "One cheek." "One cheek!" is the reply. And off we'd go....

Our campground, Black Jack Campground, was just beyond the summit. For supper I had some soup which Klaus cooked for me.

We each set up our tents and climbed inside pretty fast because the mosquitoes were hungry.

At the very Eastern edge of this weird Arizona time zone it got dark at 6:30.

I blogged until 7:30 and fell asleep while writing.

42.6 miles
8.1 average
5:39:00 time
38.6 max
Altitude gained 3407 feet