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| Start of Day 48 Peridot, AZ |
The sun greeted us early this morning but it was still a bit chilly. We had a tough climb ahead us.
We would leave Peridot, AZ and the San Carlos Apache Reservation into Globe, AZ then to Miami, AZ. From Miami, which is located on the slope of the Pinal Mountains, it would be about an 8 mile climb up through the mountain pass and then down to Superior, AZ where we would grab lunch.
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| Strip mining fields Miami, AZ |
Miami, AZ was only established about 100 years ago and is a classic Western copper boomtown. From the base of our climb all the way to Queen Creek tunnel we had a grand view of the mining fields.
It was a tough climb and I quickly went from being a bit chilly to dripping with sweat. Yes, this is a common theme these days and a byproduct of waking up to 30 degree temperatures, layering like crazy then climbing thousands of feet and descending again. Cold. Hot. Cold. And repeat.
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| Climbing up.... |
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| ...to the top of Signal Mountain |
Once we reached the first summit we zipped up and prepared for our descent down through Devil's Canyon.
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| ...down towards Devil's Canyon |
The road plateaued for a while then we climbed for a second time. After reaching the top we sailed down, past a few bends in the road until we saw brake lights ahead. There was a line of traffic forming to get through the Queen Creek Tunnel, a tunnel through the mountain! They were allowing only one direction of vehicles through the tunnel at a time so we had to wait for about 5 minutes before we could enter.
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| Waiting to go through Queen Creek Tunnel |
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| Approaching the tunnel |
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| In the tunnel! |
Once we exited the tunnel we crossed over a spectacular bridge and then began our final descent into Superior, AZ where we had some excellent Mexican food for lunch!
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| The bridge after Queen Creek Tunnel |
Our last 25 miles today were essentially downhill and full of warmth and sunshine. At last! We rode out of Superior up a small climb called Gonzales Pass then down past Florence Junction and finally Apache Junction where we met Jim. During our afternoon ride we were passed by a line of decked out VW's, we rode past enormous cacti and soaked in the rays of sunshine.
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| VWs! |
Today we rode 79 miles from Peridot, AZ to Apache Junction, AZ. Jeff left us today and we will miss him dearly! Thanks for all your help Jeff.
Tomorrow we ride through the heart of Phoenix which might be a test of will + patience.
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| That little dot in the distance is me ;-) |
great job Emi, you're impressiveand i've enjoyed the journey that you both have ventured.
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