Salt River Canyon

We started biking again from Showlow through a beautiful forest of Ponderosa Pine. It was a really lovely ride. We stopped for an early lunch/ tire changing stop by the side of the road. A couple had passed us and turned around and came to see if everything was OK. The man gave us 40$?!

We got on the road again and the wind started to pick up. Again, a woman passed us, turned around and came back. She told us that we shouldn't ride the Salt Canyon, that it was long, steep and gnarly.

Meanwhile, it is windy (gust to 50 miles/hour). We have already ridden 20 miles today. There is a storm brewing and Andy feels sick from a head cold. Time to hitchhike!
Now you'd think it would be tricky to get a ride with our rigs (I used to) but we seem to always find a ride when it is needed. We really hitchhike for safety reasons so by the time we have our thumbs out, we are pretty determined...

We got a ride with Byron, a retired aeronautical engineer from Phoenix who was pulling a trailer full of wood; we piled our bikes on top of the wood.

Our jaws dropped when we saw the canyon; there is no way we would have ridden this road with our kids. Way too long and gnarly.

Byron took us to Globe where Andy is getting better. We put the money from the generous stranger towards our hotel stay. Thank you Random Roadside Arizona Stranger!

We will be heading north to Roosevelt Lake for a break and to celebrate Sylvie's birthday.

We are getting close to Tucson!!!

Martine