Day 11: Kaibab National Forest to Cow Springs

Posted by: Arin 

Another long morning.

Today started off normally; breakfast, packing, etc all done by around 9:30-10. What held us back from leaving then was a flat (not mine!). The wheel on Dave's trailer had been slowly leaking air for the past few days, but when he went to pump it up all the air escaped. We pulled out the tube and the base of the valve was busted. Also, no spare 16 inch tube.

We decided to patch an old 700c tube and fold it over itself to get Dave rolling. Now our problem was a shraeder valve hole and a presta valve with no threading, which was easily fixed with duct tape.

We successfully got Dave rolling and were on the road by 11. After a couple miles of downhill we said our goodbyes and Brad and I were off. The start of the day was great, with tons of downhill and amazing views. Our first stop was at a little roadside stand so that brad could buy some elk jerky. The location of the store was amazing.

After a bit more riding we came to a place called Little Colorado River Gorge (or something like that). We had to stop, and the views there were stunning.

We continued with almost exclusively downhill until we got to Cameron, where we stopped for some snacks. Unfortunately I got a flat right as we rolled into the parking lot so we had to deal with that too. From there it was 18 miles north on the 89 until we reached the 160, where it was another 15 to Tuba City. The miles seemed to fly by until we were about 3 miles from Tuba City. An old Native American man was yelling at us to come over to him across the street. We obliged, and the man told us that he was deaf and to call the cops. He didn't really speak English so we couldn't figure out what for. A younger man in his thirties ran over to help, but as he reached us a dust storm hit. None of us could communicate for almost a minute as we were barraged by sand and wind. Finally the younger man was able to tell us they had everything under control, as the old man seemed out of his wits. We continued on to Tuba City.

We were hungry, so we split a hot-n-ready cheese pizza before picking up some groceries. When all was said and done it was after 6 and darkness was coming. We thought we were going to ride maybe 10-15 more miles and then find a place under the road to sleep, but nowhere was suitable and we carried on. From Tuba City we ended up riding 22 miles to Red Lake (not actually a lake). It was pitch dark by then so we went into the little food mart to ask for some advice. They told us we could sleep out back, but one look at that spot and there was no way we were staying there. Broken glass covered the ground and we had heard there were a lot of drunk people around. Way too sketchy.

An Indian (not Native American) man started to talk to us about what we were doing. They were headed where we came from, but luckily another family overhead us talking from their truck. A 13-year-old boy came up to us and asked us if we had anywhere to sleep for the night. When we said no, he told us his mom said we could stay with them. We got some directions from her, and found out we had to ride another 9 miles down the highway to a place on the reservation called Cow Springs. Time to go.

We had a tailwind so going was fast, but the sprinkling that had been going on lightly throughout the day was progressing towards being real rain. We pushed on, getting wet on this pitch dark highway. We finally arrived and were welcomed into the house. What followed was a bizarre change of pace. After bringing the stuff we needed in and putting our bikes in the shed, we sat at the table with three kids and stuffed plastic Easter eggs for their family get-together while the kids dyed real eggs. 

Meanwhile, the woman who let us stay at the house was butchering a sheep with her mother. Her father was also around helping the kids dye eggs. The mom has a farm, and they had slaughtered the sheep earlier in the day. She spoke a Navajo language, but our host estimated the sheep would provide their family with 20 meals. We did a load of laundry and fell asleep in the living room.

The offer had been proposed for us to come to their family Easter event today (Saturday), but we decided that it would be best to continue our journey. Nevertheless, these people are amazing and saved us from a potentially miserable night. This trip is really showing me that there are wonderful people out there in the world, and somehow the stars are aligning for us to meet them.

Thank you so much to our hosts!