Tour Divide '24: Day 8 - Silver City to Hachita

 We arose early from our luxury accomodations at Motel 6 intent on covering as much of the 80+ miles to Hachita before it was blazing hot. We knew it would be hot at some point, but at least there's a store with cold drinks and ice cream down along I-10 to help break things up. We stopped by McD's as soon as they opened and loaded up on calories + a McMuffin for the road. Another quick gas station stop to top off on drinks and we were on our way out of town.

We made an executive decision the previous night to stay true to the 2019 route and not take the new additions south of Silver City and Hachita for the 2024 edition of the Tour Divide. We wanted to finish the route we started. I'll come back sometime soon to check out the new stuff, when it's nice and cool.

I told you it was luxury accommodations. The flooring 'almost' fit. Almost.

Silver City arch on Broadway Rd.

The first few miles were undulating pavement with a large shoulder.

Tailings from the large open-pit copper mine in Tyrone. The mine has been in operation since 1967.

Ups and downs as we cover ground south.

The community of White Signal marks our return to dirt.

Separ Rd. will take us down to I-10.

It's already getting toasty, found some shade while we chowed down on a second breakfast.

Transitioning from Evergreen trees to Yucca plants.

The road surface was really nice to ride on, so smooth.

I wasn't expecting any canyon riding today, but we had a couple miles of it.

The riding was fast as things began to open up.

That hill looks a bit steep from here...

Yeah it was. Let's walk a bit more, shall we?

Those distant peaks are starting to feel like they could be in Mexico.

Looks like the only one possibly in Mexico is Cerro Grande still a long ways off. PeakFinder app.

So far the wind was cooperating, slight cross-tail wind.

Nothing says southern New Mexico more than the Yucca.

Couple of cool cats keeping an eye out for cyclists.

The route made a slight turn to the west and our good fortune with the wind ended. It was now a full headwind, but it wasn't too bad as I don't think it was more than 15mph. It actually felt ok, keeping the air moving as the temps continued to rise. It was now well into the 90's. Not too much further until I-10 and cold drinks. I was also craving an ice cream Snickers bar, hopefully they have some.

Thorn Ranch, heard it was open to bikers, but we kept on pedaling.

Justin is a mere speck on this long open road. I couldn't keep up when he went full aero mode.

Approaching the busy I-10 corridor at Separ.

All quiet on the rails at the moment. This is the Union Pacific line.

I-10 underpass.

Snitches get stitches, yo.

Bill & Ted's or John & Justin's??

Separ is a one-stop shop kinda place. Yes, they had frozen Snickers bars!!

Met our first northbound racer, Dave Reeck and his danger Chicken. Go, Dave!! There was another GDMBR northbound tourer with Dave, his first ever bikepacking ride. Dove into the deep end, hope he's having the time of his life out there.

We swapped biking business cards.

Thought it was funny they blocked one side of the gas pump to park these in the shade.

Giddy up!!

Grabbed a touristy shot while there.

Indeed. The place was filled with all kinds of stuff. Found a nice Route 66 patch for our coffee table. I took a peek at the local weather: 98º. Yep, toasty.

26 hot miles until Hachita. Leaving Separ you follow the I-10 frontage road, starts paved, then turns to dirt.

New Mexico had it's fair share of abandoned buildings on route. Adds to the charm.

3D pistachio billboard. 172 miles to crave them.

146 south, that's our exit.

Incoming shade break!!

First sign for Antelope Wells!!

Home stretch on the long journey, 19 miles to Hachita.

Wide open road and spaces out here. Big Hatchet Peak straight ahead. Traffic was minimal, so it wasn't a big deal there wasn't a shoulder. However, there was a ghost bike barely a few miles south of the freeway as a reminder to always be on guard.

The miles were ticking by fairly quickly. Any time we found a bit of shade, we stopped for a few minutes. If anything, it felt nice to get out of the sun. As you can see, shade was extremely limited.

The final crossing of the Continental Divide.

Hachita coming into view.

Hachita Food Mart, the only store in town. First up: chocolate milk.

The small store had a little of everything.

It seemed more than half the buildings here were in a stage of decay, empty shells of their previous life. The town of Hachita has some interesting history. The cycling and hiking communities are helping to keep this small desert town alive.

Brief history from the linked article above.

We made our way over to the Community Center where we'd setup camp for the night.

There was another northbound tourer who arrived a bit before us. He had a few very adventurous days getting to Hachita from the east. His ride had him melting in temps well over 100º. He said there would be two others arriving shortly, a father and son from Toronto.

Wide open space here. We grabbed two cots and moved them next to the door after sunset as the desert air outside was beginning to get comfortable.

There were outlets throughout, but only a handful worked. We did find some large fans and extension cords to get some air movement inside. I made my way back over to the store to get something for dinner and to load up for tomorrow's ride. I bought all kinds of stuff and when I went to checkout, I thought the girl said $60, which I really didn't think much about. Gas station fare isn't exactly cheap. When the total appeared on the credit card machine, I couldn't believe it: $16.50. Whoa. I guess they keep things cheap for the few locals who call this place home. Either was I way ready for some ramen and a Hot Pocket!! Haha.

Full kitchen too. All our cold drinks for the next day would start out chilled.

The other two riders arrived and we found out the guy's son was only 11 years old. The father seemed to be a very experienced outdoor person and had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. The son was eager to ride the route on his 24" bike. They still had a few logistics to figure out, like downloading maps, etc. Both Justin and I were a little concerned for them since the next couple of days would be in the heat. I'm happy to report as of this writing a photo was posted online of the two at Bodes in Abiquiu!! They made it through the heat and are now headed to the high country and into Colorado. What were you doing when you were 11? I know I wasn't riding my bike across the country. Lifetime memories for sure. Best of luck fellas.

Streets in town are dirt. For every run down building, there was a nice one.

Our final sunset on the Divide.

It was beginning to sink in, tomorrow is the day we finally put a wrap on this ride. Only 46 miles remained until Antelope Wells, all on pavement. Justin's wife and son had been touring National Parks and monuments during our ride and they'd be driving in from Deming, NM. They would get there before Kara, as she was driving over from the Phoenix area and would also lose an hour with the time change. We set our alarms and hoped we could get some shuteye in the warm air.

Route:

Strava Link

Full photo album for Day 8

Here is a full Tour Divide Index from each day on the route.