Day 02 Antelope Wells to north of Hachita

I woke early with the sun, the bird life in this riparian strip a raucous alarm clock. Walking along the banks of the Rio Grande I wished I had more time to identify the great diversity of flora and fauna. We packed up and were in Truth or Consequences for a grand (no pun intended) slam breakfast at the local Denny's, then 3 more hours to the border and our official starting point- Antelope Wells.

Their are no towns in Antelope Wells, just guard stations on each side of the border. It is the quietest official crossing point along the whole US-Mexico border. Low volume- yes. We saw only 2 non-government vehicles those first 60 miles. Quiet- no. We saw over 2 dozen border patrol in that time and a huge new guard station being built. Our tax dollars at (mis)use.

By the time we had loaded up the bikes and were prepared to head out it was high noon, 103 degrees, 0 % humidity. We crossed briefly into Mexico to chat with the Federales then turned and started pedaling north along a big open valley. The Hatchet Mountains were to the east and the Animas Mountains and the geographic continental divide to the west. Dust devils frequented the dry, flat Chihuahua desert. A tumble weed 4 feet tall sped by almost knocking me off my bike. A brisk SW wind sped us along till we reached the spot where the official CDT crossed the road we were riding. At this point the CDT is cross country with no trail tread. Hikers simply walk from post to post each spaced several hundred yards from the next through the desert. I was glad we were on pavement.

Half way into our ride Ken reappeared with cold AZ iced teas.The little store in Hachita was open and he knew we could use the break. We thanked him profusely as we chugged them down (32 oz gone in a heartbeat) and wished him well a second time. Several times we were buzzed by Air Force fighter jets doing low altitude runs a mere 200 ft above the valley floor, covering in seconds the distance we'd taken all afternoon to pedal.

By 3:30pm we were in Hachita , population 49, and decided a siesta was in order. We hung out in the shade of the general store eating ice cream and drinking water for hours. We even cooked up our dinner before deciding it had cooled down enough to ride again. This became our usual pattern on hot days in NM- rise early, ride till 12 or 1pm, siesta till 6-7pm, ride again till dusk. After a few miles we pulled off the pavement and onto a cow trail winding through the desert. Though we could not tell because of the flatness of the terrain, we were on the divide. We found a nice spot to camp . A horned toad helped Cassi journal. The coyotes serenaded us to sleep.