February 16th, 2010

Today we said our goodbyes to Judoka and his family and proceeded onwards with our journey.  We were heading northeast towards Petrified Forest National Park.  Can’t imagine there would be many dirt roads since the whole idea is to preserve what’s left of the Petrified Forest.  Needless to say it shall be interesting nonetheless. 

Judoka warned us that when we head up towards the park, we would be riding through high elevation and the conditions might be dicey at this time of year.  We were hoping we can spot it ahead of time and dress accordingly, but that seldom happens when you find your groove and you’re on a roll.  So there we were, riding along and noticing the few patches of snow on either side of us all of a sudden become massive snow banks!  Where did all this come from?  I thought we left all of this behind us a few thousand miles ago.  Lucky for us the skies were clear and sunny, but the temperature was borderline freezing.  I remember we had to stop because our poor fingers couldn’t hack it any longer and had to resort back to our winter gloves buried deep down in our saddle bags.  I actually thought we wouldn’t be needing them until we got to Alaska maybe, but I guess I thought wrong.  After an hour or so riding, we notice the snow banks disappearing and the temperature rise back to a reasonable riding level.  The park was closing in half an hour by the time we arrived and felt there wasn’t any point in riding to the park headquarters and inquire about camping.  We did notice a few teepees beside a gift shop near the south entrance…

We made it!

Looks alright...I think this will work.

The wind started to pick up as the sun was setting.  Having our tent set up in here saved us from setting up the rain fly and kept us warmer too!

Bikes covered and close by

I might have mentioned this already; I don’t remember, but we’ve managed to cut our costs down even more by saving the packaging from our $5 Louisiana Beans Boil-in-the-Bag and reusing them to cook $1 “Sidekick” dishes you find at Wally World or any grocery store for that matter.  Doesn’t taste as good, but what more can you ask for from a buck that feeds 2 heads?   

There were little pieces of woodchips scattered all over near the teepee, but felt like granite to the touch.  I guess this is what they call petrified wood. 



305 km



Up onto high ground.

Snow storm not too long ago.

Ancient forest awaits.