Day 227 to 233 Seligman AZ to Silver City NM

In his post I decided to insert many but small pictures. If you want you can click on them to make them larger.

Day 227, 65 km

The owner of the motel in Seligman told me that it had been minus 23 degrees in the night (minus nine Fahrenheit). I was happy that I chose to sleep in the motel. At ten I left the place and followed the long but empty road east.

I passed the beautiful Mount Williams

and in the town with the same name I asked in the visitor center if they knew a cheap hostel. A very kind guy called Reagan said that there was one not far from were he lived. He offered me a ride in his pickup and drove me there.

Day 228, 35 km

Next morning It was below 20 degrees again and I decided to take a train 90 km from Williams to Grand Canyon. A return-ticket costed little more than 90 USD, entertainment on the trip was included.

In our wagon we had a funny cowboy singer

And a guide who actually told very interesting things about a lot.

When we arrived at Grand Canyon we only had to walk about 100 m to see this view:

Everybody was completely quiet when we saw it for the first minute. It REALLY was breathtaking.

I took about hundred pictures but they never can show you the truth.

You have to go there by yourself to make the experience!

Of the Colorado River I only saw this much. It was 1500 meter below me and to walk down would have taken a whole day. Actually I read that you never should plan to go down and up on the same day.

There were also huge Junipers along the edge.

And tourist from many different countries.

this is my third south Korean "girlfriend" on this blog!

In the afternoon I took the train back to Williams.

It was only 6 pm when I arrived there. Since the forecast promised milder weather I decided to ride some kilometers in the dark and then sleep somewhere in my tent.

Day 229, 110 km

The forecast was not right. When I woke up in the morning it was minus 18 degrees (zero Farenheit) and the blanket I had over my head was frozen. Also my contact lenses and all my waterbottles were frozen. Soon I found a McDonalds were I could warm up. Then I rode through Flagstaff, were I ate lunch outside a shop. I ate all fruit and vegetebles before they were freezing. I also bought some warmer shoes in a thriftstore.
Not far from Flagstaff I decided to visit Walnut Canyon, which was a detour of only ten kilometers. In this canyon once Indians had lived in the steep rocks.

I also decided to visit Meteor Crater, which was about a detour of about twenty kilometers. It was a huge crater, actually the first proven and best preserved of the world. Astronauts had been exercising there in the sixties before they were sent to the moon.

The diameter was about a mile and the depth about 180 m (550 feet)

There was also a museum where you could see and touch the biggest of the three pieces which were found.

Behind me you see the screen with a photo of the whole crater in the desert.

It was almost dark when I came back to the interstate (actually I was allowed to ride on the interstate that part of the route). After only one mile I found a public rest area where I could cook my dinner inside the restroom.

Considering the sign above but actually mostly because of the dropping temperature I decided to sleep inside the restroom as well. My bicycle and and my tent fitted exactly in one of the toilets for handicapped people.

Inside the restroom it was 13 plus-degrees, outside minus 18 in the morning...

Day 230, 145 km

It was a cold morning but sunny as every day since a week. I rode downhill most time that day. Around Winslow there were many shops were you could buy petrified wood.

They made really nice cuttings out of these trunks. The biggest of the world was claimed to be this one:

The owner told me that it was stuck nine feet into the ground and all pieces around belonged to the same tree.

I rode until late in the evening.

Then I spent another night in my tent. Although the lowest temperature was "only" minus 15 I was freezing a little. Maybe because had become so icy (from my condensed breath) during the nights before so it did not warm so much any more.

Day 231, 80 km

At 6:00 am somebody in a farm close to my tent released his dogs which found me and started barking. They would never stop so I decided to pack my things and leave the place. Although the dogs were around me all time, they did not bite me and were happy that I left.

It was not much water in the high desert. I had to ride about 80 km to the next place. Still I was happy because the cows behind the barbed wires could not find any water.

They only could lick the ice.
At another lake I decided to climb up on a 10 m high hill.

The view was beautiful!

On the top of the hill I found a strange crater, about 20 m in diameter and 8 m deep. I think it must have been a collapsed cave.

In the afternoon I arrived in Springerville, where I decided to stay for the night. I did not want to sleep another night outside so I went to a thriftstore and asked if they knew a place where I could stay for the night. A guy called Don who volunteered there, invited me to stay in his flat. He worked in a hospital although his home was in New Orleans. After thirteen weeks of work he flew back to his family and stayed there two weeks. He told me that there were no jobs in New Orleans.

In the evening I planned to update my blog but I had problem to transfer my pictures to my computer. Suddenly all seemed to be unreadable. Don tried to rescue them with his computer. It took several hours but finally he succeeded! I am very grateful to Don because I really liked the pictures I took at Grand Canyon!

Day 232, 120 km

I left Springerville to go south on route 180, to Silver City. There I was invited by Carl and Damie who were warmshower members. The had written that if I could make the 240 km before next day 3:00 pm I could join them and see an Indian powwow (dance event). I really did not want to miss it, so I climbed quite fast up on the "White Mountains", which were 2600 m high (8550').

Along the road I passed some lakes where many ducks were resting in the part which was not frozen.

For the first time since Siberia I also saw some birch trees.

But they did not look like the Swedish birches. I think it is another species. Due to a bad map I accidently chose the wrong road. I passed a huge area where there had been a forest fire.

Finally (after 17 km) I discovered my mistake and had to go back which was very annoying. This detour on icy roads

took 3,5 hours (the region was very mountainous that's why I was so slow).
I continued to New Mexico.

Late at night I thought that it was impossible to see the Powwow in Silver City. Only if I got a lift it would be possible. Some minutes after that thought actually a pickup stopped and offered me a lift!
I slept under a bridge in my tent that night and I slept very well.

Day 233, 80 km

It was "only" minus 12 degrees in the morning, for me this felt very warm.

I continued to Silver City, which was mostly downhill. In the end it anyway was uphill again and I passed this sign. It means that the rainwater beyond the sign goes to the Atlantic ocean.