Day 18 To the Canyon June 29, 2001

Battered AA battery on road side count: 10

Day 18 (June 29) To the Canyon
Checque out was @ 11am but since AZ doesn't do Daylight Savings Time that
is actually noon to ME. ! trued up MY wheel and adjusted the brakes and made
it out just in time. MY map says that the canyon is about 100 feet lower than
Flagstaff. There are three mountains along the way though so the road weaved
in between them up to 8,046' Then it dropped to 6,000' in Valle. ! had had 2
flats already and while talking to the guy @ the little store it went flat
again. ! went to the Flintstones Village for lunch and got out of there w/
2.5 hours 'til sunset, 20 miles and 800' of climbing to the nearest campsite.
! time trialed it for the first 10 miles and had another flat. The last few
miles ! didn't push 100% but they still hurt. The campsite had plenty of
spots open so ! was OK and on the way in ! met this cute Wendy. ! went over
to her site and we talked for about 3 hours. She lives in Boulder and did an
11 week tour last summer. She also used to race and does Karate.We're going
to go to breakfast in town later. Then !'ll take the airplane tour of the
Canyon and head to Williams, AZ for tonight. 77 miles.