• Day 3: We had a good night's sleep; we did hear some distant Coyotes during the night.
• We did not realize that we were only 5 miles from our destination (Valle Tio Vinces Camp Ground).
• We had performed most of the higher angle climbing the previous evening with a full supply of water, about 5 Gallons (20 Liters) at about 41 pounds or 18 kilos in weight.
• We saw a total of three vehicles for the entire day (1 sedan and 2 pickup trucks).
• The ride itself was uneventful and wonderfully enjoyable (our favorite type of ride).
• We had previously (in 2013) biked from Valle Tio Vinces Camp Ground to Pie Town, so on this day we completed a gap between two previously ridden bike tours.

Day 3 - Travel from Our Free Camp near Mile 34.2 (in Gila NF) to
Valle Tio Vinces Camp Ground at Mile 29.5 (in Gila NF, NM)

Above Left: We awoke to clear skies.

Above Right: We had a fair amount of dew on our tent.

Above Left: We shook off most of the condensation and we will let the sun dry out some of the morning dew and dry out some of our moist expiration inside the tent. This moisture (inside and outside) is common with camping and not all of the moisture will evaporate; we usually have to pack a tent that is NOT completely dry. The tent usually dries out when we set it up at the next campsite and then the dry-wet cycle starts all over again

Above Right: A clean campsite. Terry is warming herself with my morning coffee.

Above Left: We left no trace.

Above Right: We're off and the morning sun is directly behind us. We will be climbing in general.

Above: Wildflower: Scarlet Gilia, Gilia Aggregata.

Above: We're heading up a canyon. There are cows around.

Above Left: The name is Paterson's Canyon.

Above Right: We love riding through a Pine Forest.

Above Left: We're heading up Patterson's Canyon, northbound on NF-214.

Above Right: We seem to be out of the Canyon area and in higher elevation rolling pine woodlands.

Above: We're northbound on NF-214 in higher elevation rolling pine woodlands.

Above: We are climbing between gentle and low slope angles. The woodland is beautiful.

Above Left: Gentle slope, old fire scars, and cattle grazing make for good visibility.

Above Right: 24 Miles to Hwy 60 - That's English for 24 Miles to Pie Town. While not marked, NF-18 is the road that heads west at the intersection and NF-214 heads east from the intersection. The road to Hwy 60 and NF-214 are the same road. We're looking due north and all of the implications have to be reasoned from the one fact that that states '24 Miles to Hwy 60'.

Our Major Route Intersection for the Day
NF-18 Heads West/Left and NF-214 Turns East/Right
We're Turning Right!

Above Left: A closer look at the intersection, NF-18 heads west (and returns to NM Hwy-12) and NF-214 turns east/right (then north) and heads to Pie Town and Valle Tio Vinces.

Above Right: We're on NF-214 getting ready to turn north (left) into a big high altitude park.

Above: A big open grass park that is only a mile away from Valle Tio Vinces. We're looking and heading north.

Above: US Highway-60 is 23 miles North (straight ahead). Slaughter Mesa on NF-13 is 7 miles West (left). And, Quemado is 18 miles West (left). We're going straight/north.

Above: We're pedaling northward on NF-214 and departing the large park area.

Above: We passing by another turn-off (all are good navigation aids). This is the turn-off for the Mangas Lookout (which is about 100 yards/meters further up the road on the right-hand side).

Above Left: NF-3040A is the road ID for the road that leads through Valle Tio Vinces Campground for Gila National Forest, NM.

Above Right: The sign says 'Valle Tio Vinces, Campground, [and] Public Corrals'. One of the Public Corrals is in the background.

Above: Valle Tio Vinces, Campground, Public Corrals, No Water but with Public Toilets. This is our destination for the day. The Campsite is empty of Campers but it does have some Cattle grazing.

• It was good for our souls to complete this journey (as we had to turn back on this same leg once before becaus we had not planned for enough food due to having taken two days just to travel 40 miles instead of one day).
• It was also good that we handled taking a wrong turn so well (7 miles off-course back on Day 1).
• It was good to complete this previously skipped GDMBR Segment. We have now (in 2015) ridden the GDMBR from Antelope Wells (on the the Mexico/New Mexico Border) to Pie Town, New Mexico. In the following days we biked from Pie Town to Grants, NM (in Adventure #57)

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