Day 19 Silver City to Iron Creek 38 miles

Oct 7th
I get up at 7.15 , dawn, to find the bike troup clearing away breakfast and preparing to set off , they kindly offer me their left over doughnuts and orange juice before setting off to conquer the Emory pass on the road to Kingston (the same route I'll be taking) I bid them farewell and scoff the leftovers. I'm away by 9.15, curiously I pass a group of them heading back to Silver City as I leave town. Today is the toughest perhaps on the whole route, the dreaded Emory pass looms ahead 8328ft , 2,500m the highest point on the whole journey. At 10 miles out I stop at a junction and ponder my options, go right to Deming and shave 30 miles off the journey to El Paso and avoid the pass or go left for a climb of 2000ft followed by a desent followed by a further 3,000ft climb. At this very moment a female cyclist appears (jenny the owner of KOA in Silver City) I debate my options with her and she convinces me to take the high road .
I'm glad I took her advice, after the first climb I decend into an impossibly beautiful valley where I find the hamlet of San Lorenzo and stop at the 'Corner Store' for lunch. I am made most welcome by Julie and the staff and locals who take an interest in my journey, Julie shows me messages on the ceiling tiles from other travelers who have stopped at this little 'Shangri-la'. Some it seems never leave, giving the little town an interesting mixture of old hippies , traditional cowboys, farmers and retirees.
I leave my message and fortified with the delicious lunch set off in high spirits, I really enjoyed Julie's tasty homemade cheescake which I devoured an hour into the climb thanks again Julie if you read this.
Its hard going but there are three forestry campsites on the way and I figure it might be fun to stop for the night at one. The scenery in the Black Mountains is breathtaking and at 5pm I am at the 3rd campsite' iron creek' 1,000ft below the pass, I could go for it but decide to make camp and enjoy the two hours that remain before darkness. Its a remote location andwhen the few cars stop passing as the night draws in, it feels a wee bit scary 'in the dark in the night, alone in the forest' the little noises set your mind working.
It gets very cold but I am snug inside the tent and dont leave till daylight, what you can't see can't hurt you!

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