A short mileage, but long struggle of a day. Last night I came to realize that despite my level of condition, I could not climb out of the Tularosa Valley and then do another 80 miles to Artesia. I checked and there were no hotels on that route for the entire 80 miles. So, I would have either made it to Artesia or bust. Bust was not acceptable--I don't want to make a mistake that will jeopardize the trek by exhausting myself and getting sick. That, my cracked tooth acting up, and the weather report describing thunderstorms in the afternoon meant a rethinking of today's route. The only option was to go north to Ruidoso then on to Roswell.
After Tularosa and an hour's climb, I looked back to see the extent of the White Sands in the valley below. It covered a huge expanse, much larger than maps could communicate.
About two thirds of the way up the air cooled to around 75 degrees and the environment shifted from desert to more grasses and trees both connifer and hardwood. Ponderosa pines lined the highway.
The climb on Route 70 went through the Mescalero Apache Reservation. I stopped for lunch at the tribal store and toured the cultural museum. Surprisingly, the quality of the highway changed at the Reservation border--older and less well maintained. Route 70 is a US highway. I'm not sure how the funding for it works with the Reservation system.
Apache Summit at 7591 feet was a welcome sight and prefaced a long down hill all the way into Ruisodo.
Since I could not go on to Roswell, my day ended early. I decided to chance calling a dentist hopefully to do something about the increasing ache in my damaged tooth. Luckily, the one I called had an opening opening and agreed to see me. Two teeth were cracked, and he filed one down to reduce the irritation and the aching. I'm to continue with ibuprofen. Hope the fix works!