Can this be correct? I had better start training!

ridewithGPS says over 10,000 feet of climbing.

mapmyride says over 11,000 feet of climbing.

Our longest day to my memory was the day over Rainy and Washington Passes at 7,500 feet of climbing. I was toast . . .

Oh, boy!

Edit - It took less than a day for sanity to prevail. Even Jacinto seemed doubtful. I was floored when Jacinto said he was willing to camp if we couldn't come up with a better solution. This is the man who never, ever camps. Luckily I found an airbnb halfway. We would have two 5,000 foot climbing days back to back and have to ride a dirt road to a hunting camp as our overnight spot. But that is more doable than 10,000 feet of climbing in one day.

Plus, I think this is going to be a scenic part of the trip. I'd like to be able to enjoy looking around instead of worrying about getting down the road. There are still some crazy grades listed on the elevation profile. It's possible we might be walking in spots. It shall be interesting!

Edit - 5/19/20 -

I’ve worried about the steep climbing out of Morenci for so long that even Jacinto is now concerned. We were looking at the map again in detail last night. There’s a short stretch the google guy won’t look at, but I can see on satellite view. It shows about a mile section of between 30-36% grade. Is that even possible? But, it isn’t a tunnel, I can see it on the satellite. We broke it down by the mile . . . . things look bad, very bad.

Jacinto pulled the area up on Strava, to see what differed. Strava had a warning that there was an area forbidden to bicycles. ??? Maybe that was the tunnel?

I got on google and searched for ‘forbidden bicycling Morenci’. It pulled up a Morenci bicycle club which had a route in 2015 called the Blue Loop - a three day tour. Hmmm. Further info shows - http://www.bicycletucson.com/rides-events/event-blue-loop-bicycle-tour/9260

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32687657 - notice that they don’t ride north out of Morenci, but east instead.

I googled their first destination of Glenwood, NM - low and behold, there’s several places to stay in Glenwood.

To cut the story somewhat, I believe we are going to follow their route around. We still have to cross the Mongollon Rim, but now we have a ~6,000 foot climbing day in 60 miles, as opposed to ~6,000 feet of climbing in 35 miles. Bonus is that we won’t have the dirt road at the end to the bunkhouse where we will either have to carry food or make arrangements with the owner for a meal. Which he was willing to do. I feel kind of bad to cancel the bunkhouse. The man has been very nice. But it was a 1.7 mile dirt ride with 435 feet of climbing back to the highway. I suspect that the dirt might have loose dirt, as so many in Arizona do. I’d be walking.

So. I’m quite happy. I will sleep far better at night. Jacinto insists he’s not feeling bad about missing the big climb through Morenci Mine, as even he would be pushing the bike.

Downside is that Hannagan Meadow Lodge states they have a no refund policy and have already charged me $135. deposit. I was really looking forward to staying there. It is possible to backtrack south, with a hefty climb, just to stay there.

I’m going to work out the details. Note that I am awake at 5 AM thinking of all of this . . . but I feel SO, SO much better. It’s still a horrible climb, but at least the grades are reasonable. Plus, we get to claim another state. The cabins at Glenwood, NM are reasonably priced and there’s also food. A pizza place or a bar. A trading post also - sounds like a cute little area.

I don’t know why I couldn’t find this on my own. Or maybe (probably) I got stuck on the Arizona Mayor who said that Hannagan Meadow is the most beautiful area of the state. So that means I have to stay there. Remember the caboose in Canada? That ended up being memorable for the wrong reasons! See the following photo link for details.