“Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen."  ~John Le Carre

I would like to make something really clear regarding Antelope Wells, NM.  It’s out on the frontier!  John Wayne, Outlaw Josey Wales, Billy the Kid country.  Not much at the border but a few buildings and some weeds.  The port station is only open from 8AM to 4PM.  Border Patrol trucks are running around and they will likely stop to check you out.  The National Guard was around as well, working with the border patrol.  I would recommend not trying to camp anywhere between Separ and the border (Hachita maybe) and not riding the section from Separ to the border at night. 

I rode the 125 miles from Silver City to the border in a day.  Other folks I knew of camped in Hachita, these folks went into pretty good detail on their blogsite.  I never met these folks, although I saw Jim at a distance when I went to pick up Erik and Christine the day after I hit the border.  Their blog is excellent, very informative, and worth checking out.  Probably the best info I’ve seen about Hachita in Great Divide Mountain Bike Route circles.

Silver City, NM is pretty much the logistical center for the border push.  I coordinated with my parents in Texas to meet me in Silver City prior to launching for the border.  I’ll take this hundredth opportunity to tell them “Thanks for doing that!”  

My advice for the section from Silver City to Antelope Wells and back out is to have a plan for getting out before you leave Silver City, preferably before even getting to Silver City.  The bike shop in Silver City (Gila Hike and Bike ) offers a shuttle and there may be other options that might be worth researching.  At least as of the time I was there, you could rent a car in Silver City.  I wouldn’t count on a water resupply at the border if you end up doing an out and back, though.

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