RAAZ Day 2 - Junipers Camping to Pines Camping

 Weds May 6, 2026

63.1 miles, 6486’ climbing

Merrit Spring Camping

In the morning we had a quick descent of 5-6 miles to the I93 freeway. The wide shoulder gave us plenty of space from the semis speeding past. After about a dozen rolling miles, we turned off onto a two lane highway. It had a wide shoulder for the first couple tenths of a mile as we pedaled up a hill steep enough to obscure any oncoming traffic. As we neared the top, a semi passed, and for some reason the driver headed over the blind hill across the double yellow line in the oncoming lane. Both our faces were probably contorted with confusion as we watched, wondering why any driver would choose such a dangerous maneuver. At the top of the hill, the driver pulled onto the left shoulder of the road, paused briefly, then took off into the correct lane. The shoulder disappeared, and we were left a little uncomfortable as we pedaled on to Bagdad, Arizona on a shoulderless road with lots of blind corners and hills. Thankfully the subsequent drivers seemed sane and courteous. After a turn and a few more miles, we pulled into Bagdad for lunch.

In Bagdad, we stopped for a great burger at the charming diner. Next door we resupplied at the Bashas grocery store, loading up to full capacity with water and putting some gatorades on our forks. 

Although we had passed through a lot of snakey looking country, we had only seen 2 deceased, run over, unidentifiable snakes. As we left Bagdad, we saw a long, slim, pinkish snake crossing the road. We hoped it would make a good choice before an oncoming truck came by. It seemed to sense the approach, and very rapidly it turned around and whipped off the road.

Soon we turned off on a long climb where we saw cattle, rocky cliffs, and blooming century plants. It was hot. Finally we turned a corner and found ourselves passing a ranch in the junipers. Around 10 large deer ran across the road. We saw another snake, only 12-14”, unidentified, lounging on the dirt road. 

The country was beautiful, and then we came around the corners and found ourselves in the pines near a beautiful ranch with a pond and longhorn cattle. We wound through pine trees and granite boulders for about a dozen miles. Ed surprised a turkey in the middle of the road at one point. Just short of our mileage goal, we saw a good camping spot, possibly Merritt Spring, at the road side. We were ready, and we made camp.