Black Canyon Trail Arizona December 2018

blueeyes

ephemeral excursionist
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
1,110
Black Canyon Trail Day 1



Early November I threw out an invite to any interested party to join me riding the Black Canyon Trail in Arizona. A few people showed interest but only one person committed Micheal Woodruff who was wintering in Sedona. Micheal told me pick your dates, weekdays work best, I will get the time off work.

My first bikepack trip was with Micheal in Idaho from Island Park to Elk Lake Lodge Montana so I was more than happy to accommodate his schedule. He is a great bikepack companion. He knows good food, excellent beer, and has a laid back hippy attitude that just goes with the flow of the trail.

He knows I am a slow roll on a bike and my goal is to enjoy the little things on the trail instead of mashing the pedals to ride far and fast. I may be slow but he knows I am a strong solid rider and if the going gets tough I won't quit until we both call it.

Good adventure partners are worth their weight in gold.

The BCT is approximately 70 miles and 99% single track. I wanted to complete the trail in 3 days 2 nights. My goal was to ride a minimum of 20 miles the first 2 days of the trip, leaving a slightly longer 30 mile third day. This turned out to be too lofty of a goal. One description of the trail said the trail was 100% rideable. It should have include a caveat that says “If your an animal.”

I injured my left hamstring late November and was off the bike for 16 days and once given the okay to ride was told I couldn't stand up to pump up a hill and only had 10 days to try and get as many miles in as my leg could handle riding before the start of the trip.

I left Northern Utah Sunday December 16th and took two nights to get to the Carefree Highway on the outskirts of Phoneix. I stayed one night at Lake Powell and rode the fatbike on the beach and one night at Powell Springs CG near Camp Verde, AZ. My sleep pad kept deflating during the night so my sleep was less than desirable before starting the trip. I left Powell Springs by 5 AM Tuesday morning to meet Micheal at the Arizona Game and Fish (seriously does Arizona have to be different than everyone else?) on the Carefree Highway by 7:30 AM. I wanted to get there early so I could do my last check of gear and make sure I had everything packed and ready to go. I made it by 6:00 AM and parked right in front of the building. Michael arrived about 6:30 AM and parked in an overflow area.

Neither one of us knew the other was already there waiting. Micheal had told me he might be a bit late so I wasn't expecting him until after 7:30 AM. At 7:43 Micheal called me. “Good morning, where you at?” he asked. “I am sitting here in front of fish and game, well game and fish.” I hear a chuckle. He inquires “in front of the building with big glass windows? When did you get here?” “Yes that is where I am parked, 6AM so I could do a last gear check, why? Are you here? When did you get here?” I replied. “6:30 I am parked near the shooting range in overflow parking, just East of the building.” I think we both rolled are eyes a bit and laughed. I told him I was glad he called. I knew he might be late and didn't want to bug him by texting. I was just waiting patiently.

We decided to leave my car and take his to highway 69 where we would start the trip. Micheal told me he was really anxious about the trip. I nodded with understanding and said usually I am but I oddly I had no nerves about this trip. I was super excited to get started. He asked if I had a map. Yes, GPS on my phone with 2 separate backup battery chargers. I wanted a paper map but had not been able to get one with detail that would be useful. He said he was relying on me, that he didn't have a map or GPS. Okay, now I have a small amount of anxiety. If we get lost or my phone craps out it is all on me this time. He added that the trail should be well traveled, we most likely wouldn't have problems. On our way up I-17 we stopped at Bumble Bee road and cached a gallon of water each. I had tried contacting someone with local bikepack knowledge about the water situation and never got a response. We both felt better leaving some water than just hoping we would be lucky to find suitable water on trail to filter.

It didn't take us very long at the Big Bug trailhead to load our bikes with gear. We started riding at 10:15 AM. Which is about what I figured. This only gave us 6.5 hours to go 20ish miles. I have rolled on average with a loaded fatbike 6-8 MPH. We should be good. We headed through the gate and immediately you are faced with a choice to go right or left. Micheal chose left. We rode 60 feet before I said hang on let me see what this map says. We were off track already. We both laughed turned the bikes around and head back for the trail on the right. The trail started off with a climb, great way to warm up. I remember thinking to myself, this route is mostly downhill, right?

I love the desert, the dry heat and stark landscapes that some might not find beauty in. I sometimes miss living in the desert and that is when I know it is time for a desert fix. This trip more than satisfied my desert craving it made me fall in love all over again with the sand, grit and all things with spines.

The first 20 miles put a grin on our faces from ear to ear. That is some of the best single track I have ever ridden. The perfect amount of flow and technical challenge on my loaded fatbike. I could ride that section over and over again. It was an undulating dirt ribbon of pure enjoyment as it hugged the contours of the desert and descended towards Bumble Bee Ranch. We were blessed with beautiful blue skies and perfect temperatures for riding in the Sonoran Desert. For me this was one of the best days ever on a bike.

As we came to a bridge that crosses Bumblebee Creek we made the decision to save the “grueling 6 mile climb” to our water cache for the morning and camp next to the trickling creek. It was a beautiful oasis we couldn't pass up. As we set up camp Micheal said we would pay for today's riding bliss.

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Me waiting early in the morning excited to get on the trail.
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Micheal's loaded bike
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My loaded bike
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Micheal ready to SHRED!
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Cockpit of my bike and looking down a flat section of trail
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Windmill about 5 miles in.
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Me taking photo of Micheal taking video of me.
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Just some random shots of riding on the trail.
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Bikes taking a rest while we had a snack.
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More random trail bits
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First Saugaro! This is just a little guy.

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Micheal surveying the trail.
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We stopped and lunched in this spot
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This is a trail guardian, he has large snout.
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I love the saguaro's, I could have taken a photo of everyone of them.
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Ocotillo, hummingbirds like this plant.
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Our first camp spot on the Bumble Bee Creek

Day 2 coming soon....
 
Black Canyon Trail Day 2

Bed time was early because of the short winter day and as the sun dropped behind the mountain the desert air reminded us it was indeed December. I was really cold before I climbed into bed and therefore could not warm up. It didn't help that my Big Agnes sleep pad kept deflating all night long. Had I known there was an REI in Flagstaff I would have stopped and bought a new pad before the trip. I had been fighting the mat the previous two nights as I made my way to Arizona.

As I shivered through the night I just kept telling myself that the sun would come out tomorrow and I would be warm again. I woke up 5 times in the night and blew my pad back up and had to pee. Never do I wake up that much, at least I wasn't dehydrated. Finally I gave up being cold and dug out the package of hand warmers and stuffed them in my socks. When I am exhausted I simply cannot get warm. I have a good sleeping bag and had a good pad. I was too tired to deal with boiling water and pouring it into my nalgene bottle before bed. But after this night I resigned myself to the fact that hot water will be mandatory bedtime routine when I camp in colder temps.

Around 6:45 AM I made myself coffee to warm up and waited for the sun. Micheal woke soon after and so did the pissed off bull we heard snorting the night before. That bull went on and on I am thinking he was looking for his women and she wanted none of it. We both looked at each other as soon as we heard him and laughed. I was a bit concerned he would come into our camp in the middle of the night and stomp on us he sounded that pissed off.

My sleeping bag was damp and the tent had frost on it. We would have to wait for the sun to shine on our camp to dry stuff out before packing up. After my breakfast I wandered around the area taking pictures of anything that interested me, which was pretty much everything. I found an old mine entrance, dead saguaro, live saguaro, and many other variety of cactus. The Sonoran desert amazes me with the amount of plants that want to pierce your soft flesh.

As soon as my stuff was dried out we packed up and started riding by 10:15 AM. This was not good getting a late start on the second day. But we both really loved our choice for camp. It was nice listening to the stream gurgle at night.

The climb to our water cache (4.5 miles) started immediately after we crossed the bridge. This was that start of a grueling 6 mile climb. Honestly it wasn't bad for a climb. We couldn't understand why someone would call it grueling. We kept pedaling and enjoyed every turn as we inched up and up.

As the day before, when it came to any climb that required me to grunt up or potentially stand up on and grind the pedals I had to get off and walk the bike because of the injured hamstring. I was given a stern lecture by my physical therapist before this trip. I was being a good girl and for most of the trip, my leg never gave me an issue. Just once when I was hiking the bike, I almost tripped. I had to quickly side step to keep from falling and this movement did cause some pain.

I had just come around a tricky section of trail that took us on a sharp right turn and up a steep climb when I heard Micheal's pedal smack a rock hard. The pedal strike stopped his momentum cold. My heart skipped several beats as I watched Micheal and bike topple off the trail. I don't know how he dismounted the bike with a seat bag on the back and get his feet under him and hold the bike off of him as he fell, but he did. I could do nothing for him but see that his fall would be arrested by a charred Palo Verde tree. I cringed as several large loose rocks tumbled downhill with his feet. In a split second our goal of have fun and ride bikes could change to rescuing and injured rider.

Rocks, bike, and Micheal all came to a stop. I dismounted and as I laid my bike down I said calmly “Hold still Micheal. Let me get the bike off of you.” I was shaken by what I just saw and unsure if he was hurt. Micheal quickly replied “I am good, I am good. I think everything is alright.” I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The way the rocks moved under him I was most worried he had twisted or possibly broken an ankle.

Falling off a steep trail in an alpine setting is treacherous enough, but in the middle of the desert you are likely to impale yourself on a thousand spines. The trail angles and bike gods were watching out for Micheal. Not a single spine was stuck in his flesh. Nothing on him or the bike was broken. He easily fell about 15 feet off trail. He also halted his fall before needing the assistance of the Palo Verde tree.

After giving the once over to the bike Micheal hopped back on and tentatively climbed the trail. He hollered back that his nerves were a little shot. I may have rolled my eyes, shook my head and thought to myself “You think?” I was truly thankful only his nerves had been rattled.

We made the climb to our water cache on Crown King Road by 11:30 AM. I had half a liter of the 6L I started with. Conceivably, we could have filtered water where we camped. The stream was low and it would have been a hassle. You can also beg water from Bumblebee Ranch but I am glad that we just cached water. We filled up and attached the empty water containers to our bikes. Both of us were looking forward to lunch at Rock Springs Pie and we pedalled on.

Everything had been easy up to this point. Immediately crossing Crown King Road the trail became sinister. I don't know exactly when or why we decided we would be having lunch around 1:30 PM in Rock Springs but we did. We didn't take into account that we left camp later than we intended. We both looked at the map rather optimistically. Consequently we didn't stop on this day to eat lunch we just consumed small snacks because lunch would be soon enough.

The trails fun, undulating characteristic had changed and I had to jump off the bike more often now than previously. This gets to be rather tiring. Pretty soon we saw houses and our stomachs growled and then we turned away from civilization and headed back into the hills. The trail became a tease and more technical. I became a bit frustrated at my rather slow pace. I was giving it my all and my all was not good enough with my heavy fatbike.

I checked the map and I can't remember the exact miles we had traveled at this point but I noted the green colored line that tracked us was on top of the red line that marked our route. I recited our progress to Micheal and he looked at me and said “No more numbers, I don't want to know.” His dissatisfaction wasn't with me. It was the trail we were close to town but this was desert riding and no trail is flat or travels in a straight line. I laughed and said okay. We grunted up a short hill to find a fun downhill at the top and a neighborhood just on the other side of the Agua Fria river and off we sailed.

Michael was out ahead of me as I carefully picked my way down the loose dirt. I was being extra careful so as not to crash on this trip. He stopped to talk to a group of backpackers who informed him we were off route. As I pulled up Micheal shared this information with me. A little stunned I said how the hell I just checked a few minutes ago and we were on the route. I pulled out my phone and sure enough, we missed a sharp right hand hook in the trail. That sinister trail presented an enticing neighborhood and downhill that any true mountain biker wouldn't pass up!

I looked at Micheal exasperated and said I am NOT hiking my fatbike back up that dam hill! He is a smart man. He said nothing. We were close enough to town I pulled up Google’s terrain map and looked to see if there was a route across the river. And it looked as if we should have no problem finding a place to pop out on the other side.

It is a good thing the river was a bit dried up. It was a tangle of vegetation we had to maneuver handlebars, pedals, packs and bike frames through! Any amount of true flow and it would have made the crossing impossible.

We came across a couple hiking up the river bed and chatted them up. We were headed the wrong way but were happy to lead us out of the labyrinth. We made it to a 5 ½ foot cattle gate that was locked. I am looking at the gate and thinking of the weight of my bike and gear and laughing inside knowing there is know way Micheal and I can get the bikes over by our selves unless we take the bags off. I just want my lunch!

Luckily the hikers had followed us to the gate and all of them except two had already made their way over. I quickly leaned my bike up against the gate and started to climb up to perch myself on top. Mike was trying to get my attention because I am sure he thought how the hell does she think she is getting that bike over the gate. But the two guys left took one look at me and said “Here let us help you with that.” I replied “Oh that is so kind of you!”

Dinner was fabulous. We both had the Smoked Chicken Pot Pie. It truly was the best pot pie I have ever eaten. Our waitress brought us three desert pies because I couldn't make up my mind. The best was the Bourbon Pecan! After gorging ourselves we climbed back on the bikes in the dark and made camp at the trailhead in Rock Springs. This time I boiled water and tucked the hot nalgene at the bottom of my bag.

The trailhead put us at 40 miles total for the trip. That meant we had a 30 mile third day ahead of us...

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This was actually taken the night before.
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Various spiney things
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Both ready for bed

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This is the next morning trying to warm up.
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Frost on my tent and bike

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Saguaro!
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Saguaro Selfie
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Old abandoned mine
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Live saguaro, with comparison to how big around an arm of a saguaro can be.
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Dead Saguaro.
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Saguaro bike lean
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Another selfie with the Saguaro
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Micheal off trail. This picture does not do justice to how far he fell.
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Micheal and a rather large Saguaro
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Water cache
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More spiney stuff
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Various places on the trail.
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The wrong turn downhill!!
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Crossing the Agua Fria
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FOOD!!
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Best Beer Ever!!!
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Chicken Pot Pie
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Pie Palooza
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I just like this door
 
Black Canyon Trail Arizona Day 3

I only had to get up twice in the night. The sky was beautiful! At 4:13 AM I captured the Waxing Gibbous moon just before it set in the west. It was 97% full and beautiful as ever. Cell phone pics of the moon are useless. The eastern sky was just as beautiful Venus the bright morning star was rising high with Mercury and Jupiter low on the horizon.

I blew my pad up again and crawled back into bed for another hour and half. We wanted to be on the trail by 8:00 AM. As we packed up that morning two ladies with religious literature set up shop to distribute information and answer any curious person's questions.

They were both interested in my tent because they wanted to purchase one for their own adventures. I happily let them come inspect my Copper Spur Big Agnes tent before packing it away. I knew the answer to the question before I asked, but asked anyway. What religion are you? Jehovah's Witness. I smiled and told them my mother and sister and mom's side of the family are Witnesses. I got them to take a picture of Micheal and I by the BCT sign.

The trail started out fun and flowy and that lasted until we crossed back over the Agua Fria where we were confronted with a steep uphill and had to hike our bikes. This is when the trail became downright evil. One switchback after another. I was on the bike off the bike on the bike off the bike. I made faster progress off the bike hiking it and that is what I did. It was easier to keep pace with Micheal who was riding his bike when I hiked my fatbike. At one point before we crested the hill we were climbing we looked back and could see that neighborhood we made a wrong turn into.

At the top of the hill we shed our top layer and admired the rock art. It was time for downhill! That lasted all of 60 seconds before we hit trail that was, I swear slightly wider than my fat tires and often off camber. It was too early in the morning for me to be dealing with this. As we rolled along an easier section I noticed the sound of my bike changed. I looked down and the front tire was flat. I knew this was inevitable but was hoping it wouldn't happen. I was carrying a spare tube and it took me 40 minutes to change the flat.

Both of us were a worn and tired plus the heat of this third day was sapping all the energy I had left. The chin straps on my bike helmet were white with salt from the sweat pouring off my face. I have no idea what the daytime temps were on this third day but it was higher than the low 70s I saw in the forecast. Micheal found a cool shady spot for us to sit against cold rocks and have a lunch break.

At one point Micheal mildly complained about the difficulty of the trail and I chuckled and said are you just saying this to make me feel better. His answer was no, this trail is tough. It was at this point I knew we most likely wouldn't be done with the trip at the end of the day. My phone was short on battery power, at most I had one more good charge from my spare battery. I shot off a text to my mom and my friend Felicia, who was expecting me in Flagstaff sometime Thursday, that all was well...we were just moving slow and probably would be one more night.

We made it 15 miles on the third day. Where our trail crossed an ATV trail and there was a flat spot we made camp around 4PM. It was in full sun and I remember giving Micheal a funny look when he said he was going to look for a shadier spot. I gave him this funny look and said I am setting up camp here and enjoying the last hour of warmth before I froze to death again.

That night as the sun set in the west the view of the moon coming up in the east and the desert glow was beautiful. We both determined we couldn't think of any other place we would rather be at that moment. I turned my phone off to conserve what power was left. We still had 15 miles to go tomorrow and it would really suck of we got lost at the end of the trip!

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Moon setting in the west.
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Venus, Mercury and Jupiter
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Morning camp faces!
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Early morning
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Packed and almost ready to go.
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The Witness's
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My Fatbike
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Micheal's bike
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Micheal and I in front of the BCT trailhead sign.
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A good uphill hike-a-bike
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Rock Art
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Taking a break
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Flat tire
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What I got out of the tire
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The second spine need a surgical removal
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All better and ready to go
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Shady spot for lunch
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Legs scraped and scratched from spines and the pedal's on my bike
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Last crossing of the Agua Fria
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We filtered water here and that was a good thing!
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More Saguaro's!

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Making dinner

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I asked these guys for a cold beer.... they were a useless tour company that only had cold water. Nope got water. Thanks though

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Desert Glow
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I love the Cholla cactus skeletons. They are the best!
 
Black Canyon Trail Arizona Day 4

I drifted off to sleep satisfied with our choice to spend one more night in the desert. My muscles were tired and I was exhausted this exhaustion manifested in my dreams. One minute I was happily on my bike bouncing over the rocks on a narrow trail and then falling off the side of the cliff. Just as I was about to fall my muscles would twitch and jerk me awake.

I woke up before the sun and noticed there was cloud cover. I knew this meant the potential for a beautiful desert sunrise. The Sonoran Desert didn't disappoint. I watched the eastern sky from my tent as the clouds slowly started to fade from dark grey and slowly light up with a deep orange glow. I heard Micheal stir awake and turned his Christmas lights on, the pink of his lights added to the sunrise.

I climbed out of my sleeping bag and hiked off to find a Saguaro that fit my minds eye for a photo. As I hiked up the trail the clouds around the deep orange glow picked up a soft shade of pink. As the sun continued to rise the deep orange glow became a fiery red with shades of pink and pale blue framing the moment. As I stood there watching my heart was full of happiness. This sunrise is one of the prettiest I have ever witnessed. A sunrise that makes emotions swell from within.

After several deep breaths and simply enjoying the moment I headed back to camp to pack up and ride the last 15 miles of trail. Micheal is a patient man. I am not sure how it is I can be the first up and last to pack but I always am. As I was packing I checked my front tire, it was good, then I checked my back tire…$&@*! I may have started grumbling…

The last 14 miles were good miles. We covered the ground quickly in daylight. Back to fun flowy trail with less opportunities to eject you from the saddle. But this was traded for what Micheal called Chunder and as we road the word stuck in my head and I came up with a song.

Chunder Chunder Chunder
Keep those wheels roll’n
Raw ass
Chunder Chunder Chunder
Keep those wheels roll'n
Raw ass
Ride them up
Ride them down
Ride them in
Ride them out
Raw ass

That got a chuckle out of Micheal, as he wasn't really enjoying the chunder.

The last mile of trail we both swear was the longest mile ever! And the easiest to get off trail. We must have checked the GPS every 10 minutes as we navigated the New River Wash. The trail was faint and difficult to follow. Once out of the wash there were several double track routes that could easily side track your trip. Navigating this tired and in the dark would have taken us both three times as long.

After getting on a straight shot road to the Carfeee Highway we thought we were home free until we ran into a continuous stream of water that made the desert floor a muddy swamp. Very little water encounters the entire trip and then we had to ride the bikes a quarter mile through mud and have dirty bikes. Ha!

It was a satisfying feeling when we made it back to my 4Runner. Sadly I had no beer to celebrate but the V8 toast worked almost as good as a cold beer and cold beer was a short drive to the convenience store. That was a hell of a trip! Exhilarating, hard, and beautiful with a great adventure buddy. This trip is why I explore, these moments are what I crave. Ephemeral.

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Right before bed
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Morning as the sun came up
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Gorgeous sunrise
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Yeah another flat tire
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MORE SAGUARO!!!!
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Make a choice
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More rock art
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Yeah we are almost done!
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The longest last mile ever!!!
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Done!
 
WOW, what a trip, very hard! Great TR, @blueeyes . Recognize the many very challenging things with mountain biking.... and cacti add a whole other prickly dimension to it. I cannot believe you hit mud the last 1/4 mile, everything was cork dry just north of there in Sedona! You were both lucky that Micheal didn't get hurt more after that fall, whew. We will check out the Black canyon trail next time we are close by. We always see amazing sunrises and sunsets in Arizona, it never fails....Thanks for sharing and congrats on doing such a hard bike trip.
(I love those hand warmers, we restocked in Flagstaff after spending the night in 16F at the Arizona strip, it's hard to keep fingers and feet warm without them.)
 
I can't remember all the things I wanted to say...I should have taken notes!

Thanks for sharing your tale. I loved all the detail, like I really got to experience it. Definitely sounds challenging and glad you guys escaped without SERIOUS injury! Haha looks like your tires definitely took a beating though.

That Pot Pie did look amazing!

Too bad about being so cold and your deflating pad. Would a small patch kit have worked or did it have multiple leaks? I started bringing the patch kit in my first aid baggy, just in case!
 
I can't remember all the things I wanted to say...I should have taken notes!

Thanks for sharing your tale. I loved all the detail, like I really got to experience it. Definitely sounds challenging and glad you guys escaped without SERIOUS injury! Haha looks like your tires definitely took a beating though.

That Pot Pie did look amazing!

Too bad about being so cold and your deflating pad. Would a small patch kit have worked or did it have multiple leaks? I started bringing the patch kit in my first aid baggy, just in case!
Thanks Miya. That chicken pot pie and Bourbon pecan pie is worth a stop in Rock Springs if your ever in that area. Delicious! Sad thing is I couldn't ear the Lemon pie and was going to take it for breakfast the next morning but was so tired when I left the restaurant I forgot the pie. Doh! And the waitress was so sweet to bring me both.

I had a patch kit..used it on the tires! LOL

I do have a kit specific for the pad too. I think my pad has a valve problem. I looked and searched for holes in the pad and found none. Unless they are super tiny and I don't really have anywhere right now that I could immerse the pad in water to watch for small holes. And I didn't want to do it on the trip.


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WOW, what a trip, very hard! Great TR, @blueeyes . Recognize the many very challenging things with mountain biking.... and cacti add a whole other prickly dimension to it. I cannot believe you hit mud the last 1/4 mile, everything was cork dry just north of there in Sedona! You were both lucky that Micheal didn't get hurt more after that fall, whew. We will check out the Black canyon trail next time we are close by. We always see amazing sunrises and sunsets in Arizona, it never fails....Thanks for sharing and congrats on doing such a hard bike trip.
(I love those hand warmers, we restocked in Flagstaff after spending the night in 16F at the Arizona strip, it's hard to keep fingers and feet warm without them.)
I was supposed to ride my other bike in Sedona after this bikeback trip. But my hands hurt so bad from riding for 4 days straight and I was so tired. I was pretty sure if I tried riding in Sedona I would make two pedal strokes and then just tip over.[emoji23][emoji23]

Next time Sedona! I love riding in the desert very challenging.


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Thanks Miya. That chicken pot pie and Bourbon pecan pie is worth a stop in Rock Springs if your ever in that area. Delicious! Sad thing is I couldn't ear the Lemon pie and was going to take it for breakfast the next morning but was so tired when I left the restaurant I forgot the pie. Doh! And the waitress was so sweet to bring me both.

I had a patch kit..used it on the tires! LOL

I do have a kit specific for the pad too. I think my pad has a valve problem. I looked and searched for holes in the pad and found none. Unless they are super tiny and I don't really have anywhere right now that I could immerse the pad in water to watch for small holes. And I didn't want to do it on the trip.


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Oh bummer, hate when I forget my leftovers!

Oh yeah, definitely don't want a wet sleeping pad. I wouldn't know what to do if it was around the valve. Hope you can patch it or get a new one soon!
 
Very nice! Appreciate the candor. I want to get over there to ride that trail.
Thank you Dug. It is worth putting close to the top of your "To Ride List"

I want to do the Fools Loop next time which would include this section and add more.

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