Spent the morning wandering around in the rain, searching for the perfect route for the new Arizona Trail from Oak Tree canyon to Fagan Lake (in the Santa Ritas). One storm hit the area while we waited for everyone at the 83 exit, then it was quite nice for an hour or so. Another storm was on its way in, and it settled around us for quite a while. The rain wasn’t so bad, but a few lightning bolts did raise my hair.
In the end we made some progress, but we weren’t able to link the north ends; and the south end has got a number of problem areas to deal with. Fortunately these problem areas will move the trail where I would prefer it to go–further west: away from the highway and towards the bigger mountains. Bigger, better, steeper and more quiet. Sounds good to me. But more recon is definitely needed. It was a great day to get out, despite the rain. Some nice, rarely seen country.
Backtracking to 1/11/04:
We went out for an afternoon ride to Chivo falls. The Rillito is still running, so there should have been some nice water coming down. Everyone had decided that with this weeks super warm weather, summer was here. But not so, at least out by the Rincon’s. We got some rain and a bit of cold air, and, in a stroke of utter brilliance, we didn’t bring jackets (it’s summer now remember?).
I attempted the rushing second water crossing before the falls and ended up dunking both of my feet before reaching the other side. Odin understandably did not want to dunk his feet either. The crossing was higher than i’ve ever seen it–no doubt fueled by the dark rain clouds hovering and stuck above the Rincons. We turned around without viewing the falls. Bum deal. The wind was howling and as we rode away it started pounding us with rain and hail. We were glad to be heading back.
Of course by the time we reached the bottom of Redington the sun was back out (but nearly setting) and it was getting warmer. My feet were still cold and wet.
I tried out both of my ‘knee saver’ pedal extenders today, but the jury is still out. My bike setup remains a mystery waiting to be solved.
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