I thought I had caught my last glimpse of fall colors last weekend in Leadville. Fall is at its end in central Colorado, but in the sky islands of southern Arizona it is currently erupting with color.
This summer’s Nuttal and Gibson fires have effectively shut down the entire north side of the mountain and with it most of the ‘known’ epic loops for me. So, it was time to head south.
Now, the problem with all of the trails that dive off the south side of the mountain is that just that–they drop you on the south side of the mountain (i.e. the middle of nowhere). Aspiring epic riders are then left with two options. 1) Ride ~40 miles of pavement, then climb the (paved) swift trail 30-40 miles, 8000 feet of gain. 2) climb back up one of the other trails, meaning, roughly 5000 feet of vertical over 6-7 miles.
I prefer option 2. But without knowing the condition of any of these trails it was indeed a risk. I plotted a course of action, but as we drove up the mountain late Friday night I had two realizations. 1) despite looking on several occasions, I’ve never found the top of the trail I planned to go up. For all I knew it has been swallowed whole by the forest. 2) my achilles hurts and if there is one thing that aggravates it, it’s hike-a-bike.
I went with plan B: Mt. Graham coast to coast, looking for fire damage and investigating the top of any south-dropping trail I could lay my tires on.
The fall colors made plan B a real treat. I had plenty to stare at. The air was cool, traffic light and legs fresh. I put some serious muscle into a few of the climbs, just to feel the burn a bit. I love feeling healthy and strong (which doesn’t mean I actually am).
I headed west first, riding the Cunningham loop while Paula and Doug ran it. We stopped to look at colors and chat about this and that. I enjoyed the company, especially since I spooked a mom+cub on this trail last time. At the downhill I said goodbye and to not worry for at least 7 hours or so.
The journey continued westward, where I was able to explore Grant Creek, Grant Goudy and Jesus Goudy Ridge trails, all to varying success. It is hard to tell how feasible these trails are, but at least I have some information now. I definitely know which ones to NOT attempt. One was labeled “Danger – High Bear Activity Area”. That one, however, is worthy of an attempt. The road to Round the Mountain bears (?) the same warning sign.
I reached the west “coast” where I realized that I had been lied to by the (dimwitted) forest service employee I talked to before I left. He told me that Clark Peak was open and Webb Peak closed. The opposite, of course, was true. Apparently the only way to find out what trails are open/closed is to visit each trailhead. There was some fire damage on the west end of the road, and I could see some extensive burns below in Carter and Taylor canyons. Things were not looking good for Round the Mountain.
Dissappointed, I headed back east. My best bet of surveying the fire damage was from the Webb Peak (10,020 feet) lookout tower (it was also my best bet for a killer climb). 600 feet of climbing later I was making my way up the ladders to the top of the lookout. Bonus–it was open, so I climbed in, nearly getting stuck on my pack. They had a few maps and a neato sighting tool that you could use to identify peaks and mountains in distant ranges. It kept me busy for quite a while–not to mention the incredible view and mesmerizing fall colors. The entire Columbine area was awash with gold aspens and seemingly untouched by the fire. In fact, from the lookout I could only see a single new burn area. The Nuttal fire had moved up a draw on a direct course to the Mt. Graham observatory. I’m sure that little flare up had them scrambling. But if round the mountain burns to the ground? Ah, who cares?
I had to go back down the road since the trail to Ash Creek was closed, despite any visible fire damage. Ash Creek falls trail, on the other hand, was open, so I rode down the first few switchbacks just for kicks and giggles.
At this point in the ride (30ish miles and 5000 feet of climbing) I was getting a bit tired, but I kept the pace high, trying to pass a pick-me-up truck ahead of me on the climb. I almost got him. Hah, maybe not. On the climb out of Cunningham I was able to keep my momentum up, scorching around the switchbacks. It was quite a rush… sunny afternoon cold air on my face.
Shortly after returning to camp we headed out to climb Heliograph. The fire damage at the top was impressive. One of the buildings on the top of Heliograph was completely burned and gutted. A satellite dish was lying on the ground, burned to a crisp. Before there was almost no view (thus the 100 foot–tallest in all of Coronado–tall lookout tower). Now the entire valley was visible, and things looked very, very grim for Arcadia trail. Piss. Arcadia is by far my favorite climb in all of Arizona. Double piss. It borders right on the good side of rideability for me. Something like a devastating fire will perhaps tip the scales. Triple piss. Things look even worse for Noon Creek Ridge (another good trail). We’re talking complete decimation.
The sun set as we head back down. A smallish bear crossed our path, took a quick look, then crashed off through the trees. Doug picked up a rock or two in case we were now between Momma and Cub. But there was no sign of Momma.
We rode/ran the Grant Hill trail (south side, no burn) in the morning. I always have fun on that trail. It’s just a nice little ride, made even better by electric aspens. I think the aspens were best here out of anywhere on the mountain (makes sense–grant hill was logged heavily in the past).
I continued my tour westward, seeking out the elusive “shake” trail. I found it (had a GPS point for it). It is indeed a trail and I was able to somewhat follow it as it dives off the mountain. But it’s faint and I quickly ran into thick deadfall. I was happy I did not attempt to ride/hike up this beast. I walked back up the small distance I went down.
The plan was to climb lady bug peak and meet Doug/Paula at the top. First I went to explore the Bear Canyon/Dutch Henry trail for a short distance. Wooo, looked like fun, and for some time I considered telling Paula/Doug to pick me up on highway 191. But I did not have maps of the bottom area, nor a clue of where I would pop out. And, though the trail was nice at the top, it could quickly get nasty and they might have been waiting for quite a while. I hadn’t even realized that we actually had another driver (who was driving down the mountain anyway), so I could have accepted a shuttle to explore one of these trails.
I decided against it, but did tell them I would meet up at the orchard (they were going to go pick apples anyway). That’s right folks, yet again I accepted a shuttle (my last shuttle was the Great Divide–Mexico was higher than Canada). It was a bit of an odd shuttle, though, considering that I hadn’t been in a car for two days. I just figured, hey, I’m all the way up here at Mt. Graham, may not be back for 6 months, and what’s better–driving down the road or riding a trail down? They are going to drive down anyway, so, why not? Yeah, I’m a hypocrite and I did not earn my downhill, but I almost always earn my downhill after-the-fact (by suffering on the way back up) on Mt. Graham. I had a good run, hippity hopping around switchbacks and blasting through the ponderosa pines.
NUMERIS
Bears – 2
Deer – 8
Skunk – 1
Yellow leaves – Infinity
New Trails Explored – 5
Miles – 70
Feet Climbed – 9700
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