Randy Williams was kind enough to take Lee, Paula and I for a little plane ride in his 4 seater. The idea was to check out the area around Pinto Creek, looking for a route through that doesn’t include navigating a disaster area (as we did two weeks ago).
The plane ride was quite a trip. We took off just before sunrise, flying past the Santa Ritas, the Catalinas and Antelope Peak on the way to Superior and the Superstition Mountains. Randy did an excellent job of getting us into position to check out the various 4×4 roads and bushwhack routes that we were interested in. At one point as we circled Gunsight Gap we approached a ridge that to Lee and I looked too low. Randy assured us we were fine and proceeded to fly over it. I looked down and saw individual prickly pear pads… then, a rush as the ground dropped away from me off a cliff.
We checked out the Rug Road on the way back south, then the Whetstones and Patagonia before landing back at the Nogales International Airport.
It was fun to look at topo maps and aerials in TopoFusion as we flew. I found it difficult to be sure what I was looking at, though, since I wasn’t in control of the plane and could not always keep track of landmarks like I can on the ground. Somewhat disorienting, but the ability to look down on this area at such detail (and so easily — no suffering was required!) was just incredible.
While down in Tubac for 2 days I managed to squeeze in 3 rides. The first was a quick “upper loops” ride with Lee (and Paula running part of it). Bumpy, un-used roads, plenty of wildflowers and a few granny gear climbs for good measure.
Second was Red Pass, by myself. No one was out there except for a handful of deer and a few tall jackrabbits. It was a pleasure to rediscover this gem of a road. I cleaned the actual climb to Red Pass, though I definitely miss the 22×34 super-granny on 26 inch wheels. It was so nice out there that I rolled beyond the pass for a few more ups and downs before turning around to cruise back to Tubac.
After getting wrapping things up at his shop, Lee joined me for a night ascent of Mt. Hopkins. The peak called at me, begged me, and finally coerced me as I descended from Red Pass. Lee looked at the moon and signed on for the ride.
It was dark before we made it to Tia Juana ridge (2/3rds of the way up), but our only concern was the cold. It’s a different world at the top and bottom of this ride — 8500 ft and 4000 ft respectively. And wind chill generated by coasting cyclists has a way of chilling to the bone.
It was a little unclear whether we’d make it to the top (or should). But after one hour and 50 minutes of climbing there was nowhere to go but sky. The view of the night lights was outstanding and the telescope was open, but it was cold and we faced a chiller descent, so we made the summit visit short.
I really didn’t have enough clothing, but I escaped the descent with only frozen hands and feet. It was quite the ride.
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