Yesterday was epic. Epic with a giant, neon capitol “E.” But first, we
leave Oracle after a rainy night (we were warm and relaxed at the Barr’s
house). Lion Brian left with us in the morning to ride to Antelope Peak.
It was roughly a half day’s ride and it featured some of the best
singletrack on the AZT. If I could hazard a guess as to how many fun
switchbacks we’ve ridden so far it would be round about 200 or so. But
the great part about this stretch of desert is that it is very bike
friendly — a rarity on the AZT as we are finding out. Bike friendly
means there aren’t any heinously long hike-a-bikes, only short grunts
and other misgivings.
The trail has been eaten up by spring grasses that are now dying. So we
had a hard time following it, even in the Antelope Peak area. High
grasses are not exactly what you’re looking for when it’s snake season,
either. We saw five snakes, including two rattlers and a few coach
whips. One coach whip (think long, black and very fast) was cruising
down the trail right at me. I stopped in a slight panic (it is very rare
to see a snake heading towards you at full speed), but as soon as he
sensed me he also panicked and then darted off into the brush.
It was a treat to ride with Brian out to Freeman road. The enthusasim
from the Barrs was most welcome and really got us charged up. We said
goodbye to Brian as he headed off down to the town of Dudleyville,
topped off our water at the cache, then continued on with the Boulders
trail.
Fortunately the “grand opening” of the Boulders was this past weekend,
so we were the beneficiaries of several folks riding/hiking the trail
through the grass. Otherwise we would have had some serious route
finding problems. It was a pleasure to see that the trail is fully
connected now — no bushwaking required. As we got further out, however,
they stopped riding and the trail got impossibly faint. Even with the
GPS track from our previous ride it was slow going.
The sun was setting as we bumped our way down the old powerline road
that would take us into Ripsey wash and to our next section of awesome
AZT. We rolled around right up until dark, finding a choice spot in the
nick of time.
Two brief rains allowed us to test out our “bivy bags” & guy lines. It
worked well, but the night was warm and the rain weak. I slept very
well–so well that Lee had to move out to get away from my snoring. I
woke up to an odd snorting sound that kept repeating itself, but was not
moving. I thought Javelina at first, then it let out a Hee-haw like a
donkey. Lee investigated a bit, but was afraid at what he might find, so
we let it go. It kept snorting every few minutes as we packed up to leave.
In the morning we rolled a short distance on the powerline road before
turning off at some flagging (future trail) to bushwack down to Ripsey
Wash. The flags took us away from the overly constructed bit of trail
that does exist down in the wash, but we were on our way quickly to
climb “the big hill.”
Actually the big hill was no big deal. I rode 90% of it, including most
of the switchbacks. Last time we criticized it for being over built, but
after seeing the desert swallow up the Antelope & Boulders sections, I
tend to think that there’s no such think as an overbuilt section of the
ARizona Trail.
The views from the big hill and resulting ridgetop ramble are absolutely
a knock out. With the big hill climbed there was only one thing to do —
descend on more switchbacks. They really did an A+ job on the trail
here. The sideslope is precarious, but I felt just fine coasting down
and hopping switchbacks as I went. Awesome.
The trail took us into a small area where the cactus were blooming ahead
of everywhere else on the trail — prikly pears were yellow and out of
control, red chollas and even the first blooming Saguaro of the trip.
A few short grunts led us to a 2-track downhill into the hoppin’ town of
Kelvin. The bridge on over the Gila river is about the only attraction
of Kelvin, and we were happy for it since the river is still raging and
not at all fordable. This is also the low point of the AZT, at 1800
feet. It’s all up from here.
Now it was time for a 1000 foot climb on pavement to Battle Axe Rd. The
cool weather was an absolute dream here. 4 days ago this climb would
have been a disaster. After the climb we turned around to lose all that
elevation back into Walnut Canyon area. The rhyolite cliffs and deeply
eroded canyons here were unbelievable — easily the most scenic area
thus far.
We hiked up on zero-track (no trail) near the south side of White Canyon
to emerge back on official AZT to the northwest. This stretch was a very,
very tough bushwhack. I switched all my gear onto my back so that I could gain a
bit more manueverability, but dodging cactus, stickerbushes and all manner
of cat-claw was a tough job. Even when we got onto the trail we could
barely discern it, and the rideability was extremely low as a result. If
clear it might be a very nice ride, but with big rocks hiding at every
corner, it was mostly a hike. The hills and side drainages seemed to
just never end. I knew that we’d eventually be on a 4×4 road and hoped
for some improvement, but the road was a beast. Think rug road style of
rollers. Think hike-a-bike.
Anyway, we both lost our resolve for some time. We thought about turning
around (not easy either), but our lack of food had us burn through it
and drop down into Superior for Pizza at Eduardo’s and good sleep at the
El Portal Motel. It also helped that we the area was so beautiful. Each
canyon opened up a new set of cliffs, rock formations and lush drainages
to stare at as we leaned over our bikes and tried to forget how much
further we had to the top of the next push.
It’s now Tuesday and we are still resting in Superior after yesterday’s
deat-march and hike-a-bike fest. Lee is tired (ok, I guess I am too). I
also needed to work out some issues with my fork — it has lost the
ability to hold air. We also just organized and condensed our gear —
sending home 2 pounds at the post office. Yee-haw, we’re going to need
it since the Haunted Canyon and Gunsight pass are up next — both areas
are high on hike-a-bike.
For now it’s food, food and more food.
I had to edit a few words (removing a letter) that were blocked out by
the Superior Library’s computer! I didn’t know I was such as potty
mouth. Sanitized for your protection. Guess I need to come up with a new
name for that round cactus — prikly pear.
Lee’s Report:
(Lee was not able to post this when they were in Superior, so this is based on an audio report. Any errors will be fixed when he next gets a chance to use a computer. Their access to computers tends to be very limited, but I’ll be sure to tell them that readers have been commenting and asking questions. Hopefully they will be able to respond soon!)
When I was six years old, I had a dream of a trail on a red cliff. The trail was cut into the red cliff with switchbacks so it wound its way higher and higher. The richness of the red earth, the dusty surface of the trail and the clear sunlight shining on the trail are clear in my mind.
I’ve never found that trail exactly, but yesterday I came close.
The trail which cuts towards Kelvin has the look with its steep mountains and switchbacks cut perfectly. But the rock and soil across the Gila River from Kelvin is the color of the dream.
I was tired when we turned off only 11 miles from Superior. We went into the mountains south of Superior to work our way through the center of those mountains. We spent the entire day getting to Superior by a very circuitous route, carrying the bike for hours with the occasional riding on smooth sections. We talk a lot about hike a bike sections, but yesterday we found occasional ride a bike sections as those were more the exception then the rule.
I was tired all day and was thinking how the trip is such a mental game. I would not have done it any other way in retrospect.
Our stuff is so minimal we just lay down on a piece of ground and that’s about it. Later some clouds came by and it began to rain. I put my pack in a trash bag and got inside my Mylar sack. By morning the clouds were gone and my stuff was dry in a short while. It all worked out fine.
I just went to the Headstart Center here in Superior and got some give away jeans for Scott and I to wear for tomorrow’s journey through the Haunted Canyon and then the following day through Gunsight Pass. There are a lot more cactus and no trail, so we need a little more then light bike clothes for our comfort. It was kind of fun to go to the Headstart Center. The kids looked like they were having a pretty good time.
I’m on the library computer so my time is up. We are having a great trip and next check-in might not be for a few days unless we find a computer somewhere.
– Lee
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