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Temporary visitors is what we were to the trail. Always moving to the next part looking forward to seeing it and at the same time happy to be done with it. Always moving to the next place to get food water or sleep. Many many people made this possible. People who made the trail, …. [Continue reading] The cookhouse prepared us breakfast and we had ordered 4 sack lunches so we were set to hike. The bikes on our backs on smooth singletrack, as we hiked up to Cottonwood camp. The sun was hidden by the towering black walls of “The Box” and the cool wind blowing up from the river made …. [Continue reading] We caught our first glimpse of the canyon from a wonderful singletrack approaching from the south. In the distance outlines of the towering formations could be seen as the evening light was fading. I was very proud to be at the canyon and approaching it in such a unique way away from the cars and …. [Continue reading] Our night at the EDR (employee dining room) on the North Rim was a long one. Several of the employees were partaking of large amounts of alcohol. The big screen was on and the pool balls were rolling. At least it was warm and I was able to write an update on their computers, but …. [Continue reading] Lee and I coasted down the final descent to the Utah State line early this morning. The last 25 miles of trail were nothing but a superb finale. The journey has come to its end. A full report on the last stretch and final observations will be forthcoming. The questions began as early as the trailhead. We first coasted down the hill to the Bright Angel trailhead where we started disassembling our bikes to load them on our packs. The mule trains were getting ready to go and those watching wanted to know what we were up to. We’d repeat the story a …. [Continue reading] We left Flagstaff, bypassing the Elden/Peaks area since we had ridden it yesterday. So after a few miles of pavement we turned off onto the “closed” Hart Praire RD. Everyone in Flag had warned us that it would be an impassable muddy mess, and that even the lower desert could be trouble, so we were …. [Continue reading] We are now at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We left Flagstaff thinking that it was going to be muddy and possibly very snowy. But basically we only ran into piles of four to five foot deep snow drifts that we were able to ride across for the most part. The snow was …. [Continue reading] We’re still in Flagstaff but we managed to ride the AZT north of town to Snow Bowl road today. Troy Marino was our guide and was a blast to ride with. He was rolling and hopping over stuff on his singlespeed that I was dabbing on. Fun to watch, but more fun was to ride …. [Continue reading] Through this all it is wonderful how my body is holding up. Early in the trip I had some knee pain and have had some problems with knees in the past but my body is up for the challenge. I have dealt with a lot of fatigue and “death march” has come to mind a …. [Continue reading] Wayne made us a smoothie/bagel breakfast that was out of sight. We’re definitely lacking in the nutirional department on this trip, so this really hit the spot. He told us about a singletrack that took us out of town to connect on the Cracker Jack mine road. The singletrack had some brief hike-a-bike and some …. [Continue reading] I left off last night with Lee and I at another decision point on the AZT north of Sunflower. Though the preceeding 4 miles had been nicely rideable, the next section looked dubious at best. I could tell Lee wasn’t much enjoying this, for a host of reasons, so I tried to weigh that into …. [Continue reading] The Roosevelt to Rye section which followed the Gunsight Pass Hike-a-bike was tough enough to to test my mental and physical endurance. We put the bikes on our backs to pick our way up one rocky section. In spite of the heavy load it seemed easier to just carry the bikes than shove them over …. [Continue reading] We’re in Payson now, set to recover from the Mighty Mazatals. And mighty they were. But first, a bit more about Gunsight Gap. This stretch (from Superior to Roosevelt Lake) is probably the hardest of our entire route. Haunted Canyon is one of the slowest ways to make time on a mountain bike. But it’s …. [Continue reading] Scott suggested music for the big climb up to the pass after Whitford Canyon. The climb flew by with the music in my ear. Later in the day, I tried it again on another climb. Again, the music made the climb fly by. As I rode over the speckled road into the sun, I was …. [Continue reading] We left Superior in the morning and started heading up into Whitford Canyon. The riding in Whitford Canyon was fantastic, nice trail, not overgrown and we made really good time. We turned off at the AZT to go climb up to a high pass at 4500 feet above Haunted Canyon. This begins our detour route …. [Continue reading] 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 …. [Continue reading] Departing Tucson on busy city streets which gave way to quiet pavement then graded dirt road and finally to a singletrack heading north of Redington Pass. The trail was beautifully constructed and the only trick was avoiding the prickly thistles lining the trail. I was enjoying the trail except a little headache which felt like …. [Continue reading] We made it through the Catalina Mountains, but it took us two days. Things started out in Tucson, heading east to Redington Pass. The switchbacks and climbing went quickly. I found a really nice rhythm on this tranquil morning. We could have dove off on Bellota Ranch road to shortcut over to the Mt. Lemmon …. [Continue reading] Last evening Jon Shouse responded to my call for help by driving over to Steve Andersons to then come with bike stand, tool bag and knowledge to tighten the bottom bracket on my Moots. Thanks Jon! Now we are off to Mt Lemmon creak free. – Lee |
 Scott Digital Nomad, nowhere, USA Lifelong mountain biker, trail mapper and programmer. Sometimes bikepacker, sometimes runner, sometimes packrafter. I love to ride my bike, get out, and explore this beautiful planet we find ourselves on. I live in a 20 foot GeoPro Trailer, traveling about the west. Main author of TopoFusion GPS Software, co-founder of Trackleaders.com. More... Projects / Sites  
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