White Canyon Passage – AZT

Francisco invited Mark and I to check out some “in progress” AZT in the White Canyon passage. He needed to check out the progress himself, and wanted to verify with us the design and implementation of it. Francisco is a good guy who has attended IMBA training sessions. He knows his stuff.

I jumped on the chance to see this trail, since it is in such an incredible area. I’m really impressed with the ATA and BLM for keeping mountain bikes in mind. First, they kept the alignment out of the wilderness area, meaning thru-cyclists have one less wilderness to detour around. Second, they are building it to sustainable, mountain bike standards.

Basically, it’s going to be a killer trail when done. The entire Gila River corridor from Kelvin to Florence is a pretty incredible place. Area 52 is there, Box Canyon, Battle Axe Rd, et cetera. It’s a favorite of mine, even if I only infrequently visit. Some places are best left that way — infrequently visited.

Francisco checks out the grade in the above shot. You can see the Gila River snaking through the trees below. I knew there was going to be some bouncing around in the truck, so I brought my bike. I hopped out early and had some fun descending 4wd roads. A few puncher hills had me sweating and walking, with 6L water on my back, but it was a great ride and better than riding in the truck. Some of the washes had some fun grinding / sand surfing sections.The trail was mostly built just as a “construction access,” meaning the tread is only 12″ wide. 12″? My bike tires are only 3″ wide….so… well, sort of. I rode quite a bit, and it was well worth it. But some boulder fields had me walking. Then we hit the drainage crossings.

We looked at two major ones where the route wasn’t clear. The current flagged route was pretty dangerous, with near vertical side-slope. So we had a look at the upper line, and found it preferable. We worked out a lower line for the second major crossing that “works” but will likely require some blasting. It’s looking that way for a few other sections as well.

At ~1700 feet, the Gila is one hot place. It was a warm day, for sure. But with plenty of water and a little breeze, it was actually quite pleasant. Good heat training for future adventures this spring. I was relieved to see the promise of 70 degree highs and a chance of rain later this week though. I’m not quite ready for summer yet.

Gear testing for the AZT/GET adventure is going well so far.