Searching Mingus

We searched high and low on the forested pile of rock known as Mingus Mountain. The search was, as always, for sweet singletrack, natural wonders, cool temperatures–the sort of thing you can never get enough of. The driving force was improving the race route for the upcoming Coconino Loop Race.

After two nights camping and three riding we had pretty much covered the entire mountain. And mostly we crossed trails off as potential Coconino Loop routes…

Shaded Relief… coming soon to a TopoFusion near you.

But our travels took us to some radical spots,

some ridiculous downhill hike-a-bike,

excellent water sources, well placed for Coco-weenies.

Someone might be watching while you drink, though. (?!)

Look out for plague infested rodents (seriously). (?!)

Also look out for beautiful country,

and fiery sunsets.

Some trails were grown in and not big on views. So, look smaller.

In the Coconino Loop, you’ll ride from over there (Sedona).

Chad and Dave rode off down #105, bombing down to Jerome. I drew the short straw, which meant I was the driver. I made the mistake of riding with them to the top, then witnessing the tastiness of the first couple switchbacks before turning back. It was a surprise given the rubbley nature of most of the trails we had ridden to that point. Jealous! The ‘trails’ (old 2 tracks) I explored on the way back left much to be desired — full of down trees and rocks. 40+ downed trees before I made it back to camp.

There were some neat spots, though.

We revisited the outstanding Yaeger Trail. Little did we know that back in June we happened to descend perhaps the best trail on the mountain. Nice to know that now, though, and nice to shred it again, of course.

There are some nice alligator junipers up there.

Senor Cafe’, technical Wizard.

He even redeemed himself on the micro-huck. For comparison, here is the same shot from June:

Then he broke his chain and coasted/ran/hitch-hiked back.

We ran into Paula, having made a wrong turn on her run. She decided to run back up the highway, leaving just Dave and I to climb back up Little Yaeger Trail #533.

The bottom is vague, but once you hit it… wow! Supremely rideable, sweco constructed and smooth as a baby’s bottom.

The most climbable trail on Mingus, for sure.

Combined with the #111 trail this makes for a fine loop, and one I’d love to ride again. The rest of the trails either drop off the mountain, limiting non-shuttle riding, or were worth riding once and worthy adventures, but …. I’d probably spend my time elsewhere.

My curiosity was running wild on trail #105, so I suggested the crew pick me up in Jerome on the way out. A built in shuttle of sorts.

At the top many hang gliders were queuing up to fly off the mountain, once the sun came out again. One guy said he’s flown from Mingus all the way to the Grand Canyon. 3:45 hours with supplemental oxygen, he said. Wow. Too bad you can’t haul one on a bike…

My ride down #105 was akin to a hang glider flight, or so it seemed to me. A fine technical trail, a big descent and big grins. Jerome yielded tasty pizza and a closed I-17 yielded an epic drive home by way of Payson. At least we had a good crew to endure it with, even if things were a little crammed with 4 people in the corseeeca.

Good weekend, definitely looking forward to Coconino.