South Mountain: 'Round the Mountain

 I've done a lot of rides & routes at South Mountain over the years, but one popular route has evaded me. The classic Around the Mountain route. I guess I never really had much desire to do it as the north side of the route had a bunch of pavement and canal riding. I wasn't going to South Mountain to ride that kind of terrain, I wanted rocks/chunk/gnar!!

In recent years the park has built more singletrack on that side of the mountain, notably the northwest quadrant. My friend, Kara, reached out to see if I was interested in joining her and Karen on a loop. Sure, it was due time.

We met at Karen's house on the south side of the mountain and quickly joined the trail on the Bronco Flat section of Desert Classic. It had been a few years since I last rode the far west end of Desert Classic. We made good time getting through the trailhead, dodging hikers, as we made our way to the less crowded trails on the west end.

Kara drops into the final descent along Desert Classic.

Over on the west end trails, we can see our target, high up on the Gila Saddle.

The daunting Pyramid trail lurks over Kara's left shoulder.

The Gila trail was a stout climb, but the ladies are still smiling.

Here we go, long, sustained, rocky downhill. Yeehaw!!

We found ourselves on the recently re-routed Gila & National trails. Nice work to get the trail out of a crappy wash and added a couple of nice switchbacks on National.

The cavalry stampedes the hillside above the Maricopa trail. At least that's what it looked like.

Karen topping out on an early Ma Ha Tuak climb.

Kara joins the fun high above the urban speedway.

We had to keep moving as the cavalry wasn't too far behind.

South Mountain is such a gem. It's surrounded by 6+ million people and sometimes you see it: the freeway, skyscrapers of downtown and general urban sprawl, yet othertimes while on these trails you feel as though you're on a desert island hundreds of miles from anywhere. It's quite remarkable. This small, but vast network of trails in the largest city park in the good 'ol USA.

Fun trail here as downtown comes into view.

Hard to believe this mountain turns green in March.

Reminder of the urban playground you're enjoying.

Little pink houses for you and me...some hike-a-bike as well.

Kara in full HAB mode. Steep grades on this section.

And just like that, we've wrapped around the pink cube and gained a bunch of elevation.

The final miles of singletrack would come quick as we reached the 19th Ave. trailhead.

There was one more grunt climb, happy to say my legs/lungs held on for a clean ride. We popped out on the paved access road as we made our way out of the park.

Near the entrance station.

We were getting a bit pressed for time, so we opted to stay on the roads around the far east end of the mountain. A route purist would definitely be back on trails here. Next time. Karen had to leave us near 35th Ave. due to leg cramps, but in return, had taco bowls and cold Cokes waiting for us when we finished. Thanks!!

This route ended up being more fun that I thought it would be. I'll definitely be back for more and there's always options to add more trail.

Route:

AZT: Highline Trail (West Fire Recon)

 The West Fire started back in late August from a lightning strike, but was quickly contained. The forest service used the opportunity to use the fire as a prescribed, managed burn in the area. The backlit operations were held and ended in mid-September, then the fire was mostly left to smolder and be extinguished by the last remnants of the monsoon season. Well, the final piece to that puzzle never materialized and the Highline trail remained closed all the way through most of October. That closure affected the AZT800 for everyone but the final two riders.

Once the closure order was lifted, a professional trail crew, Proline Trails, went in and built a re-route west of Camp Geronimo to eliminate a steep unsustainable grade. That project wrapped up last week and I saw online that a friend of mine, Cathy, was intending to head up there for a ride.

I reached out to her and we set up a shuttle with her, myself and another friend, Paula. We'd be riding the trail westbound along the entire AZT portion from Washington Park to Pine. I've never ridden it in this direction, so I was curious to see how the effort compared to eastbound.

We met at the Pine trailhead and made our way over to Washington Park. It was a cool, not cold morning, but I decided a thin wool base layer would be wise and it was.

Pro-tip: Any time you plan to ride the Highline trail, make sure it is dry!! If wet, it is horrible. It may take an extra day or two to fully dry out after a good soaking. Plus, it damages the tread.

It was plenty dry today, but there were a few sections that were chewed up, mostly by free ranging cattle.

Paula is all smiles, who wouldn't be, just look around.

One of the fancier trail blazes, usually, it's just the diamond.

Cathy topping out on an early climb.

The terrain along the Highline trail switches rapidly reminding riders of Sedona, Prescott & Flagstaff.

Every creek crossing we encountered  was flowing. Nice to see since it's been a while since the last rain.

Classic view along one of the re-routed sections.

Huge views up here in rim country.

It took almost 5 miles before we saw the first burn scar of the West Fire. It didn't last long though.

Last time I rode through here the hose was spewing water, an attempt to fix it was made, but some water still trickled out.

Looks like we're back in Sedona...

Or are we in Prescott??

The partly cloudy forecast never materialized, it was perfect.

Soon after passing through Camp Geronimo, we found the new section of trail.

It was dry, powdery and a bit loose since it was only a week or so old. Needs a good rain soaking and use.

We were now back in the burn area for a bit.

The new trail was near the edge of the fire perimeter.

Paula navigates the skeleton of trees.

Hoping the tread can withstand the rains when they come.

Really nice climbing grade through here.

Interesting patchwork of burned trees and untouched trees. All depends on how the wind blows.

Cathy climbing a long steady section where the old tread can be seen turning up away from her.

Spectacular views around almost every turn up here.

Really nice camp location slightly off trail by Red Rock Spring.

Speaking of, Red Rock Spring was overflowing!!

Vintage AZT trail marker.

In the heart of the burn area, lots of unscathed miles.

Town of Pine comes into view. Cue the long final downhill!!

Spotted a few remnants of fall.

The blue track is the new tread by Camp Geronimo, red was the old tread.

This final re-route essentially completes the full re-alignment of the entire AZT portion of the Highline trail. Here is an overlay comparing what the trail was in 2010 (blue) vs. 2024 (red). With all the re-routes the trail has been extended from 17.1 miles to 21.4 miles between Pine and Washington Park.

This is such a fantastic trail and area to experience. No matter how you ride it, shuttle - like today, or making it a loop using the dirt Control Rd. you'll be rewarded. The effort seemed about the same going westbound as it is eastbound. Either way you're in for a treat. 

As for the West Fire, it seemed only about 3 or so miles were completely scorched, which was far less than expected. I don't recall seeing any tall pines obliterated, only smaller trees/shrubs which hopefully will return relatively quickly. Overall, the tread was in great condition. Some rocky sections, but plenty of flowy smooth sections too. In short, GO.

Thanks to Cathy & Paula for allowing me to tag along on their shuttle ride. We'll have to do it again sometime soon.