Arnett Canyon: MotoX Edition

The AES Ripsey event wrapped up a bit early, there was still plenty of daylight and I wanted to ride some more. I had been poking around on satellite imagery (isn't this how bad ideas start?) and found what appeared to be a loop on the far east end of Arnett Canyon. If it panned out, it would make a really nice option for riding both spurs of Arnett Canyon in a lollipop fashion. I mentioned this to Igor and he was all-in on a little exploration type ride.

Thirty minutes later, we were gearing up at Picketpost trailhead for a late afternoon launch. Better bring lights.

Igor wheelie bombing my photo!!

Gliding down into Arnett Canyon.

After a year of use, the tread has packed in nicely most of the way.

Lot of trees down here!!

Hard to believe that US60 is barely a half mile away.

We made to the east end of the trail where it dumps out on a dirt road. A little back & forth to find the satellite trail was needed, but once on it, appeared easy to follow. We could tell almost instantly that it was carved in by motos. The first bit rode fine, then straight up a fall-line hillside. Time to push.

Things began to degrade, but still kinda rideable.

Drop down and see how long you could stay on your bike.

I've tried a few times over the years, but I finally snagged a worthy hike-a-bike photo of Igor!! Busted!!

Golden hour takes hold over Superior.

My track on the GPS had been surprisingly very accurate. That was a good thing since the next bit of trail was so vague it was virtually non-existent. The first challenge was actually finding the trail!! We poked around a bit until I found something that may have resembled a trail at one point. The line on the GPS agreed, so we went for it. At least most of it was rideable, you just had to keep looking down at the GPS to verify you were still on it. I think we only strayed from the track once, but were able to figure something out quickly. All this poking around and slow riding meant our remaining daylight was fading rapidly.

Sunset over Picketpost Mtn. on one of the more visible stretches of trail.

Superior and the Apache Leap.

Early evening rides are the bestest.

We stumbled on this cool rock feature near the end of our exploration portion.

It would be cool to see this right after a big storm.

Hopefully we'll see some official trails created in this area in the near future.

Our zigzagging dropped us out on a dirt road that would link us back over to the L.O.S.T. (Legends of Superior Trail)

We'd then enter back to Arnett Canyon via the north entrance. It's quite a sight, day or night.

The trail rides great under the glow of LEDs too.

Night Sight setting on my Pixel 3a phone.

Standard setting on the Pixel 3a using my helmet light. Not sure which I like better.

It was a fun route and I'm glad we did it. Too bad the moto trail wasn't more mtb friendly. There does appear to be a dirt route leading around the portion we rode, so all is not lost on an Arnett Canyon Lollipop Loop.

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