Mingus Mtn. - Shuttle Day??

 The title is correct, a shuttle ride, for yours truly. Believe it. There were a couple of trails on Mingus Mtn. that I've been wanting to check out. One of them, the Black Canyon of Mingus was included in last year's Pinyons & Pines Bikepacking route, but I had to pull the plug before I reached it. Bummer. I had mapped out a 50 mile or so loop to include both Gaddes Canyon and Black Canyon, but I'm still regaining lost fitness as wasn't up for that kind of effort.

My friend, Kelly, is in a similar situation and she won't turn down a good downhill ride even if I tell her I've never ridden it!! I like friends who trust my route choices without much thought. It's all about the adventure anyway, right?

The forecast was calling for a good chance of showers, but they seemed like they might hold off until later in the afternoon. Could we get lucky and stay dry? Rain jackets were packed.

We made the caravan north to near Cottonwood, ditched Kelly's car at the bottom of Black Canyon at the trailhead, then drove up and around Mingus Mtn. through the cool town of Jerome. We staged at the Mingus Lake trailhead and didn't mind paying the $5 day use fee.

Mingus Lake.

It was about 11a when we started pedaling. It was a short spin on some forest roads with a quick detour up to the fire lookout tower.

The fresh air was lung cleansing.

7,734'. All downhill from here...mostly.

We quickly picked up the Gaddes Trail #110. It was chunky and post-holed at first, but then was a fun chunkalicious descent to our turnoff.

Heading out onto the Gaddes Canyon Trail #9037.

Autumn was in the air as the leaves were just beginning to turn.

Yeah, it was kinda like that. So fun!!

This trail had it all, fast flowy bits, rock gardens, stream crossings and a few short uphill bits.

No down trees and barely any overgrowth. The toughest part was the tall grass and hoping rocks weren't buried - they weren't.

We began to feel a few raindrops as we neared the end of Gaddes Canyon. By the time we reached Black Canyon, I had to put on my rain jacket. It never rained hard, but got everything wet. I was glad we were through most of the roots as those can be treacherous when wet.

FS413 marks the end of Gaddes Canyon and the beginning of the Black Canyon of Mingus #114.

The big trees disappear quickly as the views begin to open up. We had already descended over 1,500'.

There was one 5-10 minute hike-a-bike tucked in the top of Black Canyon. Seems like any longer trail in Arizona has at least one push, especially on a long downhill trail. It wasn't a big deal and didn't take away from the experience.

Whoa. The Verde Valley showing off.

Before we knew it, the rain tapered off and the trail dried out.

This upper part was fairly fast, just had to watch for some soft shoulders.

The tech and exposure gets ratcheted up over the next two miles. If you have a fear of heights, this trail may not be for you. There is penalty for failure.

Kelly seemingly riding off the mountain.

A trail routing masterpiece.

This section was a little tight with vegetation. The sharp pointy kind: Holly bushes. Ouch. I highly suggest arm sleeves and long socks when riding out here.

This fast moving Centipede crossed the trail in front of my tire. It was a good 6-7" long.

This about sums it up.

We had about 4+ miles remaining to reach the trailhead and the trail conditions improved. The tread was a bit wider to feel more confident at carrying speed, the vegetation seemed like it may have been trimmed back. We were loving it after having some mixed feelings going through the sketchy middle section.

Open it up, time to fly!!

The riding was fantastic and the views never stopped.

Humphrey's Peak, 12,633' and Sedona's red rocks while Kelly is a mere speck on the hillside.

Fast riding all the way to the finish!!

Done. Two hours on the dot.

We both agreed that a tiny bit of trail work would go a long way in making the Black Canyon a stellar rip all the way through. Some of the tread surface is sliding off the mountain and the encroaching vegetation takes a bit off the ride in the middle section. Clean those two items up and the trail would keep its character and not extract too much blood from the riders.

We capped off the afternoon with a solid lunch at Las Salsitas in Cottonwood.

We got out of there just in time as the skies opened up on our drive down SR69. Hard to believe we were able to sneak that ride in today without much weather drama. Some days it just works out.

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