Sedona: West Side Loops

 My friend, Kara, has been training hard this year for the AZT800. She wanted to get some more technical miles in and some hiking so she put together a route in Sedona. A few of us tagged along for the fun. Kelly and I carpooled and met up with Kara and Mike B. (I met Mike last year during the Queen's Ransom)

Kara and Mike were there a bit before us and did a short loop while we got ready. We started with a short out-n-back once we realized we were riding our loop the wrong direction!! Haha. It was a nice mile warm up for the gradual climbing that ensued.

We eventually topped out then made our way around the Cockscomb towards the Aerie trail. That's one of my favorites in Sedona. However, being on the singlespeed, I was leery of the upcoming technical section. It generally climbs, has some loose rock and a few bigger power moves. I usually do pretty good on this section, but even with gears I get tripped up on occasion.

I led the group out after our break and was pleased with my riding. I made the entire first section clean to the Doe Mtn. access trail. We took a couple of minutes there, but I knew the second half was more challenging.

Our fearless leader for the day, Kara.

Kelly was smart to use bright colors here, good for photos!!

Mike rolling in.

Once again I was keeping good power and momentum. I almost stalled out on the big move here, but had just enough momentum to keep it rolling. Next thing I knew the downhill began. I couldn't believe I made the entire thing, no dabs. To put it in perspective, I had ridden at Hawes the day before and felt like hot garbage, walking on a few easy grades. Amazing what a day difference does.

Kelly on one of the cooler natural trail features around.

Kara's turn.

Mike incoming!!

We snaked through the hikers near the trailhead and made the tough, short climb up Mescal. I had to dismount twice on that, but I'll take it. Mescal trail is super scenic, has nice sections of slickrock and generally has a bit of a Moab feel to it.

Mashing along. Photo by Kara.

Kara leading the group to the goods.

Just another boring bike posing photo.

Find the riders.

Somewhere in this section the trails splits and is signed: Intermediate this way, Expert that way. We took the intermediate direction, but it still has a tricky spot or two. The others were up ahead as I approached a dicey area. There was a group of four hikers taking a break in the shade offering cheers as I rode up. There's a giant boulder on the left, a smallish gap with a tree on the right. In the gap is a series of medium sized rocks that want to grab your tires before you go up and over the obstacle.

I gave it a good effort, but stalled out. Hmmm, I can get that, I thought. So, I backed up for a re-try. The hikers appreciated my determination and one fella noted the singlespeed setup and was amazed. He doubled down when he also noticed I was on a hardtail. 'Where's you suspension?' Huh? I told him it was fine the way it was, but he seemed skeptical. Another fella who was standing next to him joined in late, finally putting 2 & 2 together and he too, aghast, noted the lack of gears. I tried to convince them that I still rode all the same trails I rode with gears, but I'm not sure it was getting through. I then hopped on the pedals and rode right through the gap and over the rocks. Easy. As I dropped over the backside of the rock pile I heard one of the guys cheering!! Haha, yeehaw!!

We then made our way down Yucca to Canyon of Fools, where trail conditions were unknown.

Kelly blending in with the walls here.

Mike weaving through the serpentine.

Kara flying by.

Canyon of Fools was ok, not as much fast flow as I recalled, but still fun. We looped around and back through the trailhead we staged from. Next up was a loop on Chuckwagon trail, but there was some discussion on which direction to go. I had always gone CW because of the AES route, but Kara and Mike thought it rode better CCW. CCW it would be.

We began grinding up a bit of semi-steep pavement and I heard Kelly tell me she was going to keep going and get a smoothie. I thought she was joking, but she said again she wanted a smoothie and would hang out while we finished up. Mike had already peeled off to head home, so Kara and I continued onto Chuckwagon.

Huge sideslope riding here.

Lucky for us, it was a bit warm and now after 12 noon, not too many hikers on this popular trail that accesses the wildly famous Devil's Bridge of Instagram fame.

Kara sending it on a techy section.

Moar crappy Sedona scenery.

Near the end of Chuckwagon, my legs had finally had enough. I did concur with the CCW direction though. I felt the climbs were shorter in this direction. We popped out on a dirt road, then a short ride later were back at the car. People often say how Sedona miles feel like twice the normal miles. It's all the short, punchy, max effort stuff. No real long climbs anywhere, it's a few hundred feet up, then a few hundred down. All day long. Add in the singlespeed effect and it's more like 2 1/2 : 1 !!

Anyway, it was a great ride, cool routing and a bit of a redemption ride from the previous day for me. We found Kelly chilling at Layla's Bakery and joined her for lunch to round out the afternoon. What a day!!

Route:

Flagstaff: Recovery Ride??

 The plan on Saturday had been to ride a scouting loop for the upcoming AZT800 following our Grand Canyon hike the day before. That loop had a fair amount of hike-a-bike early on and my walking legs were not exactly firing on all, or any, cylinders if I'm honest with myself. I mentioned my haggard state to Mike, but suggested I at least try to ride my bike up & down his street. Maybe a short recovery ride would do me some good.

I hopped on the bike and much to my surprise actually felt ok. Cool. Let's do this. I've been wanting to ride one of the newer AZT re-routes out on Walnut Canyon for a couple of years now, just haven't made it happen. Today would be the day!! Our plan would be to mostly ride the Flagstaff Loop trail east and bring the AZT back across Walnut Canyon. Seemed like a reasonable ride with a bunch of flowy XC style trails.

Mike's place is located close to the trails, but who's house in Flagstaff isn't?? We started out on some social trails that tied into the FUTS (Flagstaff Urban Trail System) on the Bow and Arrow segment.

Bow and Arrow. Double track that rides like singletrack.

We rode out beyond Rio de Flag, but were met with a newer looking fence. Apparently access is longer allowed east of Rio de Flag. We backtracked to the AZT, which meant a short steep pitch up into the forest. Cue the hike-a-bike. I guess my legs woke up enough and it wasn't too bad, perhaps we could have done the other ride. Dunno. 

The AZT brought us to the junction with the Flag Loop trail. 

Plenty of fast, fun miles ensued. Our goal was to link into Campbell Mesa, but we opted to check out some more social trails on the way. New stuff for both of us.

These don't look too bad. Fun stuff.

We passed by the old home remnants, sad to see more litter out there.

I was still feeling pretty good so we decided to skip the short connector to the AZT and instead linked to the AZT off the northeast side of Campbell Mesa and much to my surprise, Mike had never ridden this connector.

Fast trails at Campbell Mesa.

Short stint on Route 66 as we cross over the busy rail line.

Mike spotted this sign, made for a good detour. Get yer kicks!! PeakFinder app.

Interesting piece of equipment sitting roadside.

On the AZT riding southbound towards Walnut Canyon.

May need a pre-filter here...

Fun trail through here, some sneaky rocky sections kept you on your toes.

Sign say camping is permitted, but a newer USFS closure order prohibits camping around the Flagstaff area. See pic below.

Pink line is the approximate location of the AZT through the closure area. Here's a link to the official closure order.

Loving all the new rollover gates in the area, but where's the fence?? Still two more gates to replace nearby.

Sublime singletrack. See?? AZT is easy peasy.

Shred the gnar!! Photo by Mike.

Dropping into Walnut Canyon.

The ride was now growing quite long, much more than I think we both thought. Decision time: Cut the AZT to speed things up a bit? Done.

Classic shot from the bottom of Fisher Pt.

We still had about 6 miles to go and finished things up by taking Skunk Canyon to the Lake Mary segment of the Loop trail. In the end we racked up over 36 miles!! So much for a quick easy recovery spin. My good friend Ez once said: Recovery is for people with nothing better to do. I concur. For me, recovery begins on my Monday's back at work. For this weekend effort, it began on Sunday since I could barely walk!!

I did pay a price for those outings: incredibly sore quads and calves, aggravated some muscle or tendon on top of my left foot, right Patella was angry, left Adductor joined the protest and my left big toe was bruised and sore. Worth it? No question.

On to the next big dumb adventure...

Route:

Grand Canyon: South Rim Loop

 Back in early July we had done a day trip to the Grand Canyon. Magical as always, but I was yearning for a return for a more intimate experience. Little did we know at the time, but a couple days after our visit, the Dragon Bravo fire ignited from a lightning strike. 145,000 acres later, the North Rim was altered forever. It's currently closed indefinitely. Reports are trickling in and plans are already being formed to hopefully return it to some semblance of former glory.

On a more personal note, the North Rim closure affects through travelers along the Arizona Trail. This means the upcoming AZT800 route would need an alternate ending. The fire also closed most of the inner gorge trails due to smoke settling, creating unhealthy air conditions. This past week saw that closure get lifted. The 800 needs to have some sort of Canyon portage on the route, so the plan was for the riders to carry their bikes down the S. Kaibab trail to the Tipoff. From there they will traverse west along the Tonto trail to the junction of Bright Angel trail at Havasupai Gardens. Then it's 4.5 miles up to the South Rim.

My plans to take part in the 800 have fallen by the wayside. This year has been setback after setback fitness wise and now I just don't have the time to get ready for such an undertaking. I did think it would be fun to go hike the route and Mike agreed. Neither of us had ever been on the Tonto trail. I had also planned to use this weekend as a final scouting mission for the 800 route. Maybe we could do a ride after the hike around the South Rim? We'll see how it goes.

I made the drive north on Thursday and crashed at Mike's place. He was driving up early on Friday and if I got going early, we'd start on each end of the hike and meet in the middle. Of course I didn't get going quite as early as I hoped and Mike was able to get on the road quickly. I had about an hour buffer, so I used that time to investigate a potential snag on one of my preferred routes back to Flagstaff. Would there be a gate or just a fence at a remote dirt road crossing?

Winner!! It's a gate!!

I arrived at the South Rim entrance station to hardly any traffic at 9a. I made my way over to the Backcountry Information Center, BIC, and 5 minutes later Mike sent a text that he was at the entrance station. Cool. We could do the entire hike together. 

Water situation looks good!!

We got settled in, then made the two shuttle exchange over to the S. Kaibab trailhead. We were prepared to get rained on too, forecast wasn't looking too favorable, but the cloud cover wasn't ominous.

All smiles at the top of the S. Kaibab trail.

Overcast start to the day.

Classic view of the upper switchback descent.

Trail levels out a bit here.

Ooh Aah Point, popular turnaround spot for a short canyon experience.

O'Neill Butte still a ways down.

Yeah, it's that kind of feeling being here. Mike nails it.

Next level rock work on these trails. Photo by Mike.

Sun islands appearing.

The amount of rock armoring on this trail is staggering.

Looking down at the Cedar Ridge rest area.

Cool looking blue bird.

Cedar Ridge rest area.

Closing in on O'Neill Butte.

Nice vantage point for the inner gorge. The Tonto trail can be seen snaking across the plateau and Plateau Point on more distinct trail in the distance.

This one fought to the bitter end.

A rare flattish section of trail.

Full zoom across to the burned out shell of the North Rim Lodge. Heartbreaking.

Getting there, in deep now.

We should apparently 'Seek Advice'. Nah. Not shown here is the Tonto trail which connects the dots from the Tip Off to Havasupai Gardens (Indian Garden CG on the map - that's the old name) Found this photo online, possibly from the NPS.

Skeleton Point offers the first view of the Colorado River, quite muddy now.

Simply spectacular around every corner.

This was a steeper section and when the accumulation of the repeated downhill force of the hike began to be noticeable.

Saw a bunch of good sized Millipedes out there.

The Tip Off coming into view!!

My right knee was starting to become unhappy along with my left Adductor muscle. I was glad we were just about done with the downhill portion. At least the steeper, pounding downhill bits.

Lower trails are scheduled to re-open on Oct. 31st.

Upcoming schedule for the inner gorge re-opening.

Newer shade structure and benches at the Tip Off. Quite a few hikers were staying here to avoid the heat, but Mike and I thought it was pleasant, maybe 85º?? You could tell who lives in the desert and who doesn't.

On to the Tonto West trail, new for both of us.

The Tonto trail mainly traverses across the plateau with short ups and downs. It's a nice change of pace compared to the relentless downhill along S. Kaibab trail.

The Tonto trail was noticeably narrower than the S. Kaibab trail, felt more like a backcountry trail. Photo by Mike.

We were up there, in the notch area.

Looking up and south, the canyon walls are generally darker, greener.

The canyon walls have a more reddish hue looking north.

Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel CG.

The popular Mather Point overlook is up there.

Contouring around a side canyon.

I was definitely feeling the discomfort in the short downhills. Ugh.

Crossing the marshy runoff from Burro Spring.

It's a jungle out there!!

Tall green trees signals more water.

Pipe Creek was flowing, enough to filter, if needed.

Pipe Creek marked the halfway point or so to Havasupai Gardens.

Collared Lizard sunning himself.

Natural bench makes for a quality snack break site.

Look around, there are caves and archways everywhere.

The detail on the canyon walls looks like abstract art.

Not sure what all the white stuff was near Plateau Point, but it made for a good landmark.

Construction equipment for the pipeline project come into view.

Nearing our junction with the Bright Angel trail.

We just have to get up there.

Thick canopy of trees at Havasupai Gardens.

Reminders of the inner gorge closures.

Tonto trail: Done.

Cool stonework.

Did not feel that warm.

But it sure was nice to take off the shoes for a quick soak in Garden Creek.

Garden Creek

Water ON, trails closed, only 3040' to hike up!!

It's quite the lush setting here.

The initial climb starts off gradually.

Need to get up there.

I assume this is part of the new water pipeline.

We figured this thing was flown in to the location.

Starting to gain some elevation.

The walls are closing in.

The pace was slowing down, legs starting to feel the effort.

3 Mile rest house nears. Snack break time!!

Heed the wise words here.

The higher you go, the cooler it gets.

Off the back of 3 Mile, some old structure remnants.

Glad I didn't need to use the restroom, no extra climbing or descending!!

Delicious energy ball, mostly oats, peanut butter & chocolate chips.

The shadows are growing long as golden hour approaches.

We made a pact with ourselves. No more than 2 or 3 waterbars on the same leg consecutively. Keeps you from favoring one side over the other and spreads out the workload. Photo by Mike.

Water spigot at the 1.5 mile rest house.

The day is growing long.

'Only' 1.5 miles to go. At our current pace, we knew the final bit would be in the dark.

Nice break in the clouds providing a dramatic sunset.

Finally. Mike is looking a bit tired!! Haha.

The final rock layer: Kaibab Limestone.

The first of two tunnels, getting close now.

The Canyon is THIS big. Photo by Mike.

Can we make it without needing lights??

A near full moon certainly helps.

It was fairly dark at the second tunnel. It is amazing how well your eyes adjust to the changing light.

Same photo as above, only this time using my phone's night sight mode. Looks like daylight!!

One final turn to go!!

Mike: That wasn't so hard.

Me: Speak for yourself!!

A quick shuttle ride back to our cars, change of shoes & clothes, then back to the Maswik Lodge for pizza and beer. Perfect.

Cheers to fantastic adventures. Photo by Mike.

Strava link.

This hike was amazing, but definitely not easy - at least for me. At 14.6 miles, 3700' gain and almost 9 hours out there, it was a full day. To think I thought we may want to do a bike ride afterwards was laughable. Nah. I'd love to do this one again, but with a bit more training under my belt.