Highline: Triple E (East End Extravaganza)

 A recent article about the Highline trail on Singletracks.com reminded me that I needed to ride that trail again. I wanted to check out the most recent upgrade on it, a series of climbing switchbacks between See Canyon and the Two Sixty trailhead.

I made the drive north to Payson, then east along SR260 to Christopher Creek. There were a few cars parked at the small See Canyon trailhead. It was about 9a when I got rolling, temps hovering in the upper 70's, ahhh.

My plan for the day would be to ride the Highline east to its terminus at the Two Sixty trailhead, then ride back, see how I felt and continue west for a bit. The initial out-n-back, OnB, would only be about 14 miles.

Christopher Creek with a nice flow near the trailhead.

A couple miles into the ride, I came to the new re-route. The original Highline route would remain, but now designated as the Malpractice DH. I'd come down that on the return.

New tread heads up.

It was mostly rideable, probably all rideable, but I was feeling the 6000'+ in elevation. It's amazing how much fitness you lose in only two weeks of not riding.

Incredibly well built trail.

It was the bluest of blue-bird days. The clarity was unmatched.

Nice new gates with cool Highline trail blazes.

The Drew trail comes off the top of the rim and meets the Highline here, at the gate.

Rim Country has some of my favorite areas in all of Arizona.

Morphing back-n-forth with Sedona style riding.

A little over 7 miles to reach the Two Sixty trailhead.

A few feet away from the previous photo, this updated map shows the full 63 miles of the Highline trail, divided into three segments: Gathering Waters, the Inner Sactum and Geronimo's Call. (East to West)

View to the west towards Pine.

Malpractice DH time.

Down in the shadows and ferns.

Sedona time warp.

Century plant post-bloom.

A bit of the legacy Highline tread.

Amazingly clear view to the south. Brown's Peak, is the highest of the Four Peaks. I did notice some smoke on the far left, hmmm. PeakFinder app.

Apparently, the Hellsgate fire started sometime earlier in the day. Guessing it was human caused because there was no evidence of any lightning.

Small plume of smoke still visible.

I made good time getting back to the See Canyon trailhead. It wasn't quite noon yet, so I decided to keep pedaling west. There's a sizable climb coming out of the trailhead. I made it to the gate, then the trail undulates for a while. I thought I may ride out to Horton Springs, but that would put the ride over 30 miles and I wasn't sure I was up to that today. As I went farther west, I knew I wasn't going to reach the spring. A quick look at the upcoming elevation profile and I opted to turn around before a mile descent. It was the correct choice as I really enjoyed the return ride knowing I'd finish with a long downhill.

Promontory Butte looms over the trail.

Alligator Juniper trees are everywhere here.

Crossed through the gate, all downhill from here!!

Parking area comes into view, much more crowded than my arrival.

What a fun ride!! It was just the amount of difficulty I needed today. I can't recommend this trail enough. It's so close too, barely two hours from home. There's really no excuse to not ride in the summer if you live in the Phoenix area.

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