Bradshaw Mtns. - Yankee Doodle

Mark and I had been scheming a route along the spine of the Bradshaw Mtns. for a few years. Mark had this obsession with riding the full traverse of the Yankee Doodle trail, a moto trail open to bikes. Our route was going to ride northbound on the Yankee, not really the optimal direction, but we've never been accused of being smart riders. The full route was intended to go from the north side of Lake Pleasant all the way to Prescott, some 60 miles or so.

A couple years went by and we still hadn't attempted the ride, then Mark threw me a bone. He concocted a shorter, more feasible route along the Yankee corridor and yes, we'd actually ride it in the preferred direction!!

Mark lives in the Prescott area, so he wasn't too far from home. I made the trek north and we met at a small pullout up in the pines. I was first to arrive and found a small camper in the area. At first I thought Mark had camped out with another friend, so I waved as I pulled in. As I began to get ready a lady came over and apologized for camping on the trail, that's when I realized Mark wasn't here and I didn't know these people!! Haha. They were cool though and I assured them that we wouldn't be infringing on their solitude. Mark pulled up a few minutes later.

We got going, climbing a series of short punchy climbs right out of the gate. Mark was instantly on point cleaning just about everything while I pushed. Oof. I'm typically a slow starter and climbing from the trailhead usually doesn't suit me well. We were targeting Mt. Union, the highpoint of the day (also the highest in the Bradshaw Mtns. at 7,979') before dropping onto the Yankee Doodle trail.

Some of the climbing was't too bad.

Other sections were a mere hint of what was to come.

Mt. Union fire lookout.

Helipad with a view. We'd be riding out to those distant hills and back.

Mt. Union marker.

This was a nice surprise along the upper reaches of Yankee Doodle.

Mark getting busy on a rockroll.

There wasn't too much overgrowth, I'm guessing the trail does see some regular maintenance.

Slowly exiting the trees and our shade cover.

I was reminded early on that I forgot to bleed my brakes!! Front brake lever was pulled to the grip, maybe 20% braking power, rear brake was hovering around 75%. Fun times. Eek.

We were nearing the halfway point of the Yankee and for the most part were really enjoying the trail. I know I would've liked it a bunch more if I had confidence in my braking speed, but whatevs. Since I was having some bike woes and quite honestly, still not firing with much power in my legs, we changed up the initial route somewhat. I had never been to the historic Palace Station, so we did a short out-n-back to the old cabin.

Try to imagine life here in 1874.

It was Saturday, so the OHV crowd was out and about too.

Different angle of Palace Station.

A truly idyllic setting deep in the rugged mountains and a creek too.

While the OHV crowd milled about, we made our way back up towards the Yankee Doodle in hopes of dodging dust.

We made it without any road traffic!! The trail crosses the Senator Hwy. near the Orofino Mine.

We were now about to enter unknown territory for Mark, how exciting!! The trail was also about to undulate a bit more. We were both anxiously optimistic about the rideability.

If this was any indication, it was gonna be rad!!

The depth of the Bradshaws can only be measured when fully submerged.

The trail continued to hold up, but my legs felt like this tree: dead.

The branches were encroaching, handlebar grabbers and knuckle tearers, but the tread was fantastic.

Mix in some of this and we were getting our monies worth, even Mark was pushing here.

Looking back at Mt. Union, we've come a ways.

There were some unreal ridgelines...

...and some forgettable fall-line trail.

The spectacular long distance views didn't let up.

More steep pushing.

This is one of those 'stop you in your tracks' moments.

Mark blasting off a much steeper-than-it-looks scree field.

Oof, Talk about a slog.

Mark picking his way through the bushes.

We reached the point of the ride where we needed to make a decision. Do we continue on the Yankee Doodle for the final 1 1/2 miles through a recent burn area and steep descent or follow our original plan to ride the Arrastre Trail. We discussed, even mentioned doing the out-n-back on the Doodle, then hopping on Arrastre. In the end, we opted to stick with bagging the full Yankee Doodle. We'd then take some dirt roads around to Palace Station once more.

New fence drop.

There was a brief bushwhack after the trail junction, then it opened up to the scar of the Cellar Fire from 2019.

Senator Hwy. slices across the far slope towards Crown King.

What do we have here? A full box of MRE's left for the fire crew, long since abandoned. Mark and I had our pick.

Ladybugs were out in force as well.

Stark landscape and the trail was vague in sections.

Mark picking his was across the hillside.

Then things got STEEP, like ludicrously steep. Washed out, blown out, whatever, it was a challenge walking...errr, sliding down that mess!!

Looking back up the fall-line 'trail'. It became comical and we both agreed there was no way we would've done an out-n-back on that.

No sooner did the grade mellow out, the vegetation took over. Time to use the bike as a battering ram.

Arizona pinstriping complete, we were mercifully dumped out onto Trails End Mine Rd. How appropriate.

Snack break time!! Felt good to pedal the bike again as energy levels slowly crept up in my legs. Brakes were marginally better in the warmer temps.

See? It's a real thing.

Refreshing water crossing and filtering spot.

I was ready for this kind of climbing.

Lots of mining claims littering the Bradshaw Mtns.

We made relatively quick work getting back to Palace Station from the south.

A little bit of route improvising was almost our undoing as we had to cross a short bit of private land. Not our preference and afterwards we found a suitable alternative.

The last bit of forest riding was sublime.

We were parked around the bend off Big Bug Mesa Rd.

We wrapped up the ride with enough daylight to spare. For me, the ride felt twice as long & hard as it was due to the lack of leg power and the sketchy brake situation. It sure was nice to get it done though and we both plan to ride at least the upper reaches of Yankee Doodle again. There's so much to explore in the Bradshaw Mtns, but as we've been finding out both firsthand and through some close friends, it's rugged AF!! Come prepared for adventure...and hike-a-bike.

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