Pinal Peak: Six Shooter

I had been on a fairly good roll ticking off trails I had always wanted to ride. Then my buddy, Igor, posted up a report about the stellar conditions on Six Shooter Canyon over in the Pinal Mtns. near Globe. Hmmm. Add this one to the list!!

Six Shooter is popular with the shuttle crowd as is nearby Kellner Canyon. I'm not opposed to doing a shuttle, but I couldn't get any midweek takers so I would ride up the dirt road, self-shuttle style. I recall hearing how dreadful the climb was over the years, but I like to climb and I'll ride anything once.

I hatched a grand plan to get over there early, it's about an hour and a half drive from home, ride up to Six Shooter, then ride up again to Kellner Canyon. Then I went and slept in, arrived late, and didn't start pedaling until 11a!! It was already in the low 90's, so the second lap to Kellner was nixed. I was ok with that and decided to take a more touristy approach to the ride, stop a lot, soak it all in and take a ton of pics.

The trailhead parking at CCC Campground was closed, but I was able to find a pullout a short bit up the road.

The route began with some trail and dirt road linking over to the main climb up Pinal Mountain Rd. 651.

Greeted with this right out of the gate. Hmmm, could make things interesting.

There are a handful of other trails on Pinal Mtn. Word is, trailwork is slated to begin when things settle down. Hopefully, there will be a series of trails / routes to enjoy in the Pinals soon.

What is this? Definitely wasn't expecting to see cool running water, especially this far down the mountain.

The singletrack dumped out onto a jeep road, I followed it down, then up and around a small hill where a slice of pavement led up Kellner Canyon Rd. taking me to Pinal Mtn. Rd. I was about 2 miles into the ride and the real climb was about to begin.

Pinal Mtn. Rd. from my vantage point looked like a real nice climbing grade.

Sure was!! Good dirt too. It felt more like a railroad grade.

Somewhere around the 5000' mark, the trees began to appear and another small creek crossing. Spotted a few deer not far beyond the curve.

6 more miles of climbing, I was already 8 miles into it and feeling great. 

Apparently, it's also a very popular off-road area.

After the OHV staging area, the road crossed a cattle guard and the views opened up!! Whoa!!

Looking west, I can practically see my house!! I live a few miles north of San Tan Mtns. (PeakFinder app.)

Circling around a local antenna.

There were a couple of dirt roads peeling off the north side of the mountain that looked ripe for exploring.

The grade continued its friendly pitch as I rode past 7000'. The air temp was noticeably cooler.

11 miles down, I reached the Kellner Canyon split. Still 3 to go until Six Shooter.

The Tonto Nat'l Forest is massive. Reaching from the Phoenix area east to here and north to the Mogollon Rim. It covers a wide range of terrain including the lowland Sonoran Desert up to the high alpine of the Sky Islands near 8000'.

I didn't realize there were a bunch of homes up here. Some real nice cabins tucked in the woods.

Hard to believe this kind of riding exists so close to home.

Pinal Peak attained!! What an amazing 360º view. Picacho Peak along the I-10 corridor, Mt. Lemmon at over 9000' near Tucson and a peak in old Mexico, Cerro San Jose. Incredible.

I had to pinch myself at the top. How had I not come over here and ridden this befored? Maybe Six Shooter was too steep for my liking, I was about to find out. The entire climb up was extremely rideable, enjoyable actually, and I wasn't in granny gear. I think I stayed in 4th or 5th gear all the way up. It reminded me of many climbs along last year's Tour Divide. Had I known this, I would've made this a regular training ride.

Lots of electronics up here.

Here are some more shots of the surrounding peaks.

You can almost see into New Mexico from up here. Mt. Graham is the highest visible peak at 10,695'

The wind was really whipping up top, but that was about it. I found shelter behind a building for a snack while hundreds of ladybugs scurried about.

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.

I rolled down the road a bit more, found another tower near the connector trail to Six Shooter.

My singletrack route down the mountain would begin here: Ferndell trail.

It was a little overgrown at first, then opened up in the forest.

It was a nice warmup leading into Six Shooter Canyon.

Here's my turn. Let's go!!

The trail started off fast & wide, then a gate halted progress.

Back at it, this was fun!!

A fleeting glimpse down into the Globe/Miami area. Still a long way to descend.

One of the few spots that felt overgrown, it didn't last long.

Browns Peak, part of the Four Peaks north of Phoenix, and Aztec Peak in the Sierra Anchas.

Quick snack break with a view.

The trail tightened up a bit, but rode fantastic.

More of this please.

The more I rode, the more I was kicking myself for never making the trek over here. I had heard reports over the years that this trail was steep and challenging in sections. So far, I hadn't seen it. It often has down trees reported, but those too had been cleared. I'm no expert downhiller by any stretch, heck, I still don't have a dropper post and ride a hardtail on any and everything. Yet, I was having a blast and my bike was easily handling the trail.

It wasn't all buffed out singletrack, there were a couple of hesitations along the way.

There was one short steep uphill I'm sure the DH crowd despises, but it's really nothing. Does halt the flow for a minute. I think I balked at two rock features on the way down, one was at an awkward switchback that caught me off-guard. Maybe if I wasn't riding solo I'd try it, sure didn't want to do something stupid out here alone.

Another small creek crossing. I'm guessing all this water was spring fed as it hadn't rained in quite some time and it surely wasn't snowmelt.

Quite a few vibrant blooms along the trail.

I could feel the temperature bump up as I rode lower.

Still a ways to go, but the valley floor is getting closer.

The large pine trees begin to give way to desert scrub.

Apache Peak at nearly 7000' is the dominant feature.

Yeah, there were a few jumps in the mix too!! I kept my rubber on terra firma.

I could now see the road I was parked on. I found out later that most riders jump on the road at the crossing ahead and skip the final bit of Six Shooter. I'd ride the trail out to the end today.

Another water crossing after the dirt road. The trail did become a bit more rugged, but rideable. I wouldn't necessarily skip it, but probably wouldn't ride it every time.

It was now in the upper 90's and the little water I had left was warm.

One final connector with a couple of short hike-a-bikes led me to the dirt road, my car was 100 yards away with a cooler of cold drinks.

What a great ride it turned out to be. Not only was I happy to check this off the list, but I was thrilled at how well the climb rode. I figure, if I'm going to drive all the way over here, I might as well ride a bunch. If I were to shuttle this, I'd want to do no less than 2 laps. Now I really wanted to check out Kellner Canyon to have something to compare it to. It was added to the short list of upcoming rides.

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