Canelo Hills Extravaganza

 The Canelo Hills don't often come to mind when most riders think of places to day ride, but I'm not most riders and neither is the Red Rock Chica, RRC. We've been doing silly adventures for over a decade now, but somehow it had been over 5 years since our last ride!! How could that be?? Life, schedules and some dumb luck I suppose. We had planned to do a good ride after the AZTR kicked off a few weeks earlier, but right on queue, life's adulting duties got in the way.

Fast forward and I had a free Saturday. I asked the RRC if I could cash in that Canelo Hills rain check. The adventure bank was open!! Finally, we ride.

Dawn glows over the Santa Catalina Mtns.

My riding in the Canelo Hills has mostly been limited to the Arizona Trail, AZT, and a quick pass through on the Sky Island Odyssey East Loop. Today would be different as there are a plethora of dirt roads crisscrossing these hills. The RRC has been exploring these roads for a few years now, so I was grateful to know I was in good hands when it came to the routing. We tossed around a few ideas of where to ride and decided we'd do a short loop heading towards the Huachuca Mtns. then break for lunch and do another bigger loop in the opposite direction.

Perfect day for some exploration.

Heading down Brushy Canyon.

Cool roadside POI. Lon Parker Memorial.

Interesting gate latch. Surprised I hadn't seen this style on the AZT.

Looks like we have a hill to climb up ahead.

Indeed. Stand and mash. Photo by RRC.

There seems to be a high number of dead or dying trees in the area and that makes me sad.

Made that hill look easy.

I should've known. This is the look of gears turning under that helmet, concocting a route with more hike-a-bike for the afternoon...

We wrapped up our morning ride, a nice 14 mile or so loop that was surprisingly rideable. We had some lunch, then, as promised, the RRC gave me a wonderful tutorial on shooting. Believe it or not, I had never shot a gun in my life. BB gun once or twice, that's about it. Never really had the opportunity. I had mentioned it to her some time ago and she remembered. We went out, set up some targets and had a great time. For those wondering, it was a Glock 19. She's a great teacher and didn't mind all my noob questions and occasional fumbling - when it wasn't loaded!!

Not going to win any shooting form competitions, but I think I did ok.

Not too bad for my first time, I guess.

That was a lot of fun and I can't thank the RRC enough for remembering and the fantastic instructions. Look forward to doing it again sometime. Our midday break was over, back to riding.

Sublime 2-track into them thar hills.

I wore the bright colors for the hunters out and about.

That's the look of someone who knows and loves the Canelo Hills!!

Ahhh, there we go. Finally, some hike-a-bike!! Little did I know...

Getting dropped on the Canelo Pass Rd. climb. Lingering dust from a string of SXS vehicles, much to the dismay of the RRC. Triggered!! Haha.

San Rafael Valley opening up.

Endless grasslands out here.

When you think of Arizona, it's this, right?? No??

Snek!! Saw a bunch of turkeys earlier, but missed the photo.

Working it. Photo by RRC.

Somewhere along here we decided to make this ride a loop using a steep connector she's been wanting to check out. Queue the sayings: What could go wrong? How hard could it be? You brought lights, right? No? Ok. We'll be fine.

This time of year the shadows grow long early.

Fun!! Some downhill.

Nice little surprise tank out here.

The first of a few pushes.

We ran across a couple of hunters who were amazed to see us out this far. When we told them where we were heading, they remarked at how steep the terrain was and opted to turn their vehicle around. Undaunted, we continued. Duh. They were both very interested in someday completing the Arizona Trail, either on foot or bike. Rad!! Get it, fellas!!

The first in a short series of steep grunts.

I needed a head start of pushing. Photo by RRC.

Once again, I've been sandbagged!! Pedal power!!

Eventually, the grade got her too. Whew.

This guy sure loves his hike-a-bike. Photo by RRC.

This should probably be in the hike-a-bike brochure. (Nice reality capture!!) Photo by RRC.

Mount Washington down by Patagonia and a few peaks in Mexico. PeakFinder app.

Still going up, but look - a rideable grade!!

Looking north, Rincon Peak and a barely visible Mt. Lemmon.

I arrived here to some excitement from the RRC, she pointed out the AZT, down below lurking to the left of the shady spot in center.

Before we reach the AZT, more steep pushing. Oof.

My expression says it all. Whoa, that's a steep hill and/or how is she already way up there!! Photo by RRC.

Proof that I did manage to pedal some of the steeper uphills. Photo by RRC.

Finally cresting the top along this short ridgeline.

Huge views to the north and east up here.

Spooky 'ol tree standing guard. Photo by RRC.

The payoff?? A steeper descent than the push up. White knuckles engaged!! The RRC taking the more conservative approach.

The scratchy bits weren't too bad out here.

Barely 5 minutes earlier, we were up there.

That smile means one thing: AZT singletrack!!

We linked into the AZT on the Canelo Hills East passage, but on the few miles of great trail in between the two main hike-a-bike efforts. It was an earned reward. Photo by RRC.

This section is so good, weaving in/out and slightly up/down among the trees.

She has quite the riding selfie skillz. I'd end up OTB, no doubt.

Trailside tank. Reminder: Don't camp within a quarter mile of any wildlife water source as it may prevent the animals from getting the water they need. Seems this is becoming more of an issue as the trail grows in popularity.

Fun, fast double track section through the trees.

Yeah, it was kinda like that.

It seemed after every short burst of climbing, I was being told there was only one more climb. I finally had to call her bluff. You know I'm a mountain biker too, right? Those tall tales don't work here!! She did come up with some cool routing to get us to the final high point, so all kidding aside, it was worth any extra climbing she 'forgot' about. :)

Waning light as we begin a few miles on mostly gentle downhill 2-track riding. Speed, smiles and laughter were a plenty.

Surely, this is the last climb, right?? Right. Photo by RRC.

At least one of us had a strong light!! Photo by RRC.

We chatted with some locals right as we were about to leave the dirt, maybe less than a half mile from the end. Darkness had settled in, but it didn't matter now. Chalk up another successful adventure. Lots of new-to-me miles out there and even a few for her, which was really cool. I'm very curious to see what the next route down this way will look like.

Peace out RRC, until next time....hike..errr, ride on!!

If you want to ride the Canelo Hills. I highly suggest starting with the Arizona Trail sections, probably the West passage as it's more rideable overall than the East. Check out the routes on the Arizona Endurance Series website, specifically the Coronado Gold routes. Enjoy!!