On our drive home to Arizona we spent a night outside of Big Bend Nat'l Park. I knew there were trails nearby and I made a deal with K that I would wake up in darkness and be back at our place before 9a. That would give me about two hours to check things out. I reached out to my buddy, Derek, who I rode with in Austin, for some ride recommendations. I opted for the Airport loop as it looked to be about the right mileage and was closest to where we were staying.
My alarm went off and I was up an moving. I arrived at the trailhead area in darkness and didn't quite see where exactly to park. One area I thought would be good, off the side of the main road, had mailboxes in the middle, so not ideal. Then I noticed a faint image of a kiosk sign, turned the car around and the headlights picked up the official trailhead. Score! It was vague at best in the darkness, but somehow I found it.
I got myself ready as daylight slowly crept in. Another car of hikers arrived and they took off in the wee light, I wanted a bit more daylight so I hung around for another 10 minutes or so.
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| Glad I spotted this sign in the darkness. |
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| Suddenly, I feel like I'm almost back in Arizona. |
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| So far, it was a fast track parting the rocks. |
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| Ocotillos were everywhere out here. Trail followed a rocky wash for a short bit. |
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| This bit reminded me of the 18 Road Trails in Fruita, CO. |
The sun was creeping near the horizon and I was hoping I'd reach my turn before it popped up, blinding me. I barely made it, but was stoked to have the sun at my back and over 3 miles down before sunrise.
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| I was glad I had loaded a track to follow as it was a bit vague through this wash area. |
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| Clinging to the hillside here. |
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| The sun makes an appearance when I spotted what appeared to be an abandoned van. |
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| Yep, looks like it's been there a while. |
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| Not enough bullet holes to be found in Arizona. |
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| Someone had a good time here. |
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| Fix'er up'er. |
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| Truth. Preach it. |
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| More fun, fast riding along this shallow ridgeline. |
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| Sort of looks like a dirt road, but rides like singletrack. |
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| From barren rock moonscape to thick grass and shrubs. It was a checkerboard of terrain. |
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| A Javelina darted out in front of me and I chased it for a while through here. |
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| Shadow guy needs to get on the trail. |
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| There were some looping options as the nice metal signs indicated. |
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| Ocotillo forest higher on the flanks. |
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| Fun, contoured climb. |
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| The terrain had a bit more character here. |
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| One final trail to complete the loop. |
What a fun route, thanks for the suggestion, Derek. Much more to see here. It'll be fun to spend a few days in the area next time. I needed to get back and was happy to wrap up the ride by 8:30a, on schedule, heck even a few minutes early. That rarely happens...
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