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Arizona Trip –
Tucson, Sedona and the Grand Canyon April 1-8, 2008 Trip Stats: ·
Family trip with Cathy and mom Jansen ·
Five riding days, 274 miles, 33,000 feet of climbing,
in 23.9 hrs riding time ·
One major hiking day in the Grand Canyon plus two other
hikes, about 10mi/5hrs total ·
Highly cooperative weather every day, most daytime
highs in the 70’s ·
No flats or mechanicals during rides, but a tire
changed was required during the trip Note:
Most of the narrative in this trip report previously appeared in daily
postings on the Hill Junkie
blog. Numerous new photos with
captions have been added to this comprehensive report. Squeeze the Lemmon MTB Ride, Tucson/Oracle, AZ 108.9mi, 13,500ft, 7:38hrs
For about six years now, I've always wanted to
bike to the very summit of Mt Lemmon. Not just the village, or even the ski
area base, but the all the way to the high point. For years, the Mt Lemmon Highway
has been under reconstruction. It was off-limits to bikes. Then last year,
Dave Penney and I tried and got snowed out. After a long dry, warm spell, the
summit was now nearly clear of snow.
Climbing the Mt Lemmon
Control Road.
Looking down the
control road.
I thought this snowy
peak was the summit for the longest time.
I was only about 1000ft below it here and had been without water for
an hour already. This was not the summit. It was several miles to the west of here
and about 2500ft above where I was at.
It took me a long time to realize this.
Burn area north of the
ridgeline from Summerhaven village (hi-rez).
Village of
Summerhaven. I think only 3 structures
out of several hundred survived the fire a few years ago. These homes are all brand new, and they all
have metal roofs.
The ski area several
hundred feet above the village. A
bunny hill by New England standards.
Access road rising
above ski area to summit observatories.
At one point in this photo, the road was very nearly pinched off by
ice and snow. A few days earlier I
might have had to walk a short portion here.
Why is it I always travel thousands of miles to get away from New
England snow, only to find… snow?
Finally, after many
years wait, the Mt Lemmon summit. I
looped up inside the fenced area since it gate was open. The high point appeared to be by bubble
directly above my bike in this image.
Tucson about 6700ft
below from the summit of Mt Lemmon.
This area was burned too.
Looking up the
Catalina Hwy part way down the descent.
About 25 miles of this descent is monotonic with near nil breaking
required.
Another side shot of
the descent with a balanced rock the size of a tank. They must not get earthquakes out here
(hi-rez).
Nearing the bottom of the
descent with saguaro cactus, spring flowers, and Tucson in the distance. Mt Hopkins is faintly visible in the center
left of image. This will be the next
day’s destination. Fantasy Island Trail
Ride, Tucson, AZ Thursday morning,
April 3 21.5mi, 1:46hrs,
vertical - who cares! Cloudless 70 degrees After
epic ride the day before, some chill'n on trails was in order. The Fantasy
Island trail network was a short 20 minute drive from the hotel. I was going
to squeeze this ride in before checking out, and the women were going to hang
out at the pool. I
planned to do full perimeter loop, which means hitting each of the named
loops. All the trails are unidirectional. The whole place is like an
amusement park for mountain bikes. No fear of death stuff, but tons of wash
drop-ins, table tops, gravity cavities, and other opportunities to get air
with amazing flow. As
I worked my way around, I noticed named loops that were not there a year ago.
I had to ride them despite being on a time budget this ride. The Snake loop
and Rez loop were new ones added off the Bunny loop. When
I stopped to take a photo, I swung my bike around and clipped a Cholla cactus
with the rear tire. Chunks broke off, and about 30 needles stuck in the tire.
I tried to remove the balls of thorns with a sharp stone, but the more I
tried, the more they rolled around and embedded more thorns into the tire.
Eventually I got the balls off, but the thorns would not pull out. They would
break before pulling out. Now I know why these things are the bane of a
mountain biker's existence out here. You hit one, you go to the hospital.
Glad I run tubeless tires with Stan's sealer. At least a couple of the thorns
went through the sidewall and leaked a little Stan's. Anyway,
it was a great ride, energizing even, on uber trashed legs from the 7.6hr
deathmarch ride the day before. Got back in plenty of time to check out and
prep for ride two of the day.
Dodging Cholla cactus on
Fantasy Island trails.
One of the more buff
spots with Santa Catalina mountains in the background where I biked
yesterday.
The halfpipe, a
natural wash as far as I can tell. The
transition into the halfpipe was nasty if you weren’t expecting a 3-4ft near
vertical drop. Mt Hopkins Hillclimb,
Amado, AZ Thursday afternoon,
April 3 38.5mi, ~6000ft vert,
3:28hrs Pleasant 70's bottom,
frigid up top
The
women were nice enough to let me indulge in one more ride today. They dropped
me off in Amado, just miles from the Mexican border, while I did an out and
back up Mt Hopkins. They were going to hit the Pima Air Museum while I rode.
Mt Hopkins from I-19 gains about 5500ft to 8500ft elevation. It is a one lane
dirt road most of the way and meticulously maintained. There is a Smithsonian
research complex with telescopes up top. In
haste, I forgot to take long layers with me when I got dropped off. Easy to
do when it is clear and 75F at the bottom. I left a couple water bottles at
the bottom in case I got back before the women and was dehydrated. My legs
were so sore and sluggish starting out riding through a flowing wash 6"
deep. You
can see the main observatory, precariously perched on the pinnacle, for much
of the climb. At first, the grade is gradual, and it looks like you are
making good progress to summit. But you are merely getting closer, not
higher. After about 1.5hrs of climbing, you come around this bend and see the
big white building up top almost straight above you. It is still waaaaay up
there, and it completely crushes you. The road meanders all over in a very
small volume as it edges up the cliff faces of this beast. About
this time, I started to get cold. I had severe reservations about continuing
all the way to the summit, as a dark cloud was starting to form and I had no
protection with me against hypothermia. When I climbed this mountain several
years ago, I froze on the descent. It was 60-70 at the bottom and everything
up top was covered in rime ice. I pushed harder and harder to stay warm and
to make sure I had elevated core body temp to begin my descent. I figure I
would suffer the first 20-30 minutes to get back down to less frigid air. I
was breathing very hard the last 30 minutes of the climb, and I felt the
early tale-tell signs of cramping coming on. But I made it. The last 0.25
miles or so must average 20-25% grade. I resisted the urge to use my granny
gear and suffered through this last bit with a 1:1 gear ratio. The view is
stunning in all directions. I hung around only a minute or two, as any excess
core body heat I had would be quickly depleted by the frigid breeze up top.
It took about 2:26hrs to reach the summit from I-19. I
saw what looked like a little rain dropping from darker clouds in the distance,
but I doubt any of it was reaching the ground. I was up much higher however,
and I feared the dark cloud forming above the peak could douse me at any
moment. I flew on the descent. I got cold enough that I started shivering,
but nothing like the uncontrollable shivers Dave and I experienced on Mt
Evans a year ago in sleet. The descent took 62 minutes. Amazingly, as I
pedalled back through the wash I started this ride in, the women just pulled
up. Perfect timing. All
cyclists should try this climb, including non-mountain bikers. The climb is
road bikeable, but the descent would be ultra sketchy with road tires. I had
the knobbies back on for this ride. A cross bike would be ideal. The climb is
very isolated, and I encountered cars only a few times in 3.5hrs during the
ride. Mt Hopkins is much bigger than Mt Washington in New Hampshire but not
as steep. Like Mt Washington, you get that "top of the world" sensation
at the summit.
Wash at start, Hopkins
summit in distance
Getting close to the
pinnacle.
Switchbacks from Mt
Hopkins summit
A Gopher snake on
descent, it sure was big, but non-venomous.
They can reach 8ft in length, supposedly the largest snake you will
find in Arizona. The fat part of this
one was almost as big around as my forearm.
My wife would have had a heart attack if she came across this.
Hopkins summit, nasty
steep. I think I read somewhere this
is 25% grade. I’m guessing it was more like 20%.
Looking north at Santa
Catalina Mtns (Mt Lemmon highest peak) with Tucson at base South Kaibab Trail,
The Grand Canyon Friday, April 4 Approx. 7 miles in
3.5hrs hiking time, 2050ft vert Sunny, 46-60's (15F
overnight low at South Rim)
The Grand Canyon. South Kaibab Trail descending to Skeleton
Point in lower center of image (click for hi-rez and pan around). You have to be there to grasp the enormity
of it all. Yet
another day perfectly matched for the planned activity. Mom, Cathy and I
headed north 2hrs by car from Sedona to the Grand Canyon, south rim. We
planned to hike a portion of the South Kaibab trail that juts out on a finger
ridge into the canyon. I
can't imagine that another hike I'll do will match this in awe-factor. You really
have to visit the canyon to appreciate the magnitude of it. It truly is one
of the wonders of the world. From your first step over the rim all the way
out to Skeleton Point, you are immersed in majestic views. The switchbacks
starting out set the tone for the rest of the hike. I wondered what it would
be like to ride down into the canyon but soon realized it would be a suicide
ride. Mom
has been having some knee issues, so she was content on playing it safe and
stopping at Cedar Ridge. This was half way to Skeleton Point, and Skeleton
Point is only half way to the river. The canyon is about 4600ft deep here,
and Cathy and I hiked nearly half of that down. Going down nearly destroyed
my knees. The hiking is non-stop big steps which is high impact. I found
hiking back up much easier, although aerobically challenging due to the
7000ft altitude. Cathy did well too on the hike up, as we climbed back to rim
from Skeleton Point in 1.5hrs with stops. The guide says round trip takes
4-6hrs, and most people take twice as long climbing out as going in. Not for
the aerobically fit however. We found hiking up to be faster with less issues
of slipping or rolling ankles. Mom
made it back to the market place well before we did using the park shuttle
bus service (you can't park at most trail heads). This was first time for any
of us to visit the Grand Canyon, and we were thoroughly satisfied with our
visit.
Cathy in the middle of
the switchbacks on South Kaibab Trail (click for hi-rez).
Cathy finishing coming
up switchbacks on South Kaibab Trail (click for hi-rez).
The Colorado River
from Skeleton Point (click for hi-rez).
Doug and Cathy at
Skeleton Point.
A California Condor
looking for free handouts from tourists.
Shame it’s tame. Curious
creatures. It had a habit of rolling
stones over looking for stuff.
Starting back up from
Skeleton Point on South Kaibab Trail.
Mom, Cathy and Doug at
Cedar Ridge.
Cathy and mom coming
down switch backs from rim on South Kaibab Trail.
A ravine from south
rim of Grand Canyon (click for higher-rez). Munds-Huckaby-Jim
Thompson Loop, Sedona, AZ Saturday, April 5 30.0 miles, 4300ft
vert, 4:05hrs Sunny, 60's to 70's Was
really itching to try some new trails today. When I came to Sedona in March
'07 with Dave P., we spent one day here and I immediately recognized I would
have to come back soon. My legs were in a major funk from the two huge riding
days earlier this week (13hrs, 20,000ft climbing) and yesterday's big hike
into the Grand Canyon. My calves were in knots and knees were extremely
tender. I think it was from stepping down hundreds, if not thousands, of big
steps on the South Kaibab trail. I think my wife and mom had less trouble
than I did. The
morning started rough. My rear tubeless tire was flat. Seems the Cholla I
clipped two days earlier did a real number on the sidewall. I put a spare,
nearly bald, 1.9" UST tire on the rim and could not get the bead to seat
to begin inflation. I had to go to service station and fuss with schrader
nozzle on presta valve to blast enough air into the tube to get the bead to
seat. This tire would later prove to be woefully inadequate for the terrain I
was about to encounter. Plan
today was to repeat a climb Dave and I did last year, then on the descent
pick up new stuff we did not get too. The climb up Schnebly Hill Rd went
well, but I didn't push the pace. Strangely, the road was gated half way up
to the scenic vista that hundreds of tour Jeeps drive up to daily. Don't know
why. Was nice, as I had the upper portion of the road to myself. The road was
much rougher than when Dave and I did it last year. This was a sign of more
things to come. Rather
than stop at the scenic vista where the Jeeps turn around (and lazy tourists
don't even get out of the Jeep to shoot photos), I continued higher along the
rim. I wanted to see what was up there. The trail at this point was not
maintained in any sense. It was brutally rocky and loose, barely rideable.
This went on for a long time. The view was worth it though. The additional
hundreds of feet of climbing brought much more of Sedona into view. I
opted to return down to singletrack at this point rather than explore further
up on the high plateau land. I picked up Munds Wagon Trail, as Dave and I did
last year. It was rocky last year, but much worse this year. Seems to have
been very dry lately, and the trail was essentially a V-groove filled with
large, loose, sharp rocks. They would constantly flip into spokes, feet, frame
and slide out from under you when braking or pedaling. Very frustrating. I
reached a point where I had enough and popped back out on the Jeep road to
finish the descent. Huckaby
Trail was next. I thought this would be mostly downhill to Oak Creek crossing
and buff. It was NOT. It was heinously steep up and down, requiring many
dismounts and hike-a-bikes. When I got down to Oak Creek, the trail
completely disappeared. I stumbled around for what seemed like an eternity
over car sized rocks looking for a way out of the hundreds of feet deep gorge
I was in. Eventually I found it, crossing under the Rt 89A bridge. I thought
that surely must be the end of hike-a-biking. Finding
the Jim Thompson trail head proved challenging. The old two track/single
track followed a stream bed and kind of disappeared and reappeared a few
times. When I found Jim Thompson, I was greeted with more hike-a-bike, the
really loose, steep kind that was even hard to walk on. The bald tire I had
on back did not hook up with this loose-as-marbles stuff. Plus, I really
needed about 6" travel front and back to properly ride this stuff. My
hardtail has steep head angle and made the bony descents dicy. Jim Thompson
eventually tames a bit and presented some fantastic scenery, stuff I hadn't
seen last time. The
Jordan Trail was next, mostly rideable, but some dismounts required. I was
getting tired at this point, having been on the trail for over 4hrs without a
break. I hadn't yet seen another mountain biker either. Just hikers. The
final trail I rode was Tea Cup. It was the least technical trail of the day,
and the only time I saw other riders. I still had to dismount a few times on
this one, once after I spun my bald tire out on a steep dusty incline that
caused me to bash a knee into the stem. I was ready to quit while I was still
intact. My water was long gone, and I was only two miles from hotel by road.
So I popped off trail and went back, a little ahead of planned rendezvous
time with the women, who were shopping. The
best part of this ride was the scenery. The climb was nice, but the trails
were more challenging than I like. Of the four hours I was moving, I'd say at
least one hour of that was off the bike. My brand new $400 Sidi shoes are
nearly destroyed. The carbon soles are chewed up, the replaceable treads will
have to be replaced. This ride was no Otis AFB ride. Not sure what's on tap
for Sunday yet. Could be a road-ish Mingus Mtn climb in nearby Cottonwood, or
maybe hitting more Sedona trails I haven't explored yet. When I do hit the
trails, I'll be sure to hit some of the stuff Dave and I did last year, like
Llama and Broken Arrow.
Top of Schnebly Hill
overlooking Sedona (click for hi-rez).
Airport Mesa in center left of image, Sedona wrapping around its base.
Huckaby in Oak Creek
gorge. Lots of sunseekers in bottom, but water was still from snow melt –
frigid! Huckaby disappeared in massive
bolder farm in lower part of image. It
took a while to find switchbacks up out of gorge (hi-rez).
Lots of contour riding
on Jordan trail, mix of slickrock, hardpack, and loose gnarly stuff (hi-rez).
More contour following
on Tea Cup Trail, this being just below Coffee Pot Rock I believe (hi-rez).
Self portrait on Jim
Thompson I believe (hi-rez).
I think this is Jordan
(hi-rez).
Huckaby with Rt 89 to
Flagstaff in back ground.
Lower portion of Munds
Wagon Trail. There were some very
steep transitions zig-zagging across this wash.
Upper portion of
Schnebly vista climb. This was quite
brutal on hardtail coming back down.
San Francisco mountain
near Flagstaff. It peaks above
12,000ft. Back side looked so snowy
when we went to the Grand Canyon that I’d guess the ski area was still going
strong. Mingus Mountain and
Thumper Loops, Cottonwood, AZ Sunday, April 6 51.8 miles, 6200ft
vert, 4:38hrs Sunny, 60's to 70's
Mingus Mtn summit
upper center of image. Paved Rt 89a
climb on right side, descent on rugged forest service roads in center of
image. I'm
becoming such a roadie. It could turn out that my favorite ride from this
trip will be a paved hillclimb. This ride almost didn't happen even.
Logistically, it was hard to plan around what the women were doing. Mingus
Mtn rises above the town of Cottonwood, just 20 minutes west of Sedona, and
even closer to the Indian ruins that the women wanted to visit today. So they
dropped me off in the morning and used the car for their activities. Mingus
Mtn is the last of the big Arizona hillclimbs for me to check off on my list.
It rises about 4300ft in 19 miles. The first 16 miles from Cottonwood are
paved on Rt 89A. The pavement is nice, but there is no shoulder. The last
three miles are off-road on a decent gravel surface. In addition to Mingus, I
have ridden Arizona climbs Mt Lemmon (6800ft, both ways), Kitt Peak (3700ft),
Mt Graham (7000ft), and Mt Hopkins (5500ft). I've hit three of the five in
this trip, with cumulative net gain of over 16,600ft. Climbing
Mingus via Rt 89A from Cottonwood reminded me a lot of the climbs in the
Sierra Nevada's - open desert views, narrow road, twisty canyon topography.
My legs were cooked from yesterday's 4.1hr ride, but climbing went well. I
maintained steady tempo pace, pausing only briefly to snap a couple photos.
The steepest part was actually climbing through the village of Jerome, a very
Old West-ish kind of mining town. Once above Jerome, traffic became sparse.
There was only one significant descent on the way up. I reached the summit in
2:02hrs riding time. Cell phone coverage was good up here (Verizon), so I
called Cathy to discuss rendezvous plans. For
the descent, I opted to take forest roads, aka 4WD jeep roads, back down to
Cottonwood. I started on FR-413. This begins under dense canopy of large
pines. Parts of this were utterly brutal. I began to wonder if the descent
would take longer than the climb, as my speed in places was only 4mph picking
my way through wicked ledgy terrain. There was nothing out here, so crashing
was NOT an option. I passed a man and women coming up on mountain bikes. I
started to think I should have done the loop in reverse, climb on rocks,
descend on pavement. I caught up to two large 4WD trucks picking their way
down and passed them. Eventually
I reached the junction with FR-493. The initial portion of FR-493 was a
hairball plummet. It consisted of large, loose slabs of jagged rock, and it
was so steep that I could not control speed without continuous skidding. I
thought I was going to have to ditch the bike at one point. But FR-493
eventually levels out and transitioned into a well maintained gravel road. This
is were you can really rip. The last 10 miles or so of the 20+ mile descent
was pure bliss. The wide open views were fantastic. When
I got back to town, I called Cathy again. I had two options. One, ride back
to Sedona via divided highway 89A, a great cycling route with wide paved
shoulders but mostly up hill for 15 miles, or two, do a short trail ride at
Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood and get picked up. Cathy and Mom
were wrapping up visiting Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte in Oak Creek and would
be available to pick me up. I pedaled a couple miles over to the state park. After
paying the $2 entrance fee, I talked with the ranger a bit. He's an avid
singlespeed rider. We talked bikes (he liked my Ti Dean) for a bit and about
the Thumper Loop. He mentioned record course time is 31 minutes. When I told
him what I had already done and wouldn't be racing the loop, he was
impressed. In general, I find people, including drivers, are very tolerant of
cyclists in Arizona. When I first got down from Mingus and asked for
directions to the state park, I had three people offer to help me, a skinny
white guy in spandex. I have not yet experienced a hostile motorist incident
on this trip, and I've ridden a fair amount of pavement. The
Thumper loop was a nice way to cap off a day of riding. Mostly buff
singletrack, but there were some sandy areas and a few very technical spots
that forced me to dismount. I passed one other rider out taking his dog for a
ride. Shortly after passing him, I had to hike my bike down a cascade of
gnarly 2ft drops. This guy was big, on a hardtail, and just rolled down the
mess like it was nothing as he passed me. This
brings the total climbing from cycling and hiking on this trip to well over
30,000ft now. Aerobic activity for the week exceeds 20hrs. Monday, we have to
check out and head back to Phoenix for Tuesday morning flight. I hope to ride
Llama, Broken Arrow, and possibly Templeton trails in time to clean up before
noon checkout. The weather could not have been more perfect thus far. Chilly
mornings, calm, temp rising to 70's, brilliant sun, with wind picking up late
afternoon every day.
Side view of outskirts
of Jerome and winding Rt-89a (hi-rez).
Rt 89a well above
Jerome and Cottonwood (click for hi-rez).
View of Cottonwood
from Mingus Mtn summit.
The hang glider launch
point from summit of Mingus Mountain.
It is near vertical 1000ft plummet off the ramp. Zero room for error (hi-rez).
Looking southerly
along the Mingus ridgeline. I believe
that is Forest Service road FR-413 on left side of image. Descent started towards the west (away from
Cottonwood) and had me worried. But
eventually it winds around to gap in ridgeline in wee distance where it
begins to plummet towards Cottonwood (hi-rez).
Brutal FR-413 descent
(hi-rez). Carrying speed on hardtail
was recipe for pinch flat, even with tubeless tires. This was steep and not much fun.
Further down the Mingus
descent, now on FR-493. This was very
smooth, and reckless speed could be obtained here. Cottonwood still thousands of feet down in
distance. This was steep and wicked
fun.
Thumper Loop in Dead
Horse Ranch State Park. A particularly
ledgy section I walked (hi-rez).
More Thumper Loop (hi-rez).
I think this was Lime
Kiln Trail near the end of the loop.
Nice flowy downhill stuff with a few surprises to keep you on your
toes (hi-rez). Llama, Broken Arrow,
Submarine Rock, Templeton Loop, Sedona Monday, April 7 23.0mi, 2:30hrs Another Perfect Day We
got a one hour extension on hotel check out to 12 noon. This gave just enough
time to get a respectable trail ride in and shower afterwards. The women
dropped me off in Oak Creek and shopped there. Last spring, I rode Llama and
Broken Arrow with Dave and knew I would have to ride them again some day.
That happened this morning. These are the premier riding trails in Sedona,
and one guide book says if you only have time for one ride, hit these. Sedona
trails were much looser and dustier this year. I was dabbing and
hike-a-biking more sections than I recall last year. Having a completely bald
rear tire was partly to blame. Dry conditions were another part. And becoming
a soft roadie was the rest. We
left the hotel in such a hurry early this morning that I forgot to grab the
camera and trail map. The Bike and Bean shop was already open at 8am, so I
picked up a basic map, not nearly as detailed as my large, plastic topo map.
Most bike shops wreak of Triflow chain lube, but Bike and Bean smelled of
gourmet coffee. I
hauled-A on the first few trails, I'm sure hitting the highest HR's of the
trip. I wouldn't be riding the next day, and time was short. Dave and I
skipped Submarine Rock last spring, so I decided to check it out. It's a half
mile or so singletrack out to a large slick rock formation that resembles a
submarine. After
I finished Broken Arrow, I wanted to ride as much of Templeton around
Cathedral Rock as possible. This would be new to me. I cut in from the
Cathedral Rock hiking trail head, rode out to switchbacks that descend to Oak
Creek, then started working my way back to village of Oak Creek. The riding
around the lower rim of Cathedral Rock was mostly slick rock with little
elevation change, presented some exposure to steep drops, and offered great
views. It was a great way to wrap up several days of riding.
Templeton Trail on the
flanks of Cathedral Rock (hi-rez). Cathedral Rock Hike 1.6mi, 45min, 800ft
vert After
checking out and boxing bike, we decided to hike Cathedral Ledge. This is
probably the most popular hike in Sedona, but it is not for the faint of
heart. It is hands and feet climbing most of the way. The hard part is coming
back down, as you can't see where to put your feet at times. Slipping is not
an option in several places. Neither Cathy nor mom were willing to give it a go,
so they hiked out and back on Templeton Trail that I biked a couple hours
earlier. The
view from gaps between the spires was spectacular, one of the best in Sedona.
From some angles, Cathedral Rock looks like a single monolith of sandstone,
but it actually consists of multiple spires that you can climb in between.
Upon reaching the high point, one climber immediately called a friend on his
cell phone to say how amazing this hike in was. After capturing several
photos with the Canon SLR, I had to hurry to get back down. I had to stop and
dwell on several sections about how to navigate them. It is way easier to
hoist yourself up with hands than it is to let yourself down the same
section. Any fit person not afraid of heights can do this climb, although it
was the most technical hike I've done.
Cathedral Rock from
Templeton Trail (hi-rez).
Climbing one of the
trickier parts of Cathedral Rock. Note pockets for hands and feet. This was near vertical here.
Another view of same
section taken on way down.
Back side of Cathedral
Rock (hi-rez).
A spire from gaps in
Cathedral Rock.
A gap through spires
in Cathedral Rock. That's
a wrap for this trip. I now have well defined cycling tan lines in April. We
had sunny or mostly sunny weather every day with temps into 70's and 80's and
zero precip. No crashes or mechanicals on the trail, although a minor tangle
with a Cholla in Tucson left me with a flat tire the next time I rode. We fly
back Tuesday, back to work on Wednesday. The three hour time difference back
to the daily grind will be hard to handle. Compiled
by Doug Jansen 14-June-2008 |
