PicketPost TH to Sedona
Finishing the 300 at the Picketpost TH was kinda a big deal to me. Even though I was just cruising along at touring pace and generally having a great time, I've failed to make it this far in three attempts at the Arizona Trail Race so it was a nice feeling to have made it this far. I had done 92 miles of dirt today and I was completely and totally spent. Too long without food and water had done me in and I was off to Apache Junction for a motel and as much food as I could consume. I managed to drop $20.00 at the Jack in the Box and was at the Best Western by 9. Of course the laundry was closed for the night so I settled in with a shower and then washed my clothes in the tub and set them out on the balcony to dry
Somewhere along my adventure my feet had started to hurt, something that has never happened to me before. I mean they were really hurting, enough that I decided to try the bike shop in Apache Junction for a new pair of shoes. I waited till they opened and put a call in. Nothing that would really work for me was what I decided. I settled on hitting the Walgreens for different insoles hoping for some relief.
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| Redneck washing machine.... |
Today's route would be a mixture of roads, both dirt and paved. I was headed out the Apache Trail, the original route used to build the dam at Roosevelt Lake, which at the time was the largest reservoir in the world. Here's a little history of this historic route:
It was pretty warm on the way out of town. My bike shop and Walgreens excursion meant a really late start, it was nearly noon by the time I finally started heading out of the urban landscape. After I hit Roosevelt Lake I would be on Hwy 188 on my way up to Payson, I place I likely wouldn't see today given my late start and my aching legs from running on fumes the day before.
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| Superstition Mountains, very cool. |
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| Apache Trail |
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| Apache Trail |
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| Apache Trail |
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| Freshly graded road, nice and soft, just lovely.... |
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| Canyon Lake and the first real graffiti I saw in a few days. |
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| Roosevelt Lake, note the lack of socks, feet were absolutely killing me here. |
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I suffered mightily for the first few hours. There was a decent amount of climbing on Apache Trail and it seemed like it went on forever. It was absolutely beautiful and had I not had the 90 degree temps with what always seemed like a tailwind that was blowing whatever speed I was riding making for completely dead air, I might have really enjoyed it. Once I finally made Roosevelt Lake I made a slight detour to the Visitor Center for a Coke and attitude adjustment.
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| Roosevelt Lake |
The temps were much nicer at the lake and my spirits were certainly rising. I knew I had about 50 miles of pavement and dirt to get to a decent spot for the night so off I went. I decided pretty early to stop at Tonto Basin for a burger or something not related to a Circle K. I rolled in and was instantly transported back in time to a friendly locals diner complete with raucous attached bar at 4pm in the afternoon on a weekday, awesome!
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| Had a nice conversation with these great locals. |
The awesome green chile chicken sandwich with cold slaw was the kicker I needed. I was feeling soooo much better and was relieved to know that tomorrow would likely be better. It would need to be, I would be making the Mogollon Rim, some 6000' above me tomorrow. I settled into a nice little flat spot a few miles from Jakes Corner on a lonely dirt road for the night and actually slept really well, a first for the trip.
Apache Junction to Jakes Corner in Garmin
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| My setup, complete with "critter lights" on. |
Morning 5 arrived with a beautiful sunrise to wake me up, I had actually slept in till nearly 7 am, what a slacker! Today I would be on dirt roads and trails into Payson and Pine with a massive hike a bike up to the top of the Mogollon Rim. I knew that some of the trails would be complete crap so I was prepared to suffer a bit. They weren't as bad as I had anticipated. Don't get me wrong, there is no reason to ride a bike, yet alone bring a bike on many of the trails along my route, but that is what adventure brings sometimes.
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| Beautiful valley and ranch out past Jakes Corner. |
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| All bikes, you really have to see it to beleive it. |
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| Every kind of bike and old moto you could imagine. |
The dirt roads up to Payson rolled out as most dirt roads in AZ do, sometimes really steep but usually very pretty. I was riding along a steep little pitch and could hear the highway when out of the blue like the hand of God this appeared.....
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| Just like that I go from steep rutted fire road to civilization. |
My feet had been killing me now for two days and I knew something had to be done. Riding with no socks was a definite improvement but would be a no go as soon as I hit trail or the huge hike a bike's I had coming up. I was certain a change from my thick wool socks to something thinner just might do the trick. I hit up the local Walmart and a great little diner for breakfast while I waited for the local bike shop to open at 10.
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| Please work! |
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| Cool little shop. |
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| Big views out past Payson |
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| Rolling out towards Pine. |
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Starting to get red and chunky, Sedona can't be far....
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The socks were doing the trick. I had to change back to my wool socks any time a big hike a bike came up, but otherwise I was in a much better place. The "trail" to Pine was alternately good and very bad, once again not much payoff. I descended 1000' down a paved road only to push/ride my bike up to the same elevation on the other side of the canyon so I could push a few miles of the AZT. The final miles into Pine were pretty good riding through some lovely pine forests.
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| Not good.... |
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| Oak Creek spring was lovely |
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| Starting to get rideable. The Mogollon Rim looms on the horizon. |
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| Food break |
I managed to find my way to the Pine TH and made my way to the Donahue Trail, my way to the top of the Mogollon Rim. I chose this trail based on some great local advice and my desire not to do the 8 hour hike a bike that is the Highline Trail. This was in fact a vacation and I saw no reason to punish myself for no reason. The Donahue trail was 1.2 miles and a solid 1800' of hike a bike, but it was done and over in 45 minutes, bitchin!
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| Getting close |
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| The start of Donahue |
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| Absolutely no riding here, in fact pushing was pretty tough... |
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| Steep is the word best used. |
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| Completely rideable at the top. |
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| The rim is attained! |
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I rolled along the top of the rim for another 10 miles or so looking for a place to settle in for the night. A small woodlands campground would have to do. I knew it was going to be cold, I went to bed with every piece of clothing I had and awoke to freezing feet and hands and a frozen water bottle at 4 am. To make matters worse, a huge Bull Elk decided to bugle most of the night away about 100' from my bivy spot, unnerving to say the least.
Jakes Corner to Kehl Camp in Garmin
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| Cool, another table. Long cold night.... |
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I finally just had to get up, pack my stuff and get on the bike to warm up. The morning sunrise was stunning over the rim, absolutely beautiful. Today's destination was the end of the AZT and rolling onto the Coconino Loop out to the Sedona Rim. Lots of good trail mixed in with some serious hike a bike here and there, but overall a great day.
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| General Springs Cabin and back on the AZT |
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| Good stuff |
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| Brrrr... |
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| Stunning. |
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| Shitty trail out of Blue Ridge Reservoir. |
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| Gate number???? |
I'd been running low on food for the day, not horrible, but I was starting to ration. When I hit Lake Mary Rd I was instantly off the AZT and in food hunter mode in Mormon Lake. 15 minutes later I was sitting in the pizza joint and $40 dollars poorer.
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| The first vegetables I'd seen in nearly a week. |
The goal was to make the Sedona Rim before dark and get the sunset in. I missed it by a few minutes due to some forest wandering. I finally rolled into my familiar campsite high above Sedona for the night with a full belly of pizza, salad and homemade peanut brittle a super amazing lady gave me in Tonto Basin, I must have looked like I needed it.
Kehl Camp to Sedona Rim in Garmin
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| Not a bad campsite.... |
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| Headed out for parts very well known to me. |
Next installment. Sedona to Flagstaff
Nice Sean! Glad you finally got redemption on the AZT! Looking forward to reading the rest.
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