Sedona to Flagstaff, the home stretch....

Man it was nice to get to Sedona, it meant that for the most part I'd be actually riding my bike through some world class scenery for the better part of today. I knew today was going to be a short one as I had some stuff to get to in Cottonwood. Somewhere on the third day my SPOT decided to die out in the middle of nowhere, pretty much freaked everyone out as it just showed me in one place for nearly 8 hours. Of course I was fine, I knew it had been going on the fritz the day before but I didn't know it had actually died until late that night when I tried to send out a check in message. 

Mary was nice enough to buy a new SPOT and overnight it to a motel in Cottonwood, I'd need to get a motel room to deal with the setup and to get some work stuff tied up for the coming week. The short day was welcome, but I knew it meant a ball buster the next day if I wanted to get to Flagstaff on schedule. 

I awoke pretty early on the rim above Sedona, right about daybreak, a pretty common theme for the entire trip. It had been windy during the night but that kept the temps up which was a real treat from the previous nights frigid temps on the Mogoolon Rim. I packed up pretty quick and headed for some nice singletrack down into town, fun stuff I had been on many times. There was still some water in the creeks from the prior weeks rains which made for some very pretty morning scenery.  

Getting packed up. 

Dorky self portrait.

Munds Wagon Trail

Headed that way....

Morning light.

Mother Nature at work.

More water in the desert.

Oak Creek.

Lots of these little yellow flowers.

Another bad self portrait.

Oak Creek again.

Heading towards Baldwin Trail I think.

Sedona rolled out as great as it always does. I was surprised by the lack of people out on this beautiful morning, I think I passed less than 10 people on my way out of town, no bikes at all. I made my way through Red Rock State Park and took a little bit of time to hit the visitor center up for some of the history of the park.

Some history of the park is HERE

House of Apache Fire

Oak Creek yet again.

I decided to skip the stupid Hike a Bike up Lime Kiln Trail and picked the trail up the road a bit for the trip out to Cottonwood. This is the historic wagon route between the Verde Valley and Sedona and I would guess Flagstaff via Schnelby Hill Rd. There looks like there may have been some roads and trails that headed up through the red rocks to Flagstaff prior to basically the whole area being turned into Wilderness. I bet there is some amazing country back behind what you can actually see from the valley floor, I'll have to get back there with a backpack one day. 

Lime Kiln was in pretty good shape from the recent rains, it can be a bit sandy otherwise. I only made it a mile or so past HWY 89 before I was beset by goatheads from hell. My tires were literally completely covered with the stickers. I decided the best thing to do was backtrack to the highway as I didn't know how much Stans was in my tires from so many days in the desert with everything trying to poke holes in them. The HWY rolled out just fine and I was sitting in the Verde Vally Inn by 1 pm.

I was able to get the new SPOT set up, although I felt like I completed a corporate merger via my smartphone in the process. I made a run to wash some cloths again, this time in a proper washing machine. It occurred to me that this might have been the first time I'd been a real laundromat in my lifetime, not sure if that's a good or bad thing.....Strangely enough I had some great conversations while I waited for my clothes to finish up, an unexpected treat, could have been related to being in my own head for nearly 7 days...

Started the morning with these numbers.

Sedona to Cottonwood in Garmin Connect

The next morning arrived all to early. I was starting to feel the effects of my first 600 miles and was dragging ass as I hit the 7-11 for the days supplies. I fumbled around trying to get some Stans in my tires and generally just wanted to go back to bed. I made my way into old town Cottonwood, a cute little collection of art houses, brewery's and restaurants.

Old Cottonwood.

Nothing was open to my chagrin, some breakfast and coffee might have given me a slight attitude adjustment. I settled on the inevitable, making my way up to the top of Mingus Mountain, nearly 5000' above me. I kind of figured today would be a tough one. I'd likely have to make it over Mingus and Bill Williams Mountains today, a ton of pushing and climbing on top of probably 80 miles of riding and making it back up to the Kaibab Plateau.

Coffee and chocolate mini donuts at the Maverick would have to do...:(

The route up to Mingus gets after it right away, no sneaking up on it.

Dino says, " Oh no, not Mingus Mountain!"

Going up....

Cool view of the geology of the Verde Valley. San Francisco's in the background, I'd be going through there tomorrow.

The route starts off with some pretty steep roads that lead to some steeper trails that wind up around the backside of Mingus Mountain. Some work had been done to the trail and I rode a whole lot more than I did the last time I was here.

Steep but rideable good trail.

Still actually pretty rideable.

Cool rock formations closing in on the summit.

The trail was much easier than I remembered from the last time I was up it, it is still a beast but the views are first rate and the final push to the top was over before I knew it. The top is basically flat, with a hang glider ramp, a campground, some various official looking buildings and fabulous views in all directions.

Whew, made it!

Cottonwood, 4600' below me.

No f-ing way!

Cool!

From Mingus Mountain you essentially drop all the way back to the Verde River some 50 miles away. There is a nice section of dirt roads and some great trails off of the top of Mingus.

Nice trail coming off of Mingus Mountain headed for Prescott Valley.

More good stuff.

Prescott Valley

I'm headed that way, Bill Williams Mountain is the big bump to the left, 9300' high

Pretty yellow flowers in the hills and the always looming Bill Williams Mountain.

This is literally in the middle of nowhere....no signs of any work.

The Verde River.

From the Verde River its a series of stairsteps up to the Kaibab Plateau. It's really pretty country out here, it's really cool to go from one ecosystem to the next, low desert, high desert, pine and ponderosa forest, you see them all in the span of 50 miles.

Found this little guy out there. 

Some steep humps along the way

Might have to get a Moto one day and check this out.

Where I've been, Mingus Mountain to the left.

Finally up on the Plateau.

Afternoon light. 

I had made pretty good time to the plateau all things considered. I knew I'd be at the bottom of Bill Williams Mountain before dark. I had wanted to at least make it to the top of the mountain so I could watch the sunrise from the fire lookout which meant I was going to have to break my rule of not riding in the dark. I arrived at the bottom of the Benham trail in the daylight and headed up. Benham is pretty rideable for the first mile or so, but it's a 2000' climb in a few miles so it quickly becomes pretty steep and unridable.

  I'd arrived at the Benham trail with very little water, I figured I'd be able to filter some water along the way, it's a 9300' peak, there's got to be water somewhere right? I spied every nook and crevice of that damn mountain all the way to the top, not a drop of water, shit! I had a dinner to make at the top, but I knew I didn't have the two cups of water needed to cook and rehydrate it.
 The trail crosses the road up to the summit a few times, somewhere along the way I decided I was done pushing my bike for the day and hopped on the road for the last few miles to the top hoping for some water in one of the culverts.

Nothing!!!

Well hell, I finally made the summit and sucked my last couple of sips of water on my way to sleep. I had managed to save a little food from the day. My dinner consisted of a Rice Crispy treat and a Slim Jim. At least that left the cookies for breakfast.....Not a real good way to end an 82 mile 12,000' day....
Cottonwood to Bill Williams Mountain in Garmin Connect

I found a place to sleep on a concrete walk and faded off to sleep. It had a been a tough day and an even rougher end to it. I managed to sleep fairly well and woke up just as the sun was starting to come up. I got dressed and made my way up to the last step of the lookout for some great shots.

Sunrise over my last day.

That's not a mountain, it's the shadow of Bill Williams Mountain in the haze above Phoenix a couple hundred miles away.

Mornings first glow.

My humble abode for the night.

I made my way off the top of the mountain and headed for the Bill Williams Trail. This was a great way to start the morning off, I railed all the way down this trail until I popped out right into the town of Williams where I made a beeline for the nearest diner, I had burned off my cookies long ago!

Aspens on the way down to the trail

Bill Williams Trail

Awesome!

More awesome!

Bill Williams Trail

Coming into Williams.

Food!

From Williams I was off to ride some roads and trails out to Sycamore Canyon. The trail along Sycamore Canyon was a nice treat, nice scenery with a fairly rideable trail.

Spent the night up there.....

Roads out to Sycamore Canyon

Lots of roads like this.

Pomoroy Tanks

Cool history.

Good trail out here.

O.K. there still seems to be some fascination with crossing creek drainage's multiple times....

On the way to the rim of the Canyon.

Food break

Sycamore Canyon.

Sycamore Canyon.

Sycamore Canyon rolled out nicely. Even though I had a huge breakfast I was stopping every hour or so to eat, man I was gassed from the lack of dinner the night before. After Sycamore Canyon the route headed for the Wing Mountain moto trails and eventually up into the San Francisco Peaks and a rejoin of the Arizona Trail back into Flagstaff.

More food, I was on fumes all day.

Pretty valley on my way to Wing Mountain

Well of course I'm headed up there....., both of those bumps....

Cool old barn

Those are skis, I'm guessing someone owned a rental shop.

The moto trails around Wing Mountain were fun, but I was kinda ready to be done and it seemed like the roads and trails just went on forever, not a bad thing but I didn't want to be riding through Flagstaff in the dark trying to find my way across town to my truck. The route finally topped out at nearly 8300' and finally started in the direction of Flagstaff. Once again it seemed to go on forever, but at least it was really good trail.

Aspens heading up to rejoin the AZT.

Awesome AZT through the Fort Valley trail system.

I could live here....

We meet again my old freind.

I came on and off the AZT on my way to Flagstaff. These trails are really well built, a sharp contrast to some of the trails I had traveled over on my journey. I finally made my way to the outskirts of Flagstaff and wound my way through the heart of the city on the great urban trail system. The urban trails dropped me out into downtown. It took me a bit of time to get my bearings, it was getting dark and traffic was in full effect. I finally figured where I was and was relieved to to know I was only a few miles from my truck. I managed to only piss a few motorists off on my way across town but finally found my way to the place I had started my adventure.

Whew!

Done!

 Bill Williams to Flagstaff in Garmin Connect

All in all a great adventure. Most people I know would never dream of a vacation like this, most don't even pretend to understand it. It's a long time to be in one's own head and you have to be comfortable in that space.

I've come to find that touring is a relatively calming way to spend time. Opposed to racing it leaves a lot more time for reflection and contemplation, sometimes a good thing, sometimes not so much.

I finished the trip feeling pretty confident in likely not returning to do the race. There is just so many miles of epic bad trail and the payoff for so much of the route just isn't there. I guess I've become a bit of a MTB snob in that I like my climbs to be hard and my descents to be rewarding, something we just have so much of here in Northern California.

Of course, given some time to digest the trip, I've come to appreciate the route for it's beauty and ruggedness. I now have a deep respect for those that had the vision to not only start, but complete these amazing routes.

I'll be back in one form or another....