Dixie Mine up to Bell Pass (Fountain Hills, AZ)

My neighbor and I took this morning off, and we drove across Phoenix to Fountain Hills to ride up to Bell Pass (McDowell Mountains). It was about 6:15 am when we hit the trail, and it was very colorful morning to be on the trail. The light cloud cover that provide the spectacular sunrise, also aided in keeping us cool. The elevation of the parking lot was about 2,100 vf and Bell Pass tops out at around 3,200 vf.
We began the ride on the Dixie Mine trail, which is 2.5 mile stretch of slightly techy stuff. We took the intersecting jeep road up about 1/4 mile to the Prospector Trail, and from there we headed up to the pass. It was a pretty sustained but manageable climb. This pass always has a nice breeze honking through it to kewl you off. From the pass, you overlook into Scottsdale and the rest of the valley.

Time for the rewards of our climb, and it was soooooo worth it. This downhill section is a hoot. We bombed down the path to where it ties into the Windgate trail. We opted not to head up to Windgate Pass this time, so we continued down, down, down. The course of this trail flows so well and fast. We ended up tying back into the Dixie Mine trail, but before we made our exit, we took a quick peak into the mine shaft.

We definetly didn't set any land-speed records on this ride, as it took about 3 hours to complete the 11.5 mile loop.

Here are a couple of Vid's (using helmet-cam version 1.1 rearview)

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HeliPad - South Mountain (Phoenix)

I like to do this ride during the mid-week before work, because it has a fun downhill section and it only takes about an hour. I didn't snap any foto's but I did catch the tail end of the Lunar Eclipse this morning when I jumped on the trail at O-Dark-Thirty.
Here is a vid coming off the HeliPad; just outside of South Mountain Park. This trail is a short variation off of the Desert Classic trail. It wiggles its way down the the ridge back down to the floor of the park. I filmed this using with Helmet-Cam 1.0 (basically a $75 DV camcorder dropped into a plastic electrical outlet box zipped tied to my helmet) So buckle in and take your dramamine cuz this is a bumpy ride with no camera stabilization.

Click To Play

This vid was filmed a couple of days ago just below the HeliPad, near the end of Desert Classic. That's why it looks just about the same as the the first clip of this post. It's short and it doesn't having a bunch of shaky camera work, but it does have a rattlesnake at the end. ooooh!

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Javelina Trail - South Mountain Park (Phoenix)

Getting some morning wheelies in before work on Javelina, the trail down the road from my house. Yep, the weather is still hot, but the desert is so kewl when the sun comes up. We didn't see any javelina today. Heck we didn't even see Wile E. Coyote today, but we did see Mr. and Mrs. Roadrunner at the end of the ride. Actually this was only the second time since I've been here that I've spotted a roadrunner.

Here's a vid of the ride:

Click To Play

And this really isn't an adventure, but here is a short clip of the skies preparing to pound us, here in Phx.

Hawes out to the Pit, East Mesa

Hawes out to the Pit (Mesa, AZ)

Today hurt. This was billed as Sweatiest Ride Ever part II. Since I skipped 1.0 last year, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The humidity, due to monsoon season, that’s been hanging around the valley the past few weeks disappeared, and the big time hot temperatures returned. We all met up at Walgreen’s off of Power Rd, and split from the parking lot at 6:15. Our group totaled about 23 riders.

Near the beginning of the ride, we saw one angry rattlesnake coiled up and ready to strike. About half the group had dwindled down before we made it to the halfway point of the turnaround. This trail rocks, I like long climbs and long descents, well this trail wasn’t set up this way, but it did have some fun and fast downhill.

The four hour ride had mileage was around 22 miles.

Here a vid’s and pics:

Alta Trail - South Mountain Park (Phoenix)

This was my second go around on this trail. Here is a little TR of my first ride last December My First Go Around on Alta. After that ride, I had pretty much written Alta Trail off as a hiking trail. But after talking with several people, I learned that heading from West to East is the wrong way to go.

We all met up around 5:00 am, this Saturday at the San Juan Gate. I think our group totaled about 13 very solid riders. It was about 5:45, by the time we hit the trail.

Today's ride did the the East To West method, and the trail redeemed itself very well. The climb up wasn't too bad, and the views were very rewarding. The condition of the trail was little loose, but it flowed so much better in this direction. Exposure on this trail is way high, and mistakes are not allowed.

Here are a few Vids and Pics

Here are waves 1 and 2 off the first saddle:


Here is a clip of DirtGurl's aftermath:


Here are waves 1 and 2 off the second saddle:


 
 
 
 

Flagstaff July, 2007

Schultz to Weathford to Ricochet to Secret to Super-moto and Exit Stage Left (I don't know what the real name of the trail is).

Oh yeah, today was a good day. Elevation had my lungs bleeding, but that was the only blood all day. Jayem and Ross roared up the trail, while Jrock and I took our time. The trails were an absolute hoot. At the bottom, I was joking about wanting to head back up, but Ross actually did head back up.

Here are a few clips.

Canyon Lake, AZ – June 2007

Canyon Lake, AZ – June 2007

Jrock and I put our kayaks in at Acacia Picnic site on Canyon Lake at around 7:30 am. It was warm, and traffic on the lake was already crazy. We ended up paddling across the lake, and made a quick stop to extend the steering pedals a little bit.

We paddled from the main pool of the lake into the narrow canyon that snakes for several miles up to Horse Mesa Dam (Apache Lake). The tall, sheer cliffs are an amazing sight. They make you feel really small, especially sitting in a kayak. Just past Mushroom Point, we made another little pit stop, so Jrock could stretch his legs out. From there we continued on the south side of the narrow lake up to the inlet before Crucifix Canyon. This was a pretty kewl short canyon with green and clean water. Two mallards were hanging out at the end.

From here, we decided, it was getting much to hot and crazy out on the lake, so we decided to head on back. But not before stopping off at Beer Can Point for little lunch and to wade in the lake to cool off. This site has covered picnic tables and fire pits, along with an outhouse.

Our return home was less than serene, as the traffic on the lake had significantly picked up. I’m really glad there was no wind, cuz the chop was bad enough already.

Jrock and I battled our way across the lake, as we dodged tons of jet ski’s and speedboats. We got back to the car around 11:30, and at that point the parking lot was screaming hot, and crowded with picnickers.

I gotta say, this is a really kewl lake, but this is the last time I head up there on hot day on the weekend.