I missed the
AZT300 on purpose, having
exhausted any mental capacity to do much beyond drinking beer and wallowing in short, obligatory rides to maintain a base. Given the conditions which lead to the worst attrition rate
this year (congrats to Lynda....you killed it!), I had no chance; yet the lack of experience has been eating at me for since March. Enter, the
Coconino 250: A beautiful ride of best hits over the course of 4 stages, 4 days and 236 glorious miles. Having grown up in Arizona, the Coconino plateau has always held a special, magical corner of my heart and imagination. Watching the weather carefully, I spied a window of time I could squeeze the ride into, before committing to the
Casner Dirty Centrury Ride this weekend which I volunteered/got volunteered into "leading"....whatever that means. The weather was cooling down, but there was a catch....there always is. Forecast for day's 3 and 4 was a 10% chance of thunderstorms with snow down to the 6800 ft level, sustained winds in the 30 mph range, gusts to 40, low temps in the 20's. 10% chance of precipitation in AZ might as well be a weak fart in a stiff wind, so I packed my gear and dogs and took the traveling circus back north.
Repacking my gear at Casa de Padre, I went through the neurosis associated with getting your stuff dialed....the forecast kept changing....10% became 20%......20% became 30%. I said screw it....I'll make day's 1 and 2 and do a final weather check in Cottonwood...if it's bad, I'll bail there over some BBQ at Hog Wild......
After a fitful night of sleep, full of telling dreams and foreboding insights; I rolled out on the FUTS to start the ride, happy to reach singletrack in the beautiful light of spring and wonder......
I've always loved this spot, having enjoyed it after a long ride in the grace of summer; winters frail grass still dormant prior to the arrival of early summer rains......
Reaching Marshall Lake, I peer back over my shoulder from where I started and admire the fading snows of the Kachina's....
As I pedaled on, the winds picked up as forecast....soon I was riding into a stiff 30mph wind out of the Southwest....gusts occasionally took me by surprise, knocking me over within view of Lake Mary........
........... and giving me an opportunity to look around and inspect the color I'd been seeing all along my wayward path....
After a Green Chile Pork burrito I'd bought earlier in the day from
Pay N Take, I transitioned to the North of Mormon Lake where I followed the abandoned sleeper and spike from an old logging railroad used to transport timber from Mormon Mountain back to Flagstaff at the turn of the 20th century.....
Past Munds Park, I found a California Mercury whose driver had too good of a time the previous night, airbags deployed....."Pump your brakes, kid"......
Making the final descent into the stage 1 stop, I let the bike fly as I sang at the top of my lungs, "Bird is the Word".......spying a family in an ATV slowing down for me...I yelled out to them as I flew by....."Have you heard.......BIRD IS THE WORD!!!!!!!"
Stopping short of my final stop, I felt compelled to picture some more color....
Making camp on the basalt cliffs overlooking Sedona, I spread out my gear to dry and began to explore in the warm glow of afternoon light.
Late spring blooms of crimson adorned the cactus growing from fractures within the cliff......
....some, sprout from imperceptible cracks as they grow into the western sun.....
Behind me, the ground was dominated by giant alligator juniper.........
Walking around this king, I found unusual colored lichen adorning a dead branch......
.....and more, growing up from the rocks at the juniper's roots.....glowing hot in the shallow light of late afternoon.....
The smell of fresh sap was in the air; fresh ooze reflecting back images of the green plateau and blue sky behind me.....and the photographer with camera if you look closer.....
Returning to the tangerine scene which would dominate the rest of my walk, the sight of silhouetted spires rising from the canyons below held my gaze.....
One more look behind me showed the peaks, now further away than ever.....
Returning to my bedroom, I propped up my bag against a rock and started to eat a dinner of Strawberry-Vanilla Perpetum and Red Vines as the feature presentation began......
The high winds which I had fought all day on the bike, now began to show a beautiful side: dust stirred up into the atmosphere lent a mars-like glow to the close of day.....Mingus Mountain far on the horizon marking my goal for day 2.
The lower the sun moved, the warmer the light became.....
Cliffs I now sat on transitioned from Grey-Black to Red and Orange.....
With every minute, the temperature dropped...fast...I was frozen as I soaked up the fading views and last warmth of day......
Counting down the minutes, I shot one last frame of the Sun, setting fire to the last ridge between me and darkness........
That night, I peered up at moonless sky, dominated by the most beautiful Milky Way scene I've ever witnessed. So clear was it, that the spiral arms of the galaxy were plainly in view as I listened to Phish's Billy Breathes album.....a sublime ending to day one of bikepacking on the Coco as I drifted off to sleep as Prince Caspian, floating on the waves
......
The windy chill of morning woke me at 5am along with the growing glow of day. Packing up, I observed the shadows retreat down into the valley along the cream and crimson cliffs to the west.....
Making a final call on the weather in Sedona, I learned that the forecast was for more of the same for day 2, with convective precipitation a real concern for day's 3 and 4. Based on the real potential for hypothermia and frostbite with lows in the 20's and thundersnow; I called it and decided to forgo the second half of the Coco by arranging for a pickup at the base of Mingus Mountain in Cottonwood and began to enjoy the flowers of late spring along the Sedona singletrack.
Making my way over Broken Arrow, Llama and Templeton trails to Buddha Beach, I stopped to filter a bit of water at Oak Creek before continuing on to Red Rock State Park......
Transitioning to Lime Kiln Trail, my progress was slowed by extremely high headwinds and deep, talcum powder sand which left me pushing downhill, into the wind at times while being sandblasted......demoralizing to say the least, when you have to HAB on a trail like this.....I was amused, however, by seeing tire tracks from the
BPR Crew who made their way through here just a few weeks ago....
.....however, the horizon-to-horizon views were still epically beautiful. The winds and clouds developing on the western horizon heralded the impending cold front.
Riding home in a vehicle with doubts as to my, now final, decision to abandon the second half; were firmly validated over the next 2 days when it snowed in Flagstaff with very cold temps for mid-May.....yet I could not help but think of when I could do it all over again, and more.......I shall return......
