There are some sections of AZ Trail I have been wanting to check out for a long time. The Ripsey segment is considered by many to be the best ridge top ride in Arizona. The Boulders segment is said to be a fun flowy section through the Sonoran desert. The Antelope peak section isn't ridden much, but has its own Arizona endurance series ride called the Antelope Peak Challenge. I started out with the idea of doing a trip to Tucson built around the APC ride which is a 65 mile loop. But, thinking about it more decided on doing the AES Gila 100 route, which is run the same day as a 92 mile point to point. It starts with the Picketpost to Kelvin segment which is one of the most scenic rides I've ever done, and continues on to Ripsey, Boulders and Antelope Peak. Rather than doing it in a super-human single day which most racers attempt, we would split it into two days and bike pack it. Another SD rider Ilya was interested in the bikepack option so the plan was set.
We were picked up at 330am in Oracle AZ by a shuttle bus hired for the race.
The other riders were all accomplished endurance racers including some top finishers in the AZT 300/750, Colorado Trail Race and Great divide races. So when I said to them "we'll see you next year" it was kind of a joke, and kind of not. Once the pack took off, we would see none of them again.
Ilya and I roll out last
It was very cool starting off in dead silence in the dark. Occasionally we could see a headlamp way off above us in the distance but mostly it was just quiet out and dark
Eventually things began to get lighter. Surprisingly we passed one hiker who started before us, and three more heading the other way
I was wanting to get up to the high point of the ride by sunrise, but with a fair amount of cloud there was no sunrise to speak of
Eventually the sun appears
Finally we get to Martinez Canyon
This is where the scenery gets good
Where the trail goes out of sight in the middle is the high point of the ride
But there is a bit more pain to get there
The mountains through here are incredibly rugged
Ilya suffers a decent sized sidewall tear near the top
Which gives me a bit of time to check out the views
And set up for some photos
Beyond the high point the trail drops down the next canyon all the way to the Gila River
Looking back up from our lunch spot
It is still a decent run down to the river
It is 18 miles from the start to the river, and once there it is another 16 miles to get to Kelvin. The landscape changes dramatically as you are no low near the river, with 3 main climbs up and over ridges
Watch out for the cactus clothesline
Poppies are out a little early this year
We were a little slower than expected, getting to Kelvin around 330. I wanted to get up and over the Ripsey climb, which is a beast going N to S, but Ilya didn't have a good headlamp and wanted to find camp before dark, so we settled on camping just past the Florence-Kelvin Hwy at the base of the climb. We got there and found a great spot just before sundown. We had gotten just an hour or so sleep the prior night so I was happy to eat some dinner and crash out. Slept for a good 12 hours. It got real chilly over night so we werent in a big hurry to get up before sunrise at 730.
