New ST will eventually bypass the Wilderness. A lot of it is on the AZT route page there is more to the south of what is on the through route but it does not yet connect with more new construction coming up from the south. There are ways to make the connection but it is still very convoluted. I think Scott has tracks for most all of it I am sure he will hook you up when he gets a chance.

Have you been out that way yet the trail is pretty good there are possible loops but I think for now the out and back is the best option.
 

It's not all down hill but it sure goes by quick sweeping switchbacks stunning views for the middle of nowhere the state line is a great place.

From Jacob Lake down the trail is pretty sweet the big flat section is real bumpy from cattle or elk walking when it's wet and leaving pot holes. I got to ride this whole section both years. It went fast even with the Bob, I actually went down on the 06 trip the trail is so easy and the views so good I wasn't paying attention and had the front end wash out on me.

After the canyon heading north to Jacob Lake we do get to ride trail on the north rim they let us on even before the south. But the good ST doesn't last long and then it's mostly utility line better then pavement though.

I got to ride all of the trail outside of the park in 04 just one snow patch I did have to do some pavement to get it though as the part in the park didn't quite connect yet.

By 06 the connection was made but there was so much snow I didn't get to ride it. The riding was fun at first until the snow got soft I tried to hike the road/trail to the park gate but it was just too wet. I hit the highway and was glad I did based on all of the snow I saw. Also this section still has a closure due to a fire.

Jefe Thanks and your welcome it has been fun going over it all again, I thought it would be a great primer to Scott's Race.

Jonesy, yes the bike carried well that way, lower center of gravity I was also able to pad the straps out with extra cloths and keep some weight off of the pack straps. They still ended up digging in though.

I actually really like that idea and might be able to make that work.

Cool while I agree with Jefe it is better if you can to do the whole thing at once, but if that is just not possible well better some then none. Both Scott and I have been twice but we did not get it all in either trip it took two to pull it all together. I bet at least half of the hikers who have done it all did it piece meal segment by segment. Yuri is the only biker to pull it off to my knowledge RobB here in Tucson is also working at it segment style it takes longer that way but I understand that not every one can pull off the time needed for the full trip.

For the 04 trip there was really no choice but to ride the roads around the canyon. I didn't even look into carrying through. The 215 miles of pavement was a pain much better to take the bike apart and carry through. 3 days in the canyon 7 miles a day wasn't that bad it was easy to get into Phantom Ranch getting fed was nice too. As long as the North Rim is closed there isn't much traffic to Cottonwood Camp so that was easy to get as well. There is free camping on the North Rim if you get there before opening day (May 15 most years) the spot they give you is a group site right on the rim can't be beat.

Yep.  I'm a teacher as well.  It makes these middle of the school year (or later part in this case) much more difficult to attempt.  I think I'm gonna save my days and attempt the 300 next spring though.  Can't complain about the 10 weeks off for summer!

Here's an Idea for you guys just something to think about. Split the course in half and ride the first part in April, from Picket Post at the end of the 300 the course it's all road to Payson. Even I could get there in two days riding, call it quits until schools out. There will be some warm parts but I bet you won't get snowed out on the north rim when you come back to start over in June. 

I have been thinking I would like to tour the whole course, well minus the Picket Post to Payson road section (what's the point). I can't start with the 300 this year as that is the same day as the Whiskey Off Road and I have to work. I do have lots of time after the 24 thou, first Montezuma Pass/Mexico to Tucson then a couple of more weekend type trips gets me to Picket Post. I'll start over again at Payson in May or at least that's the plan, then it would be good to get all the way to the South Rim in early June before it gets to hot and or the rains come. North Rim county is good latter in the summer not the sticky mud if I recall correctly, so I'll hope to get up that way before the end of the summer. In the end it would be cool to have done it all in one year (even if I skip some in the middle) even if you do have to split it in half. As I recall Scott met a thru hiker who did just that on purpose, by doing a spring south to north then a fall north to south (Payson as the middle point) to take advantage of the better season for each half, makes good sense.    

After rounding the peaks it's out to the vastness of the Babbit ranch. Lots of roads mostly two track out into a Kansas like landscape. Eventually the AZT becomes ST again on the way to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Leaving Flagstaff Rounding the Peaks. Loaded up with grub in the bob trailer I was able to clean most of the Lower Oldham Trail out of Buffalo Park. Back then the AZT took a beeline up the Brookbank trail to Shultz Pass and then up some more climbing on the Weatherford Trail. Detours around Wilderness take me around the peaks.

Things go a lot faster in 06, but the AZT has for some odd reason been rerouted onto the more tech Rocky Ridge trail and goes out of the way before climbing back up to Shultz and Weatherford crazy! Actually further reroutes will eliminate the Weaherford completely in favor of a lower all bike legal route. I do the climb just for fun and nostalgia and pick up a better detour around the wilderness.  

Above the rim is a whole new world out of the desert and into the woods. Things get a lot more ride able as well. In 04 I had a broken rear rack swinging around behind me and missed a few sections of trail on the way to Flagstaff, stopping off in Mormon lake to order a Bob trailer delivered into Flag.

In 06 I rode all of the track Scott gave me pre trip but I think I missed a little bit of the official AZT, out in the middle lands, around Happy Jack. Lots of great riding in this area great ST and miles go by a lot quicker all the way to Flag.

Gaining the Rim is a hump at the end it's the steepest part of the whole AZT. This is the Colonel Devin Trail. Sometime in the 1800 Colonel Devin and his whole command were the first white men to drop off of the Mogollon Rim. At Least that's the way I heard it from a segment hiker I met the day before. They were a group of four retiree's hiking from Washington Park to Pine TH going light. It was their last segment to do the whole thing, they had seen my tire tracks on the Mazatzal ridge dropping into Sunflower just a couple of days earlier.

The AZT only uses part of the Highline Trail originally built for mules used to connect settlements below the rim. In the spring of 05 Scott and Lee got to enjoy it like I did in 04 by the time I got there in 06 there had been two fires in the area and the FS had done a lot of work on it. That and the lighter set up made things a lot easier.

At the Pine Trail Head the AZT uses the historic Highline Trail. Gps calls it 14 plus I remember it being more according to signs. Up and down, up and down repeat. In 04 with the heavy bike on heavily overgrown trail along with numerous down trees. It took two days to get from the trail head at Pine to Washington Park, oh and the rear rack broke again along the way. All there was left to do was hike a bike straight up to the Mogollon Rim. The final .3 miles is super steep pushing the 70 lbs pig felt like 5.9 rock climbing. Once you gain the rim its like a whole new world.

I wouldn't count on it at least not on the PCT or the AT. I recall hearing that the Sierra Club and equestrian groups made sure from the start that we were banned on the PCT. It would be sweet though "the perfect cycling trail" the PCT was built on low grades and would be very rideable or so I have heard. I can't see any of the AT organizations going for it, sounds like there would be lots of hiking ups might be fun on the downs though.

We already have some riding in National Parks, though only two in AZ that I know of, Saguaro East here in Tucson has a little bit 3 miles and I hear they are talking about more. And bikes are allowed on the AZT above the rim in Grand Canyon, it's not much but it's something. The newly signed route to the south rim is cool first it uses the old historic entrance road then a short stretch on the rim trail right on the edge of the canyon. The north starts out good but then they dump us onto utility line road straight and a little boring through the trees, still better then pavement though.      

With the AZT up in the Mazatzals there is a big detour the next chance at official trail is just south of Pine. After riding the highway in 04 it was nice to have a back road route, Scott got it from a friend in Payson I ended up riding that way twice. There is still some pavement but not bad with the big shoulder. After Payson more local beta for a good route on mostly dirt roads to rejoin the AZT about as close to the Wilderness as reasonable.   

I ended up riding from Sunflower to Payson on the Beeline highway on both trips. In 04 I need to fix the rear rack (wire and epoxy from the Napa store) before continuing on to rejoin the trail in Pine. On the 06 trip I bailed out to Payson after being thrashed by brush all day, realizing I was low on food and needing to meet Janine for the weekend in Payson I hit the highway. Not wanting to miss this section a second time I decided to let Janine drive me back to Sunflower as it was on the way. It is too bad there is no way to get over to the great trail north of Sunflower.

Climbing the El Oso road, traversing the Mazatzal ridge and dropping into Sunflower was great in 04. My rear rack broke but that had nothing to do with the trail. There was a fire in the summer of 05 and by the spring of 06 the trail was destroyed. Unfortunately it's still not worth doing hopefully some time in the future it get fixed up again.

I woke up to in the parking lot with down swirling around me, the REI folks fed me breakfast and wished me luck. I had to ride into Phoenix and get to the REI of all places, picked up a new bag, sandals, and a headlamp to replace the one I broke. Luckily I have a friend who lives at the base of South Mountain not far from the REI I went to his place to unload the extra gear.

From Picket Post to Roosevelt Lake the AZT is Wilderness first the Sups, then Four Peaks. The Paved and dirt road The Apache Trail is really the only reasonable way to go, though I would like to do Scott and Lee's bushwhack around the eastern Superstitions someday.

Tucson to the Gila, the Box a Fox and the Picket Post Trail Head.

After taking care of some things in Tucson the 04 trip started over again with my first full century on the bike a 50/50. Leaving home it was right at 50 miles when I left pavement north of Oracle junction and headed north east to pick up dirt roads to the Gila river. I stopped and made camp right at 100.3 miles for the day.

In 06 I was coming from Kearney I got a late start but was pushing to try to get to Picket Post to meet up with an REI work event. At about 10 pm I was dropping into Alamo canyon and had had enough time to bed down. I made camp at the first flat ground I came to. Several hours latter I was awoken by some noise. The next thing I know there is a fox attached to the foot of my bag and I am screaming my head off and giving him the ride of his life. I catch glimpses of him as I fling my feet over my head, once twice three times, finally he rips through the bag. And takes off with my long underwear (it was bundled up at my feet in the bag) and runs around a bush. I did get them back but lost a sandal and ankle guard (made by Fox so it was fitting) he had scattered my shoes and socks. The crazy little thing came back and danced at my feet for awhile until I threw my helmet at it. That broke my light off (I was carrying my helmet around as a light source) once I collected the light the little guy was belly up. I thought better of scratching his belly picked up my shit and went and slept in the parking lot with the REI people.

Oracle to the Boulders. The boulders were at a dead end in the trail back in 04 I had a commitment back in Tucson and after camping near the end of the trail I head out for Superior (I had a pick up planned) back tracking the trail and then dirt roads and highways passing through Kearney to get there.

Back on my own in 06 I went passed the boulders and up and over Ripsey Hill and into Kearney for a resupply as I was out of tubes. While I am hanging out eating a cone at the local ice cream place I hear the classic line "well what did you expect you got a 16 year old girl living with an 18 year old boy, of course shes pregnant".