Tucson to Oracle Reddington and the Catalina's. For the 04 trip all I knew was the Bellota ranch route from the pond and on to Molino I ended up doing this as a day ride though I had all of the gear still loaded up. I ended up riding Prison camp as a loop up the highway and down the trail then down the highway and home.

In 06 Scott and I stopped in about the same spot as I had in 04 (see first two pics) we dropped to Italian Trap same as the 300 that year. We met a shuttle rider on Prison camp that day he was surprised we were riding up it. Scott told him that was the way I had to go that way since I had come from Mexico .

In 04 my wife Janine dropped me off at the top or Mount Lemon the road was under construction and closed to bikes. I got to do all of the Oracle Ridge trail "traverse of death" and all after the fire some of it was still pretty good other parts were covered in scree no trail at all.

We missed all of the upper stuff in 06 too much snow I did pick up the Cody trail in the morning thou as I had missed it in 04.

Cool thanks Scott

On we go. The 300 course and the AZT come back together at Box canyon road heading north to Oak Tree canyon. Up until 08 that was the end of the ST for a ways riders this year will get to ride dirt all the way to Tucson no more riding on hwy 83 (you still have to cross it). In 06 I found my way via immigrant trails and a wash, to Rosemont junction west of where the trail crosses now. Then jeep roads and fence jumping to get into Corona De Tucson. The first new trail in 06 was on the east side of 83 at Sahuarita road heading on into Colossal Cave. I didn't know about any of this trail in 04 not that there was much, but I got to ride a lot of it in 06. Scott was at a trail work event the day I rolled through and he rode back into town with me.

What's a rest day?

Something for us mortals.

Probably the two most inspiring bike photos I have ever seen (you and Scott carrying your bikes in the Grand Canyon). The mere thought of carrying your bike that long says one thing....passion. I still hold true to one of my life-long goals: to ride up to the side of the canyon.

I salute you and Scott for making it up and down the canyon. Inspiring stuff.

Riding across the state is a great accomplishment I am looking forward to (spot) tracking your progress whether this year or sometime in the future. Crossing the canyon is definitely a highlight of the trip not to be missed, and way better then the 215 miles of pavement as the only other option. I'll be curious to see how many racers will pull it off in a single push like Scott did in 05. Scott and Lee did 2 days in the spring of 05, my 3 day pace was a cake walk in comparison.

I think he means "10 days", right Max?

10 days is going to be a brutal pace IMO but it does seem likely that someone could pull it off. As I recall the total moving time for my 811 mile 06 trip was 9 days maybe 18 hours. With the shorter distance and even allowing for a couple of rests I can see it going under 12. But based on overall averages on the 300 I can see this being a 20 day ride for many.

After some thinking (especially about the gliders we talked do during the Coconino Loop Race), I think it migh be plausible to use my emergency bivvy as a parachute to skip the hike down the canyon. Would this be allowed?

Somebody did get busted for base jumping in the canyon. We did the same hike while on a river trip (didn't jump off of course) up to a great view over the river. The guy that did the jump was part of a rafting/rock climbing movie trip. When the film played there were shots of the base jump NPS fined both the jumper and the trip leader.

http://www.reelrocktour.com/2008_site/index.php play the trailer lots of cool climbing shots 2 quick clips of a jump in the canyon if you didn't know the spot you might not know where it is pretty cool tho.

I had a similar experience the other day, went out to get a fresh track of some new trail here in Tucson came home to see the new track wasn't even close to where the trail really is. Funny!

The link said it was expired.

I did a google search of the word epic nothing about bikes even came up on the first page. Found this about 6 pages in http://www.epicchurch.net/ and this http://www.epicburger.com/ was 8 pages in.

This is only 4 pages in http://failblog.org/ I think it is my favorite.

Not sure if there is more to the back story that we are not getting or what. I can't see them going after any of the bigger names like Epic Records say. Or any that predate them obviously, or any body who would have the bucks to fight back for that matter.

Doesn't seem like it is worth it to eric to spend the money on it. From what I got out of his post he is willing to just move on. I think we should respect his decision and let it drop after all he was not the one asking for a boycott.

It seems he has already moved on I don't think we can help him by dragging it out. Even if I do enjoy mocking the big guys.

And you got to admit this is some good shit here http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/diyablo/epic-failure08.jpg

I ended up in my Chaco sandals on the second day the bike shoes worked for the 4 miles on Wrightson but gave me problems in the canyon. First I noticed a small round blood blister right in the middle of my heal, it lined up with a small circle cut out in the shoe. I tried thicker socks but then they were too tight. I was in the sandals early the second day.

People start rim-to-rim(to-rim) hikes in the dark fairly often.  Bikes will be more visible and with the SPOT tracker and such there is a fair chance NPS will learn of the race and patrol.  But I would think they care more that we are carrying bikes and not worried about hiking at night.

I would have thought the party line would be not to recommend hiking at night just from a safety aspect. For the river trip the ranger said we should all have pee buckets so we wouldn't have to walk down to the river in the dark.

But I guess there is a difference between the highly caffeinated bikepacker and a still half drunk, half asleep rafter.   

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Scott,

A couple questions here.

Is the start at Parker Canyon Lake? That's what's on the AZT300 page. Is the AZT300 portion of the route mostly similar to past routes after I-10?

Do you think there would be any issue for overnight hikers without permits? ie two calendar days in the canyon assuming no camping? It's probably not at the top of the NPS worry list, but a bunch of yahoos with their bikes on their backs are a pretty visible entity.

FW

You guys need to start farther south as the 300 course doesn't include the actual border. I don't think they will care about you having a permit but I bet they will advise against hiking much in the dark.

And yes you and Scott are going to attract some attention even our fellow riders don't get the whole portage thing let alone the average tourist. The rangers seem pretty cool with it I met a back country ranger along the way she knew Scott and Lee and seemed to be working on a list of every one who had carried through. Pretty short list so far, it will be interesting to see if that changes.

I guess I maxed this thing out for pics.

Ya it's been fun going through all of the pics I decided to throw in the 07 stuff too that was the only way I had pics from Elephant Head.

At Patagonia the 300 course diverges from the main AZT to bypass the Mnt Wrightson Wilderness. As Lee Blackwell once said to me "there is more then one way to skin a cat" and there are many ways to put the AZT together as a bike route.

In 04 I chose to head north on the main highway through Sonoita and out to Garner Canyon this is the quickest way back on to the trail. For the 06 trip I wanted to stick with the official AZT and chose to portage the Wilderness. I did not consider this poaching as the bike was in pieces the whole time, this was a good way to test my carry system for the canyon. The 4 miles on over grown trail was more of a pain then doing 7 miles a day in the canyon.

The only downside to the 300 course Elephant Head detour is that you miss Kentucky Camp. From a pure riding perspective Elephant is more challenging, interesting, keeps us on the bikes the whole time. From a historic, scenic, sticking to the "true trail" point of view the whole Flume Trail and K Camp are not to be missed. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/forest/heritage/kcamp/kcamp_rentals.shtml

The first full passage legally open to bikes is Canello Hills east combined with the Canello's west there is about 30 miles mostly single track with some 4x4 roads on the way to Patagonia.

In 2007 six riders lined up for the AZT300 race from left to right Zach MacDonald, Scott Morris, Lee Blackwell, Tim McCabe, Chad Brown, Gavin Krusor.

The Canello's were brutal on the 70 pound bike I did a lot better in 06 when the bike only weighed in around 40. In 04 I saw a group of trail workers building new single track. Zach, Scott, Lee and I all road this part together in 07.

The first legal single track is a bit out of the way the racers will skip this part and head directly to the Parker Lake TH and join in with the AZT300 course.

This thread http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,607.0.html got me thinking about the AZT trips that I have done.

The 2004 trip starts with the official AZT a 3.5 mile out and back hike to the border fence I was accompanied by my wife and her parents.

In 06 I rode out to the border using 4x4 roads and then back up to the main road to continue on to join back in with the AZT after it comes out of the Miller Peak Wilderness.

There is a campground at the state line House Rock Valley road runs north and south. There is some traffic around and there is a great hike in the area permit required to see "The Wave" http://images.google.com/images?q=the+wave+utah&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=RrZRS7mWF4OysgPd8KmGCA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBwQsAQwAw

You can get to the state line from north or south, south intersects with 89a to Jacob like Chad said but you can also turn east and get to the http://www.cliffdwellerslodge.com/ no big climb like getting back up to Jacob.

This is going to be a great one to watch I can see myself being glued to Trackleaders

Damn You Scott!!! I had my 2010 all planned out, sort of, and then you got to throw this irresitable nuggte out there....I couldn't sleep last night...I am talking to my bosses today, if I can get the time off, I am in!!! I mean I loved the AZT 300, and to traverse the whole state, hike through the Grand Canyon(which I haven't even seen) man I may not sleep till april!

Excitedness aside, a couple Q's?  whats the proability of snow? Will the route fit in a GPS? Cues? My mind is racing for a good way to carry a loaded bike? Very intrigueing, very...peace Jefe

Scott was able to get 811 miles in my Legend back in 06. I was able to follow most everything pretty easily the only thing I missed finding was a short piece of unmarked trail. If I had had a cue sheet I would likely have found it. So many feet from the highway go between two boulders the trail gets better a little ways in along the creek. The distance may have changed though as there was road construction in the area this summer.

Carrying the bike has been covered here http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,90.0.html

I stick with my duffel bag theory and would also say it might be nice to know the schedule for the mule trains. I ran into two the first was easy at a wide spot the second time it was cliffy and I was lucky to have a ledge to put my gear on and jump out of the way.

I see Scott hasn't cut any slack at the start sticking to the 300 course is a brutal way to start things but then a big road stretch bypassing wilderness gets you up north fast. From Payson to the Mogollon rim is a bit rough but by the time you get to the Canyon there won't have been much hike a bike for a couple of hundred miles. 

Dirt road jeep trail pack trails topo lines you name it the newest ones download the actual map.

Although it does change the nature of the experience having a GPS is really the only way to fly.

It doesn't make up for common sense and knowing where you are in the world but it sure makes dealing with unmarked junctions a whole lot easier.

Even if you don't have a know route to follow it is easy to pinpoint you location on a map by comparing topo lines or even the layout of a trail (the track you are creating as you go compared with the trail printed on a map) will help clue you into where you are.

Ah I see Dave got in before me 2nd on the Topofusion as for the whole outdoor experience GPS enables us to do big rides at a good pace to have to do all of the route finding for big ride you could loose hours.

That said there is nothing wrong with spending time lost in the outdoors as long as you find yourself along the way.

 

I suspect this route is different than either of his previous thru rides. New route, new trails, new record.
Nice work Scott.

Yes this is closer to the blended trip I did in 06. Lots more ST then the route Scott raced in the fall of 05 but not the crazy bushwacking "warrior route" that Scott and Lee did in the spring.

I always wondered if it would be legal to carry a bicycle across Grand Canyon National Park ... even on one's back?

35-50 pounds of dead weight aside, the North and South Kaibab trails are pretty mellow hikes. Even if they do lose and gain ~5,500 feet of elevation, I'm doubtful that this is even close to the worst this sufferfest will surely dole out.

Have fun, ya'll!

The main route through the canyon is a major heard path so yes it really is all about the elevation loss and gain. 7 miles all down hill to the river 7 miles mostly flat from there to Cottonwood camp and then the grunt up 7 miles almost all up hill to the rim. This can easily be broken down into 3 days there is camping by the river or lodging at Phantom Ranch then a second camp at Cottonwood. That is how I did it in 06 and it was not the hardest part of the whole trip.

But I do remember a pic of Scott near the end of the hike after doing the whole thing in one day he definitely looked tired.

Ha. Ouch.

Should I pack snowshoes for the section at ~560 miles that tops out at 8k'?  What about the North Rim?  

Might not be a bad idea or you could just plan on traveling at night when the snow is firm.

When I was there in mid May of 04 there were only a few patches, Scott and Lee found walls of snow in 05. I keep hearing that we are going to have a big snow pack this year but not so much yet.

The route looks great hitting all of the good ST skipping a few sections that are known to be very overgrown and or not very ride-able even by AZT standards.

Gazetteers are a great resource I like to carry a photo copy of the area I will be riding in even with a GPS. Even if I never use it it is nice to know I have it mostly I am thinking if I have to bail off track it is easier to plot a course on the map then trying to search through a big area on the small GPS screen.