This guy started a route between Auburn and Tahoe that sounds interesting.  Also, Tahoe Rim trail would be an option too. 

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,1732.0.html

We were at Coyote Spring at night, so finding the other source of water that you speak of was difficult.  I had a hunch there might be better water uphill, but it was dark.

You are better man than I am if you can ride up the Bill Williams singletrack the whole way.  I would still highly recommend riding up the fireroad instead, if you are at a "touring" level and carry a fair amount weight like we did. BTW, the singletrack down bill williams really needs some maintenance- a ton of downed trees in that area. 

My friend and I toured most of the loop last week (the first 3 stages and then my bike was too beat up to do stage 4, so we took easier roads back to Flagstaff).  Here is a quick blog I did on the ride with plenty of photos:

http://erincarrolllandscapearchitect.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/coconino-loop-april-22-27-2013-2/

Some thoughts I did not share in the blog.  These may sound like complaints, but they are just things to think about before you do this ride.

The section of singletrack after Redrock State Park is not rideable.  Its a total walk-a-bike.  Its not terribly long, but I found it annoying after riding through the great singletrack in Sedona.

The singletrack before you get to Cottonwood is completely sandy and very hard to ride without fat tires.  There might be a fireroad you can take to get into cottonwood instead.

In the lower elevations, you will get a lot of flats if you ride just normal tubes.  Consider slime tubes or using stans.  Lots of small thorns on the trail.

Mingus is not a hike-a-bike.  Its a rock-climb-a-bike!  The cue sheets downplay Mingus a lot.  However, the singletrack after the Mingus climb is AWESOME!

I don't know why the route doesn't go up  Bill Williams mountain via the fireroad instead of the singletrack.  It seems unpractical to walk your bike up singletrack, when you could be riding the fireroad up.  I highly recommend taking the fire road up Bill Williams mountain. 

Coyote Spring is filty water.  We got there around 8 pm and decided to just push on and go to the Verde river and camp because the water was so disgusting at Coyote "Spring".

Overall, a great route.  If you want to TOUR it, give at least 6 days.  Some people say 5 days, but 6 is better. 

The "Tavern" hotel in Cottonwood is the spot we broke down and got a room.  Very nice rooms! 

The camping before you go up Bill Williams Mountain is pretty nice.  Consider spending a night in this area.

This route has plenty of fun singletrack. I remember seeing some guy say that there is not enough fun singletrack on this route.  He is smoking something...

Have fun!

Just got back from doing this route:

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=517020

I am glad we did this route early in the year.  No snow at all at the top of big pine mountain.  Very pleasant air temperature conditions right now on this route, and going back the santa cruz singletrack on day #2 is a big bonus, as it is in great condition thanks to the Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Volunteers.   Take at least 64 oz of water to start.  You will not find water until you get to Bluff Campground.  Day 1 is pretty hard if you want to make it to big pine campground- 6000' + of climbing.  Otherwise you can camp at bluff campground and summit big pine on day #2. We camped at Big Pine Campground, which is just off of big pine road.  Great sunset up there.  Take the time to hike to the summit of big pine, its an amazing view up there.  Water can be found in a small stream near big pine campground.  Get out and have fun, Bikepacking season is here!

I don't have a GPS (yes I use topo maps!), but I use Bikeroutetoaster to plan my rides.  Here is the link to the route. 

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=509204

Note that my post only covers the first 50% of this ride.  The middle part of this ride between Mckinley Mountain and Little Pine Mountain I have not yet done.  the Santa Cruz Trail down from the top of little pine mountain I have recently done and its a really fun singletrack (but pretty technical if you are bikepacking-- you will want to walk some sections). 

-Erin

Good to see you LA peeps getting out there.  Go Clippers! 

Keeping this thread going with a trip report from a day ride that I did last weekend to the top of McKinley Mountain, which is above the town of Santa Ynez off of highway 154. Although this was only a day ride for me, there are some nice bikepacking opportunities on this route for a two day, one night affair.   Take hwy 154 to Happy Canyon Road and take it all the way to Cachuma saddle (the saddle between Figueroa and McKinley Mountains).  Take the fire road to the east, which leads you to McKinley Summit.  Its a 100% rideable (if you are a bad ass).  I encountered a few steep walk-a-bike sections and some snow.  The summit of McKinley must be hiked to reach the top (which is well worth it).  The nicest campsite I saw was McKinley spring. For a less hardcore overnighter, I would just camp at McKinley spring and come back the way you came.  For a more hard core adventure, you could park one car at upper oso campground before starting from Cachuma saddle and instead of going back the way you came from McKinley Spring, you would continue on the McKinley Fire Trail, which goes East to Santa Cruz campground and Happy Hollow Campground and you even take the Santa Cruz trail singletrack down from Happy Hollow Campground (or take the fire road down if you are feeling less hardcore).  Photos:

I loaded all versions of the GPX files into bikeroutetoaster and none of them show more elevation gain/loss than 20,000 feet.  bikepacking.net says 28,000 feet.  That's quite a difference.  Any insight on how much climbing this route actually is? 

Tim, first of all, thanks for all of your advice.  Much appreciated.  You are welcome to join us on the ride by the way.  We will buy all your booze and food and you can guide us!  We are planning to start on April 22.

Just to recap:

I understand day 1 and night 1.  In the event we get a later start than noon, are there any other camping/ bivouac options? 

Day 2, When you say "above Dead Horse SP" I would assume you mean "before you get to Dead Horse SP".  Coordinates for camping for this would be approximately 34°45'42.70"N, 111°59'46.49"W ?? And I assume there is NO water here? 

Day 3, Coordinates for Coyote Spring is around  34°42'31.01"N, 112°12'3.42"W ??  And I assume their IS water to filter here? 

Day 4, any place to camp near a water source? Maybe on the North side of Bill Williams Mountain?  I am fond of camping in the pine trees whenever possible.  Somewhere near 35°12'24.07"N, 112°12'36.65"W ??

Day 5, I am just looking on the satellite view, but 35°19'20.15"N, 111°43'16.98"W looks like a nice spot to camp in the trees.  I think that is roughly where the coco loop meets the AZT.  Should be some sort of water source around here I would hope (at least in April) ??

I guess it really comes down to where we can get water.  I am used to having water every 10 miles or so here in California.  I am guessing its a different story in AZ, but I am hoping April will be good for snow melt  water collecting. 

Thanks again,  Erin

Hey az tripper, so we will start this on a monday at noon and we hope to be done by saturday at mid day. We want to camp every night. s. What would you suggest as far as campgrounds? Preferably not car camping. We like remote.

Thanks that's all I needed to hear.  Its only another 35 miles to Flagstaff.  We will do it the proper way.  Clockwise starting from Flagstaff.   If that makes the ride better, I am all for it.  There are probably better places to park our car in Flagstaff anyways.

Last few questions (for now)- 

Our first day we might not get to Flagstaff until about noon.  Where would be a good spot to camp on the trail the first night given we only have 3 or 4 hours to ride the first day?

Is a GPS really need for this ride?  I have never used a GPS and would prefer not to buy one.  I like topo maps. I have never gotten lost before, but if the singletrack on this ride is confusing, maybe I should bring a GPS.

I hear there is a Mingus Mountain "bypass" option.  Does anyone have the .GPX information on this bypass option so I can check it out in google earth? 

It looks like the closest starting point will be in williams, az since we will be coming from california. Is this a good
Starting Point? What direction would be best if starting from williams? Clockwise and head northeast? Or go south
And go counterclockwise?

Thanks, your blog was super helpful.  I am now thinking last week of April, or first week of May.  That should be perfect I would think?  Flagstaff is just 8 hours directly east of Santa Barbara.  Should not be too bad of a drive! 

-Erin

My friends and i are thinking about doing this ride this april. It looks like we are on track for a heavier snow year this year.
At least thats what it seems like here in cali. Would we be better off  postponing until  may instead?  I prefer
Cold over hot. Is may a safer bet? Also just wondering how technical the singletrack on the route?

Cool man, will do.  Ill message you when i have a free weekend in the new year.  In the meantime you can check out some of these routes I have planned out:

Los Padres 300 mile:

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=455657

A two day ride in eastern sierras:
day1:
http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=451176
day2:
http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=451186

Ogre, that is an area I definitely would like to explore more.  About twice a year I ride Mt. Pinos, which is pretty close to Bakersfield, but I have yet to ride much in the southern sierras, although I did do a little riding near Quaking Aspen campground outside of Springville awhile back.  We should meet up sometime for a day ride.  In the meantime, if you have any routes you are thinking about, I like to use bikeroutetoaster.com to save and share my routes.  I don't use GPS.  Topo maps never run out of batteries! 

the last of the photos.. sorry if i posted too many...

More photos!

Photos!

Keeping this thread alive with a new trip report from November 10-11th!  This is a loop ride we have been talking about doing for sometime, since it does not require any use of cars, since some of us live in Santa Barbara.  Here is a link to the route:

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=478698

There are 2 sources of water as you go up Romero Canyon.  1 source of water at the bottom of Juncal Road at the Santa Ynez River.  There is water along the road near Big Caliente Hot Springs.  There is also water at Middle Camuesa campground in a horse trough/ wine barrel thing.  Our last source of water was a hose bib at a car campground at the bottom of Arroyo Burro road (it says no trespassing, as it is a private campground, but they seem to be cool).

This route is 100% rideable, with no walk-a-bike sections, but don't be fooled, if you are doing this as 2 day, 1 night trip, it is quite a challenge.  About 8000 feet of climbing.  I highly recommend doing the camuesa connector singletrack, which is in very good shape thanks to our local mountain bike trail volunteers.  

Camping at either Mono (which is near Little Caliente Hot Springs) or at Big Caliente Hot Springs is a must.  We went in the hot springs at Big Caliente twice. If you can make it to Mono/ little caliente you will be farther along the route for the next day. We saw another group of bikepackers at Big Caliente that were on a much longer trip than us. I think they came all the way from Thousand Oaks.  Also a car camper gave us a few cold beers, which were amazing!

I will post photos shortly.  

Have fun!

-Erin

1) The hungry valley area at your start is pretty by itself, but there is heavy ATV use that spoils it for me. I agree, if you don't like the ATV's you could start at the bottom of Alamo mountain instead where the road crosses with Piru Creek. Too much noise, too much traffic on the trails, which get extremely torn up and sandy. I've done much of your first suggested day on an overnight, but wouldn't go back by itself (fine as part of a long distance ride).

2) Mt Pinos is great, so even though it seems like backtracking (is your route up the road and down the single track?), Ideally, I was thinking going up to mt. pinos via Forest Route 9N04, but the Ranger said this would be trespassing. I am going to attempt this way at some point as a day trip when I have time to see if the Owners are cool or not and let you pass. always worth doing. I would go up the single track as well (sure this would be another option, which I would add the que sheet), not difficult to ride to the top even with a packed bike (I've done it) and it is a lovely trail. Road is fine, too, of course, for an easier climb. I think the last time I was there was mid-May 2011. All 3 campgrounds were still closed then (and no water , restrooms locked), although plenty of surface water (there is a pretty reliable water source in the drainage near Mt. Pinos campground in the spring time). Even in May, it can drop into freezing (sure it can).

3) And just when it gets pleasant on the top of the mountains, it gets awfully hot in the Carizzo Plains (I was thinking about the same thing, so Ideally an early April start date would be ideal, if its not a big snow year. That way you would get to see the amazing flower displays in Carizzo. Another option would be to skip Carizzo, and go onto the Sierra Madre Ridge after Quatal Canyon). I did an overnight loop through the Carizzo Plains first week in May 2011, a month earlier would have been much better. Was extremely hot, dry, and all the flowers were already gone. Before April may be ideal here (flowers typically peak first week of April). Interesting exhibit of the San Andreas fault. Nice views from the primitive campground (I had it all to myself). No water available. Riding is a bit boring (yes, but I was trying to make a 300 miles out of it), flat sandy dirtroad.