A good AZT chunk

[offroute]

Hi, denizens,

I'm thinking AZT, a few/several days out (maybe more), winter. Basically looking for a nice ride more than a shakedown of the AZT. Can you recommend some consecutive passages that would be fun as a ride and reasonable in winter?

I'm also interested to know how much of the trail gets ridden (without unreasonable suffering) in winter or shoulder seasons. Looks like most or everything above Flagstaff is out of season. I should start poring over elevations myself; thought I'd get a quick reality check here.

Many thanks in advance...

[AZTtripper]

Shoulder seasons are really the best that's why the race is in April, and at that most years they miss some trail up north even before Flag. Only the slowest guys got to the North Rim late enough to ride the trail north of the Canyon. Most of the racers just take the highway up there.

Chunk? Like DH tech drops, there's some but not a lot. There's a lot of Chunky rocky stuff out there don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of HAB to go with it. Define unreasonable suffering, racers have posted pics of disgusting blisters, crashed and barrel rolled thru cactus, not to mention the whole lack of sleep thing most of them do. Riding at a more touring pace one should be able to have some control over the level of suffering, budget not withstanding of course.

Some parts of the trail get ridden a lot others not so much. The AZT 300 and now the AZTR for the 750 (there's more that you could add if you really wanted to) gets the most traffic out there bike wise.

There are a couple of segments that do get done a lot. Around Tucson SE side of town the whole passage is good XC mostly ST and sees lots of use from all user groups. On the E side off of the Catalina Highway starting on the AZT and finishing on Milagrosa http://www.sdmb.org/trails/la-milagrosa/ DH chunk on the AZT as well as the social trail Milagrosa Canyon this is the DH run in the winter time.

East of PHx from the Picket Post TH south O&B for some major climbing on great ST this segment has tons of pics posted on line http://www.aztrail.org/passages/pass_16.html

Then you need to get above the Mogollon Rim to get to any really good stuff. Then the trail gets really fickle, snowed in in the winter most years and the dirt makes this sticky gumbo mud that stops you in your tracks. Early summer and fall would be the best time to ride for most of the stuff S of Flag.

Flag proper is in full season all summer long, they'll be getting snow soon and it just depends on the year if the highest stuff will clear in April for the race.

The stuff N of the Grand Canyon sees some traffic in summer, good riding but its a long ways from just about everywhere. There's a recent write up on the Kiabab http://www.bikepacking.net/tripreports/az-sublime-kaibab/

Hope that helps.

Tim

[offroute]

Tim, you've been extremely helpful and generous with your time. Thanks very much for providing a great starting point with your insights.

As much as I love rough riding, I really meant "section" when I wrote "chunk" in the title. Not that it really matters (thanks for going more broad in your recos).

I hope to get some miles on the trail during the upcoming cooler months. I'll let you know what I come up with, and if it's not a hassle, may ask more specific and discreet questions of you and the other dirtheads here.

Cheers!

Mike

[krefs]

Mike, I'd second Tim's suggestion for something south of Picketpost TH. I grown to really love the whole section from Tiger Mine Road (just east of Oracle) to Picketpost. But that's a tough one logistically since it's point-to-point, and also the section immediately north of Tiger Mine Road is a bit of a rough intro to the AZT, in and out of steep drainages for miles.

Instead, you might look into the Gila River Ramble loop option. ScottM has tracks for that here on bikepacking.net. There are some nice 3-4 day options for that loop, and it will give you a great survey of typical southern AZ riding, with a mix of AZT singletrack, rugged jeep road, and some cruiser dirt road if you opt to head south for a bit out of Kelvin up the Florence-Kelvin "Highway."

Whatever you end up doing, enjoy. It's amazing country with stellar riding.

-- kurt

[offroute]

Kurt, many thanks for your advice and suggestions! Great info...

[maettu99]

We did the whole AZT north to south one month ago (09-26 to 10-13). Therefore my memories are pretty fresh.

I liked the part between Tusayan (GC south rim) and Flagstaff but as already stated the snow is a problem in winter
Picketpost to Kelvin is a nice part too. Kelvin to Oracle I found less cool because all the ups and downs kill the flow.

I would recommend the part from Pistol hill (South of Tucson) to Sononita too. Altough there is a lot of HAB after passing Twin tanks.
We did this part in two days.

And of course there are the Canelos! This is a love-hate relationship to me. Starting from Parker Canyon Lake and heading to Patagonia might be a good choice.
In the other direction (that we did) only the part from Canelo Pass road to Parker Canyon Lake was fun. The part from Patagonia to Canelo Pass road is mostly uphill and the AZT is currently almost impassable by bike because of handlebar high grass and washed out sections. Nevertheless this is a very beautiful section.

From south to north the sections may be regarded differently.

Instead of staying on the AZT, you might look for a loop option that uses parts of the Trail.

If you like to see pictures of our trip splitted in daily sections, here is the link to our Gallery.

There is a daily trip report too but it's in German.

Have fun and regards from Switzerland
mat

[ScottM]

Mat -- thanks for the brief trip report and link to photos.  Congrats on finishing the entire AZT, in great style.  Looks like you mostly took the 750 race route?

You had some difficult conditions with it being a wet summer and the huge tropical storms that have wreaked havoc on many trails.

You hit the main sections that are sweet on bikes.  Some of the other ones are not quite as sweet, though they all have their attractive qualities (even Oracle Ridge has views!).

To the OP - I'd echo advice above: the Gila area is a highlight of the trail, and there are great options to loop.

[maettu99]

Mat -- thanks for the brief trip report and link to photos.  Congrats on finishing the entire AZT, in great style.  Looks like you mostly took the 750 race route?

Dear Scott,

Thanks for the congratulations . Appreciate that...

Our plan was to follow mainly the AZTR Route but in the opposite direction (north to south). We had no plans for riding Highline trail. Instead we took the NF-road to Payson after descending the tunnel trail. For the rest we wanted to go on the AZTR route. Unfortunately we had to skip some passages because of weather conditions and its impact.
- We had to start at Jacob lake instead of Stateline Campground because the whole area around the AZT trail head was flooded and the House Rock Valley Road was impassable.
- We had to skip the whole Mount Lemmon passage including Reddington Pass because of heavy rain and fog. We started again at Pistol Hill after 1.5 days of waiting for the rain to stop.

"I thought we will encounter lack of water in AZ, not the opposite! ;-) "

Nevertheless it was a great adventure and one of the best things that I've ever done.

Sorry Mike for hijacking this thread a litte...

[ScottM]

"One of the best things that I've ever done."

Right on.  Glad you made it out there.  I think you had a good balance of the good stuff and some of the gnarly stuff, while skipping some of the really gnarly stuff.  Bravo.

[Garrett]

Hey Offroute, I'm looking to ride a sections 10-18 or so of the AZT pretty soon, Dec 30 - Jan 4. Would be driving into Tucson from Texas. Let me know if you're interested in joining. Pace would be pretty conservative, just looking to train and have fun this winter!

[AZTtripper]

Mt Lemmon just got hit with a bit of snow, might consider skipping Oracle Ridge if it looks dicey. Dropping down the Control Road is dicey enough when things get slick.

The Gila Canyons segment just got a bit of work, switchback platforms and drainage work, was completed on the steep side slope section in the heart of the passage.