Help, please: Arizona Trail in summer, and connecting it to the Colorado Trail

[dave]

A friend and I have several weeks off to do a big trip starting in mid to late June.  We are looking at the Arizona/Utah/Colorado area, where I have no experience.  I have several big questions relating to the Arizona end of the trip for which online research has not supplied answers.  I've also tried calling the Arizona Trail Association and leaving friendly messages multiple times, but they won't respond and their website hasn't helped.

1.  Are there sections of the AZT that are not advisable or possible to ride during late June?  I am under the impression that much of the trail is at some elevation and should be OK, but I'm concerned whether there are specific sections that are so hot and dry as to be dangerous or no fun at all.
2.  What might be the best way to connect the AZT to Durango so we could ride the Colorado Trail?  We had considered riding as far as the Grand Canyon and then heading NE to Durango to ride the Colorado Trail.  That basically takes us through Navajo land and the Four Corners area.  Is this area OK for bikepacking in late June, or is there another route that is substantially better?  This route also would mean we skipped the very northern end of the AZT--is that some classic section that we shouldn't miss on our way to Durango?

Details about us:  We both are traveling relatively light with bikepacking-style bags on mountain bikes.  We are going at a medium touring pace, not race pace.  Our priority is having a great time and seeing some cool new places--so nothing crazy hardcore, and having a perfect "thru-ride" of the AZT is less important that having a good trip.  At the same time, if a thru-ride is possible then great, and we are both mountain bikers and so would like to maximize time off-pavement.  We are not interested in hiking our bikes through the Canyon.  My friend toured the Divide route last summer, if that helps provide a reference point.

Thanks for any help you can give! 
 

[Smo]

Anywhere on the AZ trail above the Mogollon Rim should be ok, below will probably be too hot.  The trail ascends the Mogollon Rim in the southern portion of passage 28 - anything above that should be reasonable.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I'm a huge proponent of the CO Trail - There's many places you could make camp, branch out from the main trail and figure out some amazing day trips through some amazing single track, or hey! Take a hike up a 14er - there's > dozen close to the trail. Durango, Buena Vista, Salida, Leadville and Frisco could be good places to hang around and poke around to find other things to do.

Weather should be kind of perfect, although possibilities of lingering snow in the highest passes would be great, even in the late June, depending. One uber-branch would be to take Cotton Wood Pass aaaaaaall the way to Crested Butte, hitting up Doctor Park along the way. That's a few days, right there.  Even taking an extra day to ride around Buffalo Creek near Denver would be worth it!

[AZTtripper]

Sure there are parts of the AZT up north that are great in June, and no doubt most of the lower stuff on the CT would be great.

But riding across the res in June would be a bear I think. Not that it couldn't be done but it would likely be quite hot.

I think I would plan a road trip with bikepacking mixed in. You could do the www.bikepacking.net/routes/kaibab-monstercross/
and 2-epic.com/events/dixie200.html and then head to Durango.

[Smo]

Ok, new idea for you here.  If I had the time I'd want to join you on this one.  More epic, and it involves getting across the Grand Canyon somehow, which seems fitting if you're really going to connect the whole journey.  The AZ Trail north of the GC would be the coolest (in the temperature sense, I've never ridden it), and the views from the north rim are spectacular.

Then, rather than connecting across the res (which indeed would be blazing hot and no fun), I would connect through southern Utah dirt roads.  From the end of the AZ Trail you could head up House Rock Valley Rd and then Cottonwood Canyon, which would connect you to Kodachrome basin.  Another option to get to Kodachrome basin is Skutumpah Road, which goes across a dirt bridge.  No, I'm not kidding.  It's over Bull Valley Gorge, a fun non-technical slot canyon with a truck stuck in the top of it.

The problem is getting back south to Durango to start the CT.  Not very easy, there's Lake Powell in the way (and the Maze farther north).  The Burr Trail would take you down from Highway 12 to the lowest crossing of Lake Powell I know (a ferry, make sure it's gonna be running!).  And the Burr Trail is one of the coolest dirt roads I've ever ridden.  From there you could connect through Natural Bridges and the Abajo Mountains to Monticello.  Not sure about from there to Durango, but at that point you're pretty close, and the route until then has stayed at a higher (read: cooler) elevation.

The other problem on this route is water, you'll need to research it well.  I don't know much about water sources on any of the routes I've mentioned.

[Moyo]

Smo, you just blew my mind.
That's my unhelpful two cents.

[dave]

Thanks very much for the info, all.  Looks like I'll be changing to a new route that avoids southern AZ and the reservation.

The route described by Smo sounds interesting--I'll look into that and see if it works for us logistically.  The Kaibab area sounds great. If not, we may end up driving or hitchhiking to connect different trails.

In the future, I'll post up more info on what we found for a route.  In the meantime, if anybody has additional info to share, please do.

[dave]

Just FYI:   This appears to be the best route through this area: 

https://goo.gl/maps/5W2as

The map shows a connector from the AZT northern trailhead to Moab.  From Moab to the CT, there is the San Juan Huts route.  This connector from AZT to Moab has already been ridden by a few, such as the fellow from this cool blog:
http://gypsybytrade.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/lockhart-basin-road-utah/

I believe it's totally doable in summer. 

[Smo]

Nice!  That route looks incredible.  And it uses the Burr Trail Road, too! 

[ROADHOG]

Weather Underground posts an average weather database from specific trail locations.

Scroll down toward the page bottom.

AZ/NM is in drought.

Search the 'Climate' page on NOAA Weather under 'Information' top of the home page.