Kokopelli Trail Route

[Done]

Howdy all,

I'm prepping to ride Kokopelli's Trail in May, and I was comparing a few different GPX files. Oddly, the file on this site doesn't match the one on topofusion. Specifically, the track on bikepacking dips down Cottonwood Canyon (SE of Dewey of 4.5 miles as the crow flies), while the one from topofusion cuts across the top. Anybody know definitively which is correct?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Toby

[krefs]

COPMOBA's version of the route (section 6 on their map) stays higher rather than dropping down deep into the northernmost of the two Cottonwood canyons. There is a jeep trail that cuts off to the north and then climbs back to the KT, but that's not the "official" route. Perhaps the track showing the deviation to the north was made by someone in search of water. In the past few years, that Cottonwood Creek has been flowing at a trickle, so it's not a reliable source, but it sure is a nice place to stop and eat a burrito.

Carsonite posts mark much of the KT pretty well, at least compared to the Paradox and Tabeguache trails. My GPS died in Fisher Valley a couple years ago during the KTR and I made it to Loma with only one missed turn, and there I was in too much of a daze and rode straight past the marker.

[Done]

Thanks Kurt. Good idea on the COPMOBA guide, I'll definitely check it out. Nice to hear that the signs are maintained--when I lived in GJ, the BLM was always needing to replace them after idiots would shoot them out!

Cheers,
Toby

[Done]

Hi Kurt,

Here's a copy of the map that show the deviation. Based on your description, it looks like the COPMOBA/BLM-marked trail stays on the yellow track?

Thanks again!

[krefs]

Yes, my impression is that the yellow line is the official COPMOBA route. Is that dotted route heading south off the edge of the map from the west end of the yellow line the jeep road to "Top of the World?" If it is, I know in September that there was a carsonite KT marker pointing down the yellow route from that intersection.

I'll try to remember to check a couple other maps tonight to make sure they all agree.

[Done]

I'm not sure if the dotted route leads to the "Top of the World" since there is no such feature is named on my map--but it does head out to what looks like an AMAZING overlook (from which it might be possible to see Titan Tower). Even though my map doesn't name it as such, it certainly looks like the Top of the World on the map to me! Have you ridden out there? I think that I want to!

Thanks again for your help Kurt!

[krefs]

Yup, that view point is definitely Top of the World. I've been meaning to get out there, but it still hasn't happened. Eventually...

[Done]

Maybe we'll just need to add it to the 2012 Kokopelli race?

Just kidding!

[ScottM]

The yellow (into Cottonwood) has always been the official route of the KTR.  People have been DQ'd (or threatened at least) for taking the red route, even though it is more miles and perhaps longer.

The file from TF and the one on this site should be the same.  Are you sure you didn't get a Koko file from somewhere else?

[Done]

Hi Scott,

Mystery solved! Thanks to your request to check the sources of the files, I did precisely that. For some bizarre reason, the file with the inaccurate route seems to have the wrong file name. I suspect that when I downloaded it, I must have hit the wrong button or something in the file dialog and had it over-write the existing file. I figured this out by opening the GPX file in a text editor, and the header states that it came from Trail Central. But I still don't understand how this happened, because I have another file from Trail Central that has a different date--by over a year--than the inaccurately-named file.

At any rate, thanks for clearing this up for me. Looks like Trail Central is wrong, and that TopoFusion and bikepacking.net are correct! FYI, the file that downloads from this site is listed as "Kokopelli's Trail (PhotoFusion).gpx". Should be "TopoFusion"? EDIT: Now I see why it's called "PhotoFusion"--it is referencing the Photo features of TopoFusion?

[Done]

Hi Scott,

I'm tempted to ask that you nuke this thread so that it doesn't confuse anyone. But I suppose that there's some value in it because it might help prevent others from using the Trail Central gpx file. What do you think? I'm OK with whatever!