Arizona Trail, Desert Southwest (CO,AZ,UT,NM), Trip Reports » Kentucky Camp Overnighter
by goyoI just finished an overnighter on the AZT, Pistol Hill road to Kentucky Camp, and back the next day. 90 miles total, 45 each way, 14,521 feet of climbing. The one-way distance is 26 miles as the crow flies – the trail is so winding it almost doubles the mileage! The routing can be a little frustrating, especially with tired legs; up one ridge, down the next, repeat often, and throw in some hike-a-bike. The further south you go, the more rugged it gets.
I didn’t take many pics, but here’s a few. It’s very dry this time of year (carry at least a gallon of water), but the air is cool…
Incredibly blue skies…
The East side of the Santa Ritas…
A little rest in the shade…
A good way to get ready for an endurance race, 24hop!
A word of warning, there appears to be a beehive next to the trail, just up the canyon from Hidden Valley Ranch, right where the trail crosses the canyon. I heard the buzz of a hive on the way down, and on the way back I got stung on the face as I passed by. When I realized what happened, I rode on quickly for a mile before I stopped to pull out the stinger. A small mirror would have come in handy. Don’t mess with the bees here, they can be deadly. If you get stung, leave the area immediately.
Someone should offer a shuttle service to Kentucky Camp; this would be an awesome hard core day ride. Tucson is getting to be quite the mountain biking destination; you could visit here in the winter and do an epic ride in a new area every day for a week! Kudos to the local activists, keep up the good work.
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Awesome! I found the section of trail between Rosemont Junction and Laked Rd to be the most sapping. Up & down steep loose trail. It’s better than it has been in years past but still pretty taxing. I heard bees will send you a warning by bumping into your head or stinging in/near the forehead to get you to move out, sounds like you did just that. I suppose you could filter water at one of the cattle tanks between Rosemont Junction and KC, are there other sources of H2O along the route?