If you have been following along you already know that it has been a warm and very dry Autumn and Winter around these parts. As a result of the dryness, most trails deteriorated and became “moon dust” that fills the air as you walk or ride on the trail.
We’ve avoided mountain biking during the dry periods because of the excessive dust and loose soils on the trails—believing that riding under these conditions accelerates the deterioration of the trails. But now that we’ve had some rain—and high-country snow—we’re back out on the trails.
Here are a few photographs from some recent mountain bike rides.
HiLine (a/k/a Highline) Trail in Sedona.Lower Raptor Trail in Dead Horse Ranch State Park.Rust Bucket Trail (and the rusty buckets) in Dead Horse Ranch State Park.
Some years it’s easy to get great photographs of the changing colors of aspen leaves in northern Arizona. The weather is good, the timing is right, you’re in the perfect place. It all comes together.
That wasn’t this year.
We set out several times on the mountain bikes to see and enjoy the color. First we were too early; then we were too late. We were out of town on a long-planned trip and the peak color season occurred while we were gone. It happens.
Not that I’m complaining. I’ve been able to get good photographs many times in the past and there will be opportunities again in coming years.
So here is a collection of pre-season photos, post-season photos, and a few from several years ago comparing colors in the Inner Basin on similar dates but different years.
Early season colors seen along Waterline Road (09/25/2017)Early season colors seen along Waterline Road (09/25/2017)Early season colors along the Arizona Trail near Bismarck Lake (09/29/2017)Late-season aspen along Waterline Road (10/17/2017)Late-season aspen along Waterline Road (10/17/2017)Mountain biking on Inner Basin Trail (10/17/2017)Mountain biking on Inner Basin Trail (10/17/2017)Mountain biking on Inner Basin Trail in 2014 (10/14/2014).
Based on previous years, I thought we might still find some great color in the Inner Basin this late in the season. We certainly did in 2014—but not 2017.
And here are a couple from 2015—another good year for aspen photography.
Inner Basin Trail (10/07/2015).Lockett Meadow and Inner Basin (10/08/2015).
An early snowfall on the higher summits juxtaposed with the aspen almost at their peak made an interesting composition. Getting this view required more hiking and climbing that anticipated—but ultimately worth it.
It has been a wet December and January with rainfall amounts running well above average across much of Arizona—including Sedona. So we haven’t been riding quite as much as we would like as trail etiquette is to not ride wet and muddy trails because of the potential trail damage.
Still, we’ve managed to get in a few good days with only a bit of mud and snow on the trails.
View of the Cockscomb from Western Civilization Trail.Narrow tread on Last Frontier.Soldiers Wash trails.Courthouse Butte trails.Aerie Trail on Doe Mountain.Aerie Trail.
Another round of wet weather has arrived and trails will be getting rain and snow over the next few days. It may take awhile before we have dry trails again!
The weather has been pretty dry across northern Arizona this fall and, as a result, we have done all of our mountain biking in Flagstaff.
But the good and dry weather finally ended and we have found ourselves down in Sedona riding several times since Thanksgiving week. The rain that fell in late November resulted in the trails being in great condition. The dry and dusty trails are now perfectly damp and tacky providing great traction and grip (“gription”). Some folks call it Hero dirt.
A few photos from those days of riding…
Stair step drops on Chuckwagon Trail.An alternate line on Chuckwagon Trail.Mescal Trail.Action sequence on Canyon of Fools Trail.Scorpion Trail.Secret Slickrock Trail.Easy Breezy Trail.Adobe Jack Trail.
