Mountain Biking on the Waterline Road

November 19, 2024 / Add comment

The Waterline Road in the San Francisco Peaks reopened in October. It had been closed for more than two years in the aftermath of the Pipeline Fire. That fire occurred in the same area as the Schultz Fire (2010) and managed to burn what had been spared by the earlier fire. After two years of work, the Waterline Road was safe for the general public to use again.

View of the burned mountainside along Waterline Road in the San Francisco Peaks. New growth is already sprouting.

Riding on Waterline Road in the San Francisco Peaks. We've finally left the burn scar and have entered the aspen groves. — Riding on Waterline Road in the San Francisco Peaks. We’ve finally left the burn scar and have entered the aspen groves.

Aspen trees starting to show autumn colors along Waterline Road.

One of the few gaps in trees along the road allows a view down into Lockett Meadow. The hill on the far right was burned by the Pipeline Fire but is beginning to recover.

We rode our mountain bikes up the road and were saddened–but not surprised–by the destruction of the fire. There had been a lot of new growth after the 2010 fire–especially with new aspen trees already attaining heights of 10 to 20 feet. All this burned in 2022. Once again, new growth is taking place but most of it is still quite small.

A view into the Inner Basin from above shows colorful aspens.

A stand of aspen along Waterline Road with the high peaks surrounding the Inner Basin visible in the distance.

Biking back down the Waterline Road. It's about 9 miles of downhill. Easy! — Biking back down the Waterline Road. It’s about 9 miles of downhill. Easy!

The Inner Basin, however, was mostly spared by the 2022 fire and here were many aspen trees in full autumn colors. Along the road there are a few locations where you can get a wider view of the trees and the mountains but mostly the only view along the road…is the road.

Aspen in the Fall

October 30, 2022 / 1 Comment

The aspen leaves have now mostly fallen to the ground with only a few patches of color left. It has been a good year for leaf peeping and I was able to capture several images that I like. But I have also captured some good photos over the years and this post highlights some of those.

My favorite is this photo taken while mountain biking in the Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks. Shot with fill flash and an ultra-wide angle lens.

One of my earliest photos, also in the Inner Basin, was shot on Fuji Provia film in 2005. The remaining photos are from 2008 through 2022 and are, of course, digital shots.

Mountain biking, Inner Basin Trail, 2013.

Aspen Leaves and Autumn Color

October 20, 2021 / 1 Comment

The changing color of aspen leaves has peaked in many locations — and just now peaking in others. It’s always interesting to see which areas go early and which hang on until later.

Here are some photos of aspen around northern Arizona this past week.

Going, going... (Hockderffer Hills near FR151.) — Going, going… (Hockderffer Hills near FR151.)

Aspen trees at Aspen Corner on Snowbowl Road. (Notice how many trees have been scarred from folks carving their initials in the bark.)

Autumn Colors–2019

October 25, 2019

It was a dry summer (driest on record in Flagstaff) and autumn hasn’t been too wet, either. And, yet, the autumn colors have been good. Very good, even, with leaves staying on the trees well into mid- and late October.

In early October, the aspen were changing colors on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks.