We are back in Sedona for 2 weeks. Again, thanks to Pat & Larry's timeshare access, we are at Sedona Summit in a 2 bedroom, at the quiet, west end of town, where we can ride from the unit to great biking trails. Sedona didn't seem to have a quiet time before Covid hit. Now it is even more packed, and the hikers are finding the mountain bike trails. We have heard rumors of trails so crowded, that you are basically stopping so often, that you aren't really riding your bike, especially this March during spring break.
We arrived yesterday on Friday. The trailhead area just walking distance from the resort is called The Western Gateway (Cultural Center) a part of the Dry Creek area, and the forest Service has spent the last few years building new trails, re-routing old trails, adopting user built, non-system trails, closing user built trails, and installing great signage. And all of it has been a great improvement. Much to our surprise, the parking lot was quite empty for a Saturday at 10am. Today's ride was only 12.3 miles, but fun.
We started out descending on Stirrup, which is a user built trail that they adopted, formerly called "Plumbers Crack" which we guess was not a PC name. The other main North-South trail, "Girdner" has numerous re-routes that keep it out of the washes to make a better ride. After Girdner, we headed left on AZ Cypress to another left to climb on Cockscomb, staying right at the Axis intersection, so we could climb to the new trail, Ground Control. Kevin surely enjoyed this trail, but Francine found Ground Control (black trail) a little too technical for her liking, walking much of the descent. Next time, she will just go around on Outer Limits.
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| Francine walking and taking in the views west on Ground Control |
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| Ground Control trail -- newly built Black rated |
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| Side hilling on Ground Control |
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| more Ground Control |
Continued on Outer Limits for a brief stint, went left onto Last Frontier and left on Bolo, to descend to the hole at the wash at the intersection of Girdner, Axis, Bottom Out and Bolo. We always dreaded the climb on Girdner up to the Cultural Center from the unavoidable hole, but the newly constructed trail, Axis, had a nice grade for the 1 mile climb of about 200 feet. We will have to see if Girdner has been rerouted.
Much to our surprise, we saw very few people. We weren't sure where they were, as the parking lot in Boynton Canyon was full as we rode thru it. Trails were in great shape. We have been here when they are dustier and sandier. They are getting wider, though. We miss the narrow, singletrack, that we used to find out in this trail system in the Dry Creek area. Looking forward to a great 2 weeks. On Friday, 4/23, Kristin, Lenny, Jimmy and Pat & Larry arrive for a week. We need to tire ourselves out on the bikes this week, so we can spend time with family.
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