Brothers camping trip/rim country rides

Over the last couple years, the fam has been intentional in getting "the boys" together for some time in the trees. It's so good getting up there with my brothers (and brother in law) and various nephews. My Uncle Eddie (the freaking fish whisperer) comes along to keep us from getting in too much trouble and provides comic relief on a constant basis.

This year, we decided to try to make a longer weekend of it which is fantastic but since I'm training for pretty big event this fall, I determined that I needed to get some larger rides in while up there for training and of course minimizing dietary damage from four plus days of camp food.

The first ride was pretty easy to figure out. Camp spot was going to be in close proximity to FR300 so I figured I would just connect to that, ride for three hours, and turn around. Figured that would get me around 60 miles and a bit of climbing plus some acclimation to the thin air on the rim.

The second ride I stumbled upon while checking out segments on Strava. This one I could also connect to from camp and was a gravel grinder route south of Colcord mountain heading towards Young, AZ. No singletrack, but I didn't care. It had a respectable amount of climbing and again right around that 60 mile mark.

Anyway, I got off work (later than I hoped) on Wednesday night, then picked up some grocery items and got home and packed everything up. I got on the road around 8ish and arrived in our camp spot northeast of  Willow Springs lake around 10:30PM. Set up camp quickly after chatting with one of my little brothers for a bit and I crashed out. I woke up with the sun, but just laid there enjoying the peacefulness of a shit ton of logging trucks working in the area. Lovely.

Got prepped as and was on the bike and riding a bit after 7AM. It was early on a Thursday morning so I didn't think too much of riding the shoulder of the 260 before crossing over it to get on the old rim road. I guess there is actually trail (General Crook 140) that goes through here, but I kinda had tunnel vision when putting the route together so didn't notice. Whatever. I just wanted time in the saddle. Forest roads are just fine by me. Without them, you wouldn't get to views like these:

Forest road literally is on the edge of the rim. 

Big views to the South/Southwest

The Tallboy happy to be outside on dirt.

 I got that little bit over with and crossed back over the 260 at the ranger station across from FR300 intersection. It was still super peaceful and only got passed by a vehicle or two. I noticed the paved walkway that skirts the rim and decided to drop down onto that. I didn't realize how far it went but it was a decent distance. It did finally spill me out to the actual FR300, so I was in gravel grinding mode. Ended up splitting up a huge (150-200) herd of elk which was an awesome sight. You can check it out on my instagram @phatmike2112 if you care to search for it.

Oh, I earned more great views:

Right around here I reached the three hour mark and decided to turn around. Really quiet day on the rim, other than a road maintenance crew repairing some of the road surface. 

Views like this all day. 

I ended up burning some time helping an older guy figure out where he was trying to get to. Pointed him and his giant trailer back the way he came a few miles to where is camping partners were at. It took him so long to get turned around that I was basically at the spot where he needed to turn so I heard him approaching from behind and directed him down the correct road. Good deed for the day done.

Prior to that I did ride through some rain, but it was quite refreshing since the day was getting a bit warm. I relished the overcast skies and the road stayed in good shape and kept the dust down of passing vehicles. Can't say this about the next ride...

Anyway, I was wrapping up on that original paved walkway but then saw it ended but there was some dirt singletrack that picked up where it ended and I decided to check it out. Pretty fun, almost all rideable but some interesting rocky bits that would force me to dismount and hike briefly up. This gave me a little taste of the terrain that might be coming later this fall. The rocks sure looked like some pictures I've seen...

Some legit mountain biking fun to wrap things up approaching the 260. 

I basically retraced my steps to get back to camp and was hoping for someone to hand me a beer but they were all gone and at the lake, so I cleaned up and cracked one open myself. Everyone got there about 30 minutes later.

The next day was spent at the lake. Just chilling with my fam. I didn't end up throwing a line into the water, instead of migrating from shady spot to shady spot and napping like a champion. Haha.

Gotta rep the AZT gear. Floppy hats are the best for sun protection. 

My brother in law and his son and loyal service dog. 

Storm to the east and right over our camp. We started to pack up and we arrived back to camp in a decent sprinkle and wet chairs. Oops. 

Saturday morning was time for ride number two.

Starting in the trees south of camp and the 260 - would lose elevation quickly to the high desert landscape below

Quiet road riding for a bit. I think just a handful of vehicles passed me. 

Already getting warm out. Bike computer said it breached 100 degrees a few times. Waiting for clouds...

Big country out here.

It was warm and the track was directing me to a stout climb there in the distance. 

Woah, water! Ran across this area unexpectedly. Haigler Canyon campground. 

A kid was here fishing - a pretty cool spot 

Looking down the first bit of the climb away from the campground. Decided this was a good spot for a break it was toasty and still not many clouds around. 

Always try to find a break spot that has a view!

A view :)

Warm, but clouds are starting to build. Yes!!!

A friendly cow close to a community closer to the 260. 

I ended up dropping all the way to the 260 even though I would just be coming back on it. It was a decent chunk of miles that I didn't want to miss out on. It was starting to get hot and the clouds were starting to provide some sun relief right as I made the turn south and up Colcord Rd towards the lookout tower. I found it odd that a flood of ATV's were making their way down but I didn't think much of it. I just knew I had a 1000 foot climb staring me in the face in the next 3.5 miles and I was thankful for the overcast. Then I heard thunder. No biggie. Then the rain started. Slow at first but then it picked up in intensity. The temps plummeted 30 degrees and I was now getting soaked. Found a bit of shelter and decided to wait it out. Didn't want to get more wet.

I stayed a bit more dry here. For about 10 minutes then the tree that was providing shelter got saturated enough and I was no longer sheltered from the wet. 

Me as I contemplated my next move. The rain stopped right after this. 

The rain stopped, and I was excited to get back on the bike. Right before I took my first pedal stroke, the thought of this being death mud broached my mind. Oh God, please don't let this be death mud.

Ten yards and death mud status confirmed. Shit!

Nasty stuff. Funny, I had put a paint stick in my pack after the Schilling death mud experience. But for some reason I took it out. Dumb. Wish I had it. 

Bike is going nowhere. 

The view of deathmud from the perspective of my bike haha!

I think those people in the ATV's knew what was up. I wouldn't want to be on a wheeled contraption of any kind on that road when wet. Oh, looks like some Strava people figured that out before I ever did:

Not exactly the segment name I would use, but use your imagination. 

So I had done about half the climb before the rain hit, now I still had another 500 feet of climbing in a short distance in death mud. It was brutal slipping and sliding as my shoes had obviously been packed in mud now as well and it was a decent struggle to get any forward progress. There wasn't much I could do but get out of there. Nobody was gonna get up there with a vehicle in the state that the roads were in. Couldn't realistically backtrack with my current supplies and even if I did I really didn't know how much deathmud would be awaiting for me if I backtracked. I also didn't relish the idea of riding the shoulder of the 260 on a late saturday afternoon. So my best option seemed to be to continue forward progress. HTFU. 

I got to a spot where I had good cell service and called my brother just to let him know I was going to be running a bit later than I thought but that I was fine - he indicated they got hit pretty hard with the weather where they were at too so I'm glad I called so they didn't worry. 

I eventually hiked up to the top where the road surface seemed to change a bit. I scraped off some remaining mud and my bike was kinda functioning. And I had a pretty decent downhill which flung more mud off of the bike which helped. 

Until I hit the bottom and ran into more deathmud more hiking up another pitch of not so terrible but still bad enough to where I couldn't ride mud. Finally I was spit out onto pavement (Yes!!) on the Young-Hever road and I was pretty much in the clear. My drivetrain wasn't very happy, but it was good enough to get me back. Beer me!

All in all, I was really happy with how my body handled a couple of bigger efforts in the span of three days. Looking forward to more!