Escaping Armageddon

We got together for breakfast as David Sacco was arriving on his Yamaha WR-250 from Sedona.  We looked over the weather forecast for the day (over a massive smothered breakfast burrito) and realized that a big snow storm was coming in in one hour and that temperatures by the Grand Canyon would drop to the 20's during the day ... change of plans ... fast.

We decided to go to Sedona instead ... down from 7,000 ft to 4,000 ft ... from 39 degrees and dropping, to something better hopefully.  It started to snow as we were leaving.

We headed to ride Schnebly Pass to get a little dirt riding but it was closed. So we headed to David and Jodi Sacco's house in Sedona.  The ride into Sedona was magical as always.  The setting is a one-of-a-kind display of nature at its best.  

We went to lunch to David and Jodi's secret favorite spot ... great food, coffee, ambiance ... just out of town to feel you are out there.  And, all of a sudden ... the storm caught up with us ... snow, hail, showers, wind ... so we waited at the restaurant until it passed.

All in all a great relaxing day as we realized that Motopia's 2018 Arizona BDR trip was coming to an end.  We were very lucky throughout the trip.  We got amazing weather and, as expected, we knew that anything passed Flagstaff (passed 7,000 ft) was a crapshoot ... and it was.  We are very happy we got to do this in March!

Tomorrow we ride all the way back to Benson to pick up our cars (300 miles), load the bikes and head back to Dallas on Saturday.

Blue dot is us, white area is the snow storm coming

This is an aerial view of the Colorado plateau (Flagstaff - 7000 ft) and the souther part of the state (Sedona - 4,000 ft)

A High Altitude Ride

We left the hotel after breakfast and went around the Mogollon Rim to reconnect with the BDR tracks.  All the roads around the rim were closed.  I guess 8000ft altitude this far North in March really means something : )

We stopped to get gas and coffee and the owner told us that everything on the other side of the road was open so we headed to the trail and picked up again.    Hard trail, very rocky, our shock absorbers were earning their keep.  Beautiful scenery.  Very different.  All at an altitude of around 7000 ft., flat plains to the horizon, narrow roads, wet at times, pine trees, lots of nasty rocks, high altitude lakes, very blue.

We made it to Winona and found a restaurant to have lunch.  Temperatures were dropping and the wind was picking up.  Maybe camping is not going to be a good idea after all.  

Great road from Winona the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  Out of this world.  A high mesa full of extinct volcanos.  Volcanic ash and rocks everywhere. And finally, in front of us, this massive mountain, with an entire side gone and made of volcanic grey sand.  Like being on the moon ... or Iceland.

Headed to search for our camping site but it got way too cold and windy so we decided to go to Flagstaff and stay at a hotel.  Temperatures are supposed to drop below 30 tonight.  

All the mountains around Flagstaff still have snow.  What is going on?

Tomorrow we head to the Grand Canyon.  David Sacco is joining us for the day.

Snow Already?

We woke up to a cold morning of around 40 degrees.  We quickly decided that we needed to make another fire and wait for the world to warm up a little.  After a nice leisurely breakfast with the left-overs form the night before, we left camp a little late as we waited for the world to warm up.

Again, great roads with a little of everything, including the usual hard rocky steep climbs.  We made it to Young for gas, water, and lunch at the general store – no restaurants here - this is a very small town in the middle of the mountains.

Headed north to find our next camping site. Climbed to almost 8,000ft and it got really cold.

The road we were supposed to take around the Mogollon Rim was closed until May because of snow and mud.  But, because the camp sites were a few miles in, we decided to jump the barrier and go check them out. The view from up there, down into the valley just south of the rim was amazing.  4000 ft below!

Temperatures were dropping, snow was still on the ground, so we concluded that at this altitude, the night time temperatures would probably go below freezing and decided to go back and ride to Payton and stay in a hotel instead.  

What a great decision.  After 3 days in the wilderness, a nice hot shower all of a sudden was all you would ever want or need. On top of everything, we went to a nice steak house for a nice dinner.  

Back at the hotel, we crashed after another great day in paradise.

A Feast In The Woods

We woke up as the early sun was hitting the rock formation behind our campsite.  Nature at its best . And, nobody was attacked during the night by the bear so everything was good : )  

After coffee and breakfast, we packed up and headed to the main house to say goodbye to Pedro.  We exchanged numbers, returned the gun, and headed north.

After a nice morning dirt ride, we stopped in Mammoth for gas, water and ... some amazing carnitas tacos at the Mexican Carniceria there!  We loaded up with good food for tonight's camping - tortillas, mango marinated chicken fajitas, beef fajitas, queso fresco, avocado, onions, mexican cookies.  

We had a quick lunch in Globe at Maria’s and headed into the toughest area of the trip yet.  We did find an error in the BDR GPS tracks ... the road we needed to take was not there ... or maybe they just  decided to eliminate that section because it was too hard!

We took the road anyway and, yes, it was really hard.  Spectacular scenery with steep rocky and slippery climbs.  We went all the way up to almost 7,000ft ... and, at the very top ... the scenery changed immediately from dessert, brown, dry, cactus, thorny shrubs to a lush green forest with pine trees, damp roads, shade.  It was like we went through a warm hole and found ourselves in another world all of a sudden.

We found an amazing campsite in the woods with big rocks all around us, a bathroom with a toilet, a fire pit to build a fire and wood all around us.  We made a great fire, cooked an amazing dinner and crashed.  

It was a very hard and rewarding day.  Nature is magic!  And the effect it has on the human soul tells me we were born to be out here. 

Sand, Rocks, Friends, Bears, and A Great Day

Today was the beginning of our route.  The famous Arizona Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR)!

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, packed the motorcycles, and headed south on pavement to the beginning of the route near the Mexican border ... we started our off-road adventure with a nice climb from 2,000 ft all the way to almost 6,575ft to the Montezuma Pass.  Great view.  You could see the border fence down in the valley below.  Weird to see such a straight line in the middle of nowhere.  Interesting how humans create these arbitrary concepts in the name of who knows what. 

As we climbed down the mountain back to the valley on the other side, we manage to make it to actual border fence.  The fence was made of sections of railroad rails all soldered together.  It reminded me of the demilitarized zone in communist Berlin or the beaches of Normandy in WWII. Except that both the Mexican side and the American side had beautiful and peaceful pastures and nature on both sides.  Strange.

After a nice dirt road going North, we ran into our nemesis ... deep sand.  The road followed a dried river bed at times with deep sand everywhere. Very hard and very spooky to navigate through that with an 800lbs motorcycle.  

After the sand, we followed a road called "Total Wreck" which, in retrospect, we should have guessed what would lie ahead.  Unmaintained, narrow, nasty rocks, climbs, twists, back to the river bed, up and down.  Hard work but lots of fun : ) 

  

We made it out of the dirt and went into Sonoita for lunch at the Copper Brothel Brewery, a brand new brewery with a great restaurant.  A great little town.   

After some more dirt roads, we made back to Benson, loaded water, gas and headed North into the next section of the trail to get a head start and to find a place to camp.

We rode for a while as night was falling and we were unable to find a place to camp.  I decided to just go into one of the farms and ask.  Best decision ever.  We met Pedro! and his wife Ruby.

Pedro is from Guanajuato, Mexico.  He owned the farm and its 200+ acres.  He raises cattle, goats, chickens, etc. and invited us to stay in his land for the night.  He suggested the spot by the river and the cliffs.  Great spot.  It was so nice to find the great Mexican hospitality north of the border also : )

However, Pedro asked us if we had a gun because there was a black bear that likes to roam the river up and down. After we said no, he went into his house and gave us a pistol just in case.  Now we questioned the wisdom of camping by the river but we were so tired and it was already getting dark that we didn't think too much about it.

After setting camp in the dark, cooking dinner, we all crashed.  Andy definitely brought all the good stuff – cot, table, beach chair - hist tent looked like a Four Seasons suite : )

The stars were amazing!

Dallas to Tucson in One Day

Well, we did it.  The ride from Dallas to our starting point in Arizona was long - 15 hours! - and uneventful.  We stopped at a couple of Starbucks for snacks and coffee and at the famous La Posta de la Mesilla in Las Cruces for lunch.  La Posta is a very old restaurant (40+ years) that has grown by connecting 6-7 neighboring houses into a very interesting labyrinth.  Great food.

We arrived at our hotel in Benson, AZ, and Andy and Erick were already there.  We off-loaded the motorcycles and began the preparation and packing work for an early departure the next day.

The excitement is beginning to build!  Dirt, here we come.

Heading into the Unknown

In 2 days we will be leaving to do our third Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) for dual sport motorcycles.  This time it will be Arizona.  Attempting this route this early in the year may prove challenging (snow, cold, mud, rivers) but we are so ready to go out experience nature at its best.

We will get to see and ride the Grand Canyon from areas that most people never see. Lots of mountain ranges, altitude changes, and one-of-a-kind scenery.

Packing is under way, GPS routes loaded, SPOT satellite tracker ready, dehydrated food loaded, camping gear checked, tools packed, new tires installed, oil topped off, paper map (in case the electronics fail altogether), rain gear, hot gear, cold gear.

Things like these - the anticipation, the challenge, the unknown, the commuting with nature - all conspiring to make you feel aware and alive.  Pretty cool.

The big bike all loaded

The route