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Stage 5: Leg Redemption

 I started the day out nice and cozy from sleeping in a hotel. I woke up early and decided to grab a quick breakfast from the Mexican restaurant from the same plaza, it was freezing outside.  I was expecting breakfast burritos but was surprised by an all you can eat American breakfast buffet. I grabbed my bike, stopped by the general store to grab some sugary snacks and an packet of Ramen as I was low on food and wasn't sure if it was gonna be a one or two day journey to Flagstaff.  The trail to the lookout tower was in quite good condition. I was serenaded by the anthem of the Northern AZ woods: Chainsaws.  There was a crew of 6 lumberjacks cutting trees just off trail.  I ran into some hunters looking for elk just after and and let them know the elks probably don't like all the chainsaws going in the area.

Warm Hotel in Tusayan
Grandview Firetower


At Grandview I had to go up the fire tower to get a look, I've never passed up a fire tower overlook.  I decided to keep a good pace I should set the goal of only stopping at the end of passages. First I set the target of Moqui Stage station, stopped for a snack there and was surprised there wasn't really anything there.  Next I set the goal of East Cedar Tank to top off my water.  This spot was just off trail and really cool.  A pipe from a spring came out of the ground and into a small metal tank. Below was a large dirt pond.  I was able to fill up with clear water from the pipe without touching the nasty green water in the tank.  It was about 5 so I decided I might as well cook dinner here and pull out my warmer layers for the evening.  Next I set the goal to get to the far side of Snow Bowl.

Russel Tank is actually a pond near here

This section of trail was great!










The official trail before and after Cedar Ranch was a surprising amount of old dirt roads so I was able to make pretty quick work of it. As I passed Kelly tank where I was planning to get a little bit more water I couldn't find it as it was fully dark. There was some hunters confused by my lights but with a roaring fire in a big clearing just off the road, and they pointed me back to the resupply box.  The next section of trail was surpassingly primitive and jumped in and out of  a ditch before crossing a road and climbing up to Snow Bowl.  I was expecting the climb to Snow Bowl to be significant but it was a nice gentle set of switchbacks that IMBA would be proud of.  I kept pushing forwards looking for a great camp spot. The best camp spot I saw on the climb had a few tents on it. While I was tempted to camp near by in my beyond exhaustion state I was set I should keep going over the mountain.  I saw a lot of deer on the trail which startled me, I knew this isolated mountainous region was crawling with bear and other animals. The descent down the other side was awesome. Very rough terrain with a properly maintained trail running through, it might have been the best of the whole trip. My water bottle launched onto the trail.  I stopped and when I got going again the straps holding my rear bag on the rack go caught in my spokes and I almost crashed hard in the rocks.  I was expecting there to be campsites, especially near the road crossing for the main road up to the ski area I was passing. After some searching at the bottom I found a flat spot just past the gate after crossing the road. It was cold but a bit warmer than the other side of the mountain where I had seen the hunters.


Humphreys and the San Francisco Peaks


Great Dinner Views
Slimy pond with clear water flowing in














Stats: 12:14 moving time 91 Miles  7,241ft gain

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