Stage 7: The Other Rims Edge

 I was glad to be able to pack up in the warm room while it was still well below freezing outside.  I stopped by the general store for some hot coffee on my way out of town.  I met a southbound through hiker who was very worried, two days later snow and even colder temps we're coming and they knew they had a few days before they dropped into Pine and lower elevation.  I was very glad I would be moving fast enough to be well ahead of the weather.

This plant lined the trail and glows silver at night

Lots of gates this day

This trail is exactly what I though the Northern trail would be, dreamy flowing singletrack with some minor elevation change.   Halfway through the day I ran back into Chad who was bikepacking southbound that I met at the Grand Canyon North Rim.  We caught up and it turned out he had gotten rained out after taking the shuttle around the Grand Canyon. He spent over a day at the South Rim.  I kept moving, determined to make it to the ranger station by dark to have dinner and refill water. 

The trail covered some remote areas but was in great condition the whole way.  There was a few really cool remote lakes. I made it to the ranger station just before dark. There was a handful of Sheriffs there for a meeting who left right at dark. They didn't seem to worried about me cooking dinner there despite the signs saying the area closed at dark/no camping.  Soon after another through hiker showed up soon followed by Chad. They both had plans to camp there since there was water, power, and even shelter in the form of the vault toilets should the weather turn. I was quite tempted to stay but I foolishly thought I would make it part way on highline by the end of the day. As I left the ranger station I set the destination of the General Springs Cabin. This is right at the crest of the Mongollon Rim which is the Southern border of the Colorado Plateau. This geographic feature is a major factor in the drastically difference between Northern AZ with its large pine forests, and the desert of Southern AZ.

View at General Springs cabin
the next morning

I rode the highway back a mile to the AZT, the trail climbed steeply, this was the first sustained pushing section I'd encountered.  This section would be well worth coming back to during the daylight.  There was a few really spicy descents down steep rocky ledges. They we're exactly at the limit of my solo fully loaded bikepacking at night riding level. The trail ended up crossing a creek a few times near the end.  The creek was small enough to pedal across. This added a ton of sandy grime to my drivetrain which was already in need of cleaning.  Every pedal stroke felt like I was destroying my drivetrain with a terrible noise and feeling, I knew it still needed to carry me another 500 miles.  I kept trying to dry it and lube it but this was not helpful. I ended up pushing up any mellow grades to preserve it.  I got to the cabin late and poked around inside.  I was tempted to sleep in the cabin but quickly realized it was mouse infested. The temperature was cold but not as cold as even the ranger station hours before.

Stats: 10:55 moving time 63 Miles  5,646ft gain