From General Springs I crossed the main forest road and got on what ended up being the rowdiest descent of the whole route. It was just straight down a steep loose telephone line access filled with rocks. I rode most of it but did have to walk a few feet of the descent since I would pick up speed to fast on the loaded bike.
The Highline Trail is the most dreaded section of the AZT. I was optimistic by heading South this wouldn't be the case. It turns out starting in 2022 this will no longer be the case. A trail crew has made significant progress on cleaning up the trail. While I still did get a preview of the the past torture fest only a few hills at the start will still so rocky they were not rideable. The parts which have been reworked were rather soft and that made pedaling difficult but it will pack in. They basically ran a zamboni over the whole trail. I met the trail workers and thanked them for their work. I also ran in the ranger heading up the project and chatted with her for a few minutes. Dropping into the middle trailhead that splits up highline I ran into a a hiker in their young 20's. They asked if they needed to worry about wildlife up there and wanted to verify if they should run downhill if they encountered a bear.
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| Section before Highline was great! |
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| Trail Zamboni |
From the Geronimo trailhead the trail got rugged. It was mostly bushwhacking through thick pointy bushes for 6 miles up the hill. My full body was super scratch up after this. It was so tight it was hard to wedge myself and bike through. Along the way I realized I lost the valve stem cap for my fancy fillmore valve. A bit nervous with all the dragging my bike through weeds I found out you can put a traditional cap on loosely to protect unintentional deflation. The descent from the top was all down recently refinished trail. I'd have to imagine with all of the refinished bits being my descent that going the other way (up the refinished bits) would be easier this year. From the trailhead near Pine I was quite confused as it had me meander around away from Pine on the trail. Then I tried to follow a connector that appeared on several maps into town but there was some new aggressive no trespassing signs. I doubled back to the highway and coasted down to THAT Brewery. This was on my list as a must stop since I've heard great things and they are a big supporter of the trail.
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| Buffed out Highline |
The food was great and they were very hospitable. I found and reserved a motel in Payson while eating. The ride to Payson was mostly dirt roads. The first stretch out of town was FILLED with hobo camps, many looked very permanent, I believe I even saw a mailbox at one.
The road went up a hill then down into a canyon before climbing back out. At the end there was a full on river crossing of the East Verde River. In hindsight I should have just ridden the concrete ramp that was through it on the road. I decided to try and cross it via an island to keep from getting wet since it was dark and the temperature was dropping. I ended up fully falling in waste deep. Turns out there was a couple camped just above here who saw my light wandering around then the big splash. They seemed puzzled when I rode by minutes later. The dirt road here was interesting and had a small creek to cross every few minutes.
Next was my first encounter with narrow highway with no shoulder on the way into town, it being dark was far from ideal. The route then passed into a neighborhood via someone's yard on the route. As soon as I hit town I could hear cheers from the far side of town. Riding through town was easy. The cheers got louder and I realized I was heading straight for it. Turns out it was a big high school football game. Luckily it was still going strong at ~10pm when I rode by. I got to the motel, it was a cheap funky old motel with a fireplace in my room, never seen that in a run down budget motel. There was a crew installing a new stone wall in the parking lot even though it was very late. I walked to the store down the street to grab some food supplies. Its funny what we buy in our delirious state, especially when given the option of a full grocery store. I ended up getting a pint of ice cream and tons of other things I didn't want or need by the time I got back to the hotel.
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| Burger at THAT Brewery |
Stats: 9:05 moving time 47 Miles 5,187ft gain
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