Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Black Canyon Trail


03/10/09
26.4 miles
4:30 minutes

We arrived in AZ yesterday under cloudy skies, and winds trying to blow us off the road. The tent site we scored at the KOA in Rock Springs was out of the wind and close to the bathrooms. SCORE! Our camping location was perfect since it is located only 5 minutes from the trailhead for the Black Canyon Trail. The trail is relatively new and currently has only 20 miles of the projected 60 miles built. I think that they could stop at 20, give themselves a pat on the back and enjoy the fruits of their labor. The trail is a tight, twisty singletrack that only interrupts itself for the occasional crossing of the Agua Fria River. The river wasn’t too cold, but it did provide us with some wrinkled feet once our shoes finally came off. We rode a southern section of the trail as an out and back. And enjoyed every minute of it. We managed to burn through a gallon of water each with each of us taking our last sips as we arrived back at home base. I even had a rear flat that was a slow enough leaker I was able to make it back to the KOA and change it in the shade. The only mishap we had today was our lack of sunscreen and the resulting farmer burns on our arms. Tomorrow we go and ride a ten mile section of the northern route and will probably reach the end of the road for current trail construction. They tacked on a 1000 feet last Saturday, so we may have first tread on the new part. Doubtful, but we shall see.
Evidently there is a Café in town here famous for its pies. I will do my duty and give a full report on those at a later date.
CK

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