The
Black Canyon Trail is an approximately 78 mile long world-class multi-user trail system under development in the Bradshaw Mountain foothills of central Arizona. Today I did an out and back ride of about 27 miles going south from the Black Canyon City trailhead. This is a spectacularly beautiful and rugged singletrack ride which meanders through some really classic desert mountain wilderness. You really feel quite isolated on this trail and on more than one occasion I questioned my sanity riding it solo. The loose, rocky surface, often quite narrow trails with steep drop-offs, coupled with sharp objects nearly everywhere, make this a lot tougher ride than the photos would indicate. You rarely get a break on this trail, it requires you to really pay attention, and always keep working. I've had six months of my most consistent riding ever and I feel perhaps in my best biking shape ever. I'm used to a lot of climbing, but the loose, rocky surface required a lot of extra effort, and the knees really hurt right from the start. But I'm pretty stubborn and I didn't drive all that way for nothing. So I took a few extra pain relievers and pushed on. After about an hour I seemed to adjust a bit and by 10 miles I was feeling pretty good. At 13 miles I had to force myself to turn around and head home. I took the west side of Little Pan Loop going out and the east side of it coming back.
I'm usually not big on stopping much, but I could not get enough of the beautiful and strange scenery. I took over 100 photos. About 90 minutes into the ride I stopped to take a photo and it felt like something bit me in the ankle. Fortunately I decided to wear full socks, and they took most of the hit from a cactus attack. About a dozen needles made it into my skin and I used my Leatherman pliers to pull them out. But 15 minutes later my ankle was still burning. I found a little nub of a needle sticking out, and when I pulled it out I realized it had been in nearly an inch deep. It then occurred to me that falling off the trail while riding solo here could have some serious consequences! I only had one minor fall and
I didn't land on any sharp objects. I met two other couples on the trail and I asked one to take a photo of me.
The trail is quite well marked but a rider told me to stick to a jeep road near the end of the Little Pan Loop. I missed the singletrack and did about an extra mile before backtracking to it.
This was one of my most memorable rides ever and I feel quite a sense of accomplishment for doing it solo. However, the knees hurt so badly I had to cancel the rest of my planned trip. I drove through Sedona on the way home and as gray skies gave way to blue I could not resist trying a short ride there. That was a really bad idea! Below are a few photos of BCT,
about 100 more are on my SmugMug site.
