Sonoran Mountain Preserve North

I was up before the sun to start my journey to the northern reaches of the valley with John, to meet some other riding buddies at 7th Ave and Carefree Highway to partake of some new trail that was only months old. It was a complement to the southern portion of the Sonoran Mountain Preserve, which has some really nice and flowy, albeit tech-free, trails. But if that is what you come for, you'll be very happy. The arrangement is mostly low-lying trails around the base of the small mountain ranges, with climbs heading up to the tops and over saddles. Most grades are climbable, some with ~9% average grades. Good for the lungs. The southern portion has about 15 miles you can get in, and the north might pack just a few more than that.

Here's the newly finished pedestrian bridge that goes over the I-17. Quite useful for mountain bikers as you could now ride the SMP north and south, then cut across the freeway to add on Deem Hills and Thunderbird park. Excellent connector.

Hot air balloons were taking off as we were getting ready.

I've been in one. They are pretty wild, especially up at 7k+ ft. "It's just a wicker basket, man!"

Getting ready to go!

We got to ride with the balloons for the first few miles. They eventually blew to the west, away from us.

We had a stellar monsoon morning yesterday and I was hoping it would be the same today. While it looked iffy at first, some clouds moved in and kept it nice and mild. Always nice to have the sun off of you during  a ride.

Our first climb was a jaunt to the top of a little mountain, maybe 150ft, which had a loop on the top, then back down the way you came up. The climbing was great out there. Steep and sustained, but with the groomed trails, you could just focus on pounding out the wattage.

Water held in the air gave us a nice show over SMP South.

There's PMP and Camelback way out there. And a UFO!

Views from the top were great all around.

Dropping down from a 300ft effort. Get some more tires out here to pack down the trail bed, and it'll be real fast. Strava nerds rejoice!

With the rains the night before, it was as if the trails were wiped clean. You could count the number of riders on the trail recently.

And we kept going down, down, down......

 I really liked the trails out there, even without the tech. Sometimes your in a mood to just pound out fast miles with some climbs you don't have to balance china on. Put your head down and power. SMP is great for that. We counted two rocks on the trail that might be obstacles, and even those they tried to dig out. I'll be back for sure. It was a great 17 miles, and by running everything backwards, you could double the mileage, or connect to SMP South. When the temps cool, I see a nice epic Thunderbird, Deems and SMP. An easy, suburban 50+ miles and lots of good climbing. Yes.

Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down to the car. The two big climbs are really nice. You only have to focus on turning the cranks.

3D Topo of SMP North.

 

SoMo Central - Hike Your bike Day

I was getting a bit weary about riding SoMo east loops again, or PMP again, so I mixed it up and headed out to central SoMo to check out Kiwanis and Ranger, and to also show KC a little bit of the 620 ridgeline. I've never been on Kiwanis, or Ranger, nor National between the 620 turn-off and Ranger, so the majority of the day was looking new to me. I didn't know whether to be happy or ashamed since I've been riding SoMo for about 15 years, and this was the first time I'd be on these trails. I'd certainly say I was pleased though. New trail is some of the best medicine for the mindless doldrums, ruts, uncertainty and general malaise that comes with the repetitive behavior of a large part of our lives. I was ready. Greater awareness lies in  new experiences.

I was up at 5am, and it was finally easy. No worries. No struggle. My morning mind had been broken...or maybe just awoken. I felt good from the start. Met KC at the TH at 6am, superb cloud cover, a few drops, plenty of parking spaces, and a good sized mountain looking down on us. "I'm gonna climb you." The universe is appeased. A though crossed my mind - "...how nice it would for SoMo to be another 7k ft tall, like Lemmon...."

One of the few pedaling section on Kiwanis. It was about 70% HAB, or thereabouts. We were at the road in 45 minutes. Truthfully, I liked it. HAB usually means I'm far away, deep in the belly of the desert, or hanging around the Mogollon Rim, or bouncing around the edges of the Kaibab Plateau. Like playing the piano, when the fingers roll over the keys without thought and take you to the tune, the legs stammering over steps of rocks takes me to these trails, these adventures, these releases. It was marvelous.

Millipede mating season it was. Must have dodged a few dozen of them throughout the day. I'd hate to think that I got one with a tire, but I guess I'm not the Jain I thought I was, as I was hooting and hollering too much to turn around and witness. It is both alive and dead right? I hope this is how quantum mechanics applies to my life.

The man in climbing action.

Off of Kiwanis and onto National now. From one HAB to another, these are the MTB days of our lives.

Had to show KC the 620 ridgeline out-and-back since it is really nice, both ways. "This has to be my favorite trail out here now," was the response I got.

Down there? Yep, Bees Knees (Bursera?! come on...) and Gila. Wanna drop? Its only about 800ft in a mile. Lots of nice, tight, exposed switchbacks. A few make you think twice, thrice. Clown wheels make you feel like you'll tip over into oblivion. We stayed top-side to head back to Ranger.

This little fusion reactor of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

Just a little sketch I didn't draw. Nifty effect.

Back to National from 620 and on to Ranger.

  

National heads straight up in the middle and Ranger peels off to the right.

Coming down Ranger.

KC had found a flag while out there, so he sported it the rest of the day. Gotta love the ol' Red White and Blue. She needs it these days with the vitriol being spewed. I pray for civility and compromise some day again, soon.

The city is never far away, but there is so much excellent riding to be had in the Valley. We are very lucky.

Nice hike up, nice ride down. Los Lomitas didn't have too much to offer, nor Max Delta, from my brief encounter. Kiwanis going down would be a good route for a slinky. And Ranger up would be more amenable to keeping your bottom on your seat. Switcheroo route next time.

Day 3: Journey to the Volcano

Day three of our journey was to take us to Arenal Volcano and the town of Fortuna. Arenal is one of the few active volcanoes in Costa rica, although there is evidence for hundreds of them. All it really does now is spew toxic gas, but in 1968 it got serious and destroyed two villages that were at the base of the volcano.

We booked everything for the day with Camino Verde, as Jose was very helpful. We got our Jeep-Boat-Jeep travel, our reservations at La Pradera out side of La Fortuna, a guided nature hike and passes to Tabacon Hot Springs. One swipe of the card and we were on our way.  I was a bit disappointed when a bus pulled up to take us to the lake where we'd get the boat instead of a jeep, but I grew quickly accustomed to the AC. The bus took off and wound around mountains on a nicely graded dirt road through some of the most beautiful, greenest land I've ever seen.

Just gazing upon it made me feel like everything in the world is ok, as if we'd forever be cradled and cared for by the Earth. At once you realized how naturally jaded you are by the separations created by a concrete and asphalt life, but it's only a defense mechanism so you don't yearn daily for the wonder that is nature, thus destroying the balance of modern life - semi-conscientious disavowal of your natural, slow paced, numinous, mysterious life, in exchange for the ego-centric, soul crushing buy-and-sell of your interests by those that profit off of your time in exchange for "your place". I ride a lot and I get some of this back. It pays dividends when your soul is uncertain, but faced with the fertile and vibrant life force of Costa Rica, you certainly desire to have it in your life every day and get rid of the chatter. Slow down a bit. A garden in the backyard, herbs in the window, flowers on the sill, paths leading from your front door, drinkable running water, wildlife that see you too as wildlife. Its a more natural place. Calming without pretense. Peace without jurisdiction.

Behold, the land of myths.

I could ride around these hills all day.  Or just gaze upon them.

We approached Arenal.

There were a enough signs of civilization. Some lucky chap gets to live here.

This green sure is better than the color of money.

Do we look like touristos or what?

And the boat arrives.

Aaaahhhhh!!!!! She's gonna blow!

Plenty of fertile land for farming.

We reached the other side of the lake and after dropping our luggage off, we headed to town for some grub. Town was pricey, but we found some casados for about $7. And the rice came as a volcano, so bonus.

The next order of business after food, was to go on a little hike before heading to the hot springs. We were in a little guided group, led by Franklin, and we proceeded to walk around for about an hour and a half.

 

Lots of ants here. I guess these ones are vegetarians.

Franklin showed us how to cure a hangover. "I give this to some Germans that drank many the night before - they say, 'Franklin, you save us!'" Too funny.

Arty green shot.

These are ferns and are about 30ft. tall. Millions of years old they are.

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs.....

This crazy plant had some nice smackers.

Arenal Volcano. The sides are devoid of plants due to the gases that are released then brought down to the ground by the rains. The soil doesn't sustain life well. See, Mother Nature pollutes, so it must be natural!

Lake Arenal that we crossed by boat.

And the clouds move in, as they did every night.

Our last event for the day, was a buffet dinner at the Tabacon Hot Springs and a little soak. The volcano warmed water that flowed under ground, then as it surfaced, resorts ran it through their property. It was certainly warm.

A night time shot. They had great lighting, and sitting under the waterfall here was like being in a sauna. Let the water fall on you and it was like a massage. It was quite nice, but ultimately not worth the cash we laid down. It wasn't too much, but half price down the street at Baldi probably would have been just as enjoyable.

The day was a long one, with bus and boat travel, a walk around town, jungle tour, buffet and hot springs, but we enjoyed it. Lots of sights to see. The next day would be spent walking around La Fortuna.