TR - Bikepacking the Kaibab Plateau
Reading many years of awesome TRs for the North Rim led to a return trip over Memorial Day weekend to do some bikepacking. Years ago I rode the Rainbow Rim trail but have never checked out any of the Arizona Trail segments up there. Its not an easy place to get to from SoCal and there are many other choice destinations closer to home.
I have to give a lot of credit to Schillingsworth for the route I took. I combined two routes he rode over the last couple years into one that would hit all the singletrack segments I wanted to check out. Perhaps the extra credit was ambitious given my lack of recent riding, but being on my own I could modify the route at will. I was really looking forward to just immersing myself in the route and having nothing to do for 4 days but pedal.
Not being able to get out of work very early on Friday, I missed my window to beat the worst of LA/Vegas traffic. Instead I opted to take the longer but stress free drive through Phoenix and Flag. It is awesome having that option for long weekends as there is always somewhere in AZ that is prime riding conditions, right now.
After a late arrival I was at the northern AZT terminus at Stateline Campground at 7am ready to roll. Some through hikers arrived, finishing their 750 mile walk from Mexico. That was pretty cool to see...
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First up was 13 miles steady climbing on House Rock Valley Rd, which I drove in on the previous night. It was pretty easy climbing as far as dirt roads go.
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Time to do some hiking
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You never know what you'll find scouring topo maps and Schillingsworth found a cool trail, the Navajo Trail, that connected over this ridgeline to the AZT and beyond to some other dirt roads
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It is far from being the easier option but I will never turn down singletrack if given the choice. A 700ft hike a bike was a nice break from the dirt road, til the elevation and heat started getting to me.
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Almost at the top
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The climb was slow because the trail was steep and hard to follow in places. Get slightly off track and you couldn't even see the trail until you zig-zagged across it or spotted a random cairn.
Once up top, the trail became just an open corridor for the most part. It was not overgrown at all, but there was seldom an obvious trail tread because of the total lack of traffic. After topping out it was pretty much all rideable.
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There were occasional trail signs but in a number of open areas I had to rely on the GPS to keep me on route. You may survive without one but you'd better love trial and error.
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The end of the Navajo Trail for me. As much as I wanted to check out the rest of it, I still had plenty of miles to go and didn't need any bonus climbing. Navajo continues another 6 miles including a 1200ft drop off the plateau.
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Instead, I turned south on Forest Rd 248 which would take me right to Hwy 89 near Jacob Lake.
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FR248 started off as doubletrack and slowly improved the more I climbed. Despite easy climbing I soon started feeling the first twinge of cramps. I couldn't remember the last time I had cramps after just 20 miles. I slowed down, drank more and made it into Jacob Lake around 230pm mostly unscathed.
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Jacob Lake was a planned lunch stop and resupply, and I took a long rest to hopefully ditch the cramps. The toughest choice on the day was what do I hate more, cramps or pickles. Answer: cramps. Second question - can ketchup save the day? Answer: No!
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The pickles and a couple hours of hydration worked and I had no more issues with cramps. I normally don't drink a lot on rides which was part of the problem. I did not want a repeat of that in the middle of nowhere so I bulked up with 250oz water, considering the next water source is 65 miles away. I also carried 2 days food in case I decided to skip the Grand Canyon village.
I wasn't on a schedule but was getting antzy to get moving because I'd have to make up any miles I didn't finish today. I left Jacob Lake around 530 still hoping to make it to the Rainbow Rim trailhead, that night 40+ miles away. That would be pushing it given the long break. Bring on the night riding!
A few last cool views before dark and the start of the climbing:
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With some fast rolling forest road and a 2k foot descent, I covered 20 miles by dark. Around 9pm I suddenly had some major lightning strikes ahead, in the general direction I was heading. I stopped and had some food, watching the clouds to figure out if the storm was moving away or toward me. I had brought no rain gear as the forecast was 100% clear, so I needed to have some tree cover in case of rain. The clouds were moving favorably and within half hour the electrical storm blew over, so I kept going.
Temps were perfect and I was still feeling good. After the low point around 6,200ft I needed to climb back up to 8,000. Most of it wasn't bad, but the final climb would be a lot steeper on a more primitive road. I was ready to stop for the day but I turned into a frigid cold air drainage as I was looking for a campsite. No way was I camping there, I had to put on all my layers to keep warm despite the effort to climb. I finally made the top around midnight and had my choice of spots.
Another 16 miles after dark put me at around 68 on the day, and just 6 miles more of flat/downhill riding to the RR trailhead. I was pretty happy with that, and slept very well.
