Lemmon Overnighter II

 

My big bike tour of the year! Two nights up in the cool forests of Mt. Lemmon.

August 3, 2011

Just getting back from a little hike up canyon here at the Hitchcock campground on Mt Lemmon. I feel surprisingly good after the brutal ride to get here.

I left home in a light rain shower and had good cloud cover until after lunch at Molino Basin. Almost bonked before I got there, so figured it was a good time to stop.

Fritos for lunch in Molino

Once I got moving again the sun was out in full force and I was losing water fast in this humidity. Cramped up for a while, but had one descending cyclist really cheer for me while I was stopped. That didn’t help for long.

View from Seven Cataracts

I limped into Hitchcock, where I camped last year (same site too!), and found it empty, except for the forest rangers cleaning up. I said a hearty, “Howdy, looks like I have the place to myself!”, to which one replied, “Yeah, but you still have to pay the fee.” Thanks for the warm welcome…

I really took it slow up here knowing the trip wasn’t too far, but it really hurt. Got lots of photos. Only two hours ride time, but four hours total. Didn’t think I had stopped for that long. I was thinking it would be difficult for me to do this ride unloaded right now, so loaded down with lots of extra water and all my camping gear was a tough ask. But I am really happy to have all this water! Lots of it is still frozen too, which is wonderful! I should have enough for the ride up to Spencer canyon tomorrow.

Bear Canyon

Relaxing in the site

Ponderosa

Little tent

The bird list is going well so far, but I plan to keep it in my head for this trip. I did see a couple of vocalizing Cooper’s Hawks and the usual Peregrine Falcon family down near Seven Cataracts.

So much for the quiet camp tonight. Some guy just showed up and is now splitting wood in the site right next to me. Why, with a whole campground of sites…? Time to eat.

Day 2

What a day (and night)! So my neighbor’s buddy shows up at 10 pm and they talk and play music until about 1 am. Then about 2am, the rain has finally moved in, so I jump out and put the fly on the tent. The rain cool things down quite a bit and my thin sleep sack is no longer keeping me very warm.

I try various combos of clothing, but for the most part I am cold for the rest of the night and don’t sleep very well.

After the hard ride and unbearable night, I am seriously considering all my options. Bail out completely? Come on. Go down to Prison Camp where it’s warmer and mooch water from some other campers? Could work, but the day would be hot. I’d like to enjoy some cooler climes. Ride up 1500 ft higher to get water and bring it back down to Hitchcock? Doesn’t make sense. Definitely going up to Spencer at 8000 ft would be a colder night and include too much climbing that I am now not really in the mood for.

So, a great compromise is to go up to 7000 ft and camp at Rose Canyon Lake. Yeah, there will be yahoos, but I figure hanging out by the water with the anglers will be a relaxing way to spend the day. Hopefully I’ll be warm enough if I sleep with all my clothes on!

After the mayhem of two hikers losing control of three dogs in my neighbor’s site where they had two other dogs, I leave Hitchcock quietly with the sun already beating down on me on the way up to Windy Point. A passing rider jokes that he was going to ask if I needed anything, but figured I already had everything. I told him I had too much.

On the way to Windy Pt.

Hoodoos

I took a bunch of photos, made a call to Elizabeth, and the ride up to the lake is a good one. As usual, I score the best site in the place (they are often overlooked). Creekside (bone dry), shade, tall Ponderosas and shrubbery shielding me from the road, and only one other site next to me. I had to walk across the creek to get here, that’s why no one wants this site!

The best site

I had a very relaxing time at the lake, walking most way around and finding a shady spot to sit and watch the anglers and the clouds build.

Rose Canyon Lake

I got to thinking about how different this was from the Sonoran desert and the city commotion below. Parents were spending time fishing with their kids, the snack shop was doing a brisk business, campfires were being lit. People were enjoying the pines and being outside! All of this, and yet I still realized that I was not on the edge of some vast forest wildness, but on the tip-top of an island surrounded by life that was drawing my thoughts downward.

Day 3

My tactic of wearing all my clothes worked great last night, I wasn’t cold at all.

After a good sleep-in, I went down to the lake again, but this time I took the trail. It was great! Big Ponderosas, boulders, lots of birds and even some pools in the creek. The lake was hopping compared to yesterday. You can tell what the weekend will be like, and I don’t want to be here. The amount of car traffic really picked up and the competition for sites was fierce.

Great mountain scenery right off the road

Pools

As I packed up, the day’s thunder was already starting and there were big storms to the east. I was surprised to realize that the road up and out of the campground is one of the best roads on the mountain! I rode down into the heat and sweated my way across town only having to stop for one light the whole way!

This was a great get-away and some much needed time to myself. I figure I said only a handful of words to other people for the roughly 50 hours I was out. Not one person asked me where I was going or where I was from. I guess things are different on Mt Lemmon, a road to nowhere. Instead of being a wayward traveler enroute to some far off destination, I was just some weird loner guy, suffering up a mountain to camp by myself. Just what I needed!!

72 total miles

4500 ft climbed

?? birds

Read the Tucson Audubon Blog for the more bird-oriented account of last year's trip.

More photos:

Babad Do'ag vista

Molino Basin

Prison Camp valley

Back in Tucson - Blog Updated

Hi everyone!

Well, we're home again, another tour completed. I spent two weeks dodging storms, eyes constantly fixed on cloud formations and lightning strikes. Now that the remnants of Hurricane Dolly have moved on it's darn hot here in Tucson and there's not a cloud in the sky!

The tour went very well and was a lot of fun. I rode on some great New Mexico "blue highways" and learned that there are many more out there. I met some cool people and had some challenging moments. All the right ingredients for a successful trip!

My journal and trip photos have now been added to the blog, so now you can read the full story! Enjoy!

Cimarron to Coyote Creek State Park

Last Day 12 – 40 miles, 3:10, 14.4 AVG

Hanging with the Oklahomans next door. Another lazy morning and some sun made this marginal site a pretty good place to hang out. The roaring creek 20 ft away was fun.


Blackjack Campground

I went down canyon a bit to check out the rock formations. It was pure bliss riding in this canyon; warm, no wind and flat. The idiot Oklahoman truck driver ruined all that, briefly.

It was a quick climb back over to Eagle Nest again, and I was headed right into another rain storm! So early today. I decided to head into it and not wait. It wasn’t long that I was through it and into the sunshine. Another blink of an eye and I was in Angel Fire. What a let down. I was expecting more, a bigger ski town than Red River. There was pretty much nothing except a Bald Eagle sighting.

A talk with Elizabeth and we decided that I should go south to Coyote Creek State Park (on the southern loop of the Enchanted Circle), due to the crowded highway toward Taos and weather patterns. What a great choice it turned out to be! Highway 434 was awesome and fun, even though I got pelted by hail on the technical downhill section. The road has no middle line it’s so narrow, and it snaked through the forest like a small trail. At one point I was weaving past an open pine forest, and the next I was cruising through a narrow cliff-lined canyon that held a creek and dense riparian trees.

It ended all too soon when I reached the State Park. I grabbed the last site with a ramada structure. This was key when the rain storm hit, and now everyone seems to want my site. Because I didn’t pitch a tent right away and only had a bike, people thought I might be just having lunch, even though it was like 6 pm. The “traffic” eyeing my site is almost unbearable. I kind of feel like I’m on display up here in my zoo cage ramada! There is a great view of the mountains behind the creek, though.

Elizabeth should be here soon and that will be the official end of the tour. Overall it was a great tour. All this rain has turned out to be very manageable. I’m also happy that the modifications I made to some equipment worked on reducing the pains I had last year. The route was amazing and it seems there are many other choices for a whole other tour!

BIRDS

Bald Eagle - Belted Kingfisher - Warbling Vireo - Mountain Blue Bird -
Lewis’s Woodpecker

TOTALS FOR TOUR:

Birds: 80 Miles: 675


Outside Angel Fire

Day 11 - Junebug Campground (Red River) to Cimarron Canyon State Park

Oh, I wish my wife were in New Mexico with me!

Well, Matt is about to get his wish. And isn't it nice to see that he thinks in the subjunctive?

After meeting more Tucsonans at the campground last night, Matt hit the road once again. He declared Red River to be a charming mountain town, and full of Texans to boot. Eagle's Nest was much less picturesque, but it did have a gas station with a roof he could hide under as the latest downpour began. He also got to enjoy a burger on the patio of a bar in town.

He headed down towards Cimarron Canyon State Park, but was wary of descending too far, since this part of New Mexico is "where the mountains meet the plains." The first campground, which had water, was full, so he had to continue on to the second, more primitive campground.

Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving Tucson to join him somewhere in the vicinity of Taos and the Enchanted Circle. When we're back, Matt will update all the blog entries with writing from his travel journal and photos from the trip. It'll be good stuff, so be sure to check back in again soon!

Today's route map (who knows what map will show up here. The Google maps are going all wiggety wack -- what's up, Blogger??):

UPDATE FROM MATT
Day 11 – 31 miles, 2:39, 11.5

After fending off the family of raccoons, last night was very quiet on my empty side of the campground. Got to love those sites that RVs can’t fit into! I might have heard (and seen) another Spotted Owl, must check out that call I heard. Decided to have a lazy morning and enjoy the forest. I mistakenly left my loaf of bread (packed away, of course) for a few minutes in the presence of ground squirrels. So, I came back to find one of them had dug into my pannier and chomped on a few slices!

I headed up the road a bit to the little ski town of Red River. I had thought I was about 3 miles away, but found out my quiet forest campsite was only half a mile from town! So I toured the small, but very busy scenic mountain town. Lots of motels, condos, bars, sports stores, etc, and mostly Texans with a few Kansans thrown in. Met some cyclists at the town market, and one of them was from Tucson! Why have I met so many Tucsonans on this trip?


Finally, a pass sign!

Up the steep Bobcat Pass (9800 ft) was short and then I had a long downhill pretty much the whole way to Eagle Nest. The scenery was amazing! Some views of a few of the big Sangre de Cristo peaks (Wheeler I think, the highest in New Mexico) and the descent into the beautiful Moreno Valley which opens up to expansive views of meadows and grassland.


Descending from Bobcat, Wheeler Peak?

Moreno Valley with Baldy Peak in the background

Continuing in my “lazy tour” mode, I stopped in Eagle Nest for a burger at the local pub. While eating the sky seemed to close in from all directions, so I found a phone and a place to put the bike under a roof – the Shamrock gas station. I hunkered down for about 2 hours as it poured, chatting with some of the travelers about my odd form of transportation.

After a while I saw my break and went for it, up the steep climb out of the valley and 3 miles to the first campground down in the lush canyon of Cimarron State Park. No room and too many people and RVs anyway. I filled all my water bottles and moved on to the next campground, 4 more miles down the canyon in a light rain. Blackjack is an interesting campground where the sites are spread out along a trail next to a rushing creek. No cars! Luckily there’s a site open (there are only 5 total), and finally, a bear locker to put all my stuff into instead of in my tent!

The canyon here is damp and cool. I may not see the sun for a while tomorrow.

BIRDS
Swainson’s Hawk - Violet Green Swallow - American Crow


Elizabeth Town


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Day 10 - Questa - Junebug campground

Matt had a great time relaxing at Jack and Heidi's. He only rode about 10 miles today, to another really nice campground.


The 90-pound steed

Wow, this is a short post to go along with the short ride!

UPDATE FROM MATT
Day 10 – 13 miles, 1:13, 10.4 AVG



Had a very relaxing time in Questa, lots of good eating and TV watching and playing with Avery. Left late today to travel a short distance up the Enchanted Circle highway. I finally made it! Pretty cool so far, narrow canyon with jagged red/orange outcroppings not too unlike Cave Creek in the Chiricahuas. I camped near the rushing Red River, watched the fly fishermen that seem to be everywhere in New Mexico and had some leftover stew for dinner (thanks again, Jack!). I think from here on out I’ll be taking it easier on the bike and focus on staying in these mountains for the rest of the trip.

Must have spent too much time inside today – no new birds!


Junebug Campground

Yawn, another bike picture

Map:

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Day 9 - Hopewell Lake to Questa

Matt really enjoyed his night at the pretty Hopewell Lake campground. After he picked his site, he found out that the campground was fairly crowded, but he had his area almost to himself, which was nice.


It was very cozy under that spruce tree

Matt met up with another touring cyclist from Arizona today. He was an older man who owns some property in Show Low, but for all intents and purposes is homeless at the moment. They talked for a while over lunch, and then Matt headed over the Rio Grande. The lunch maybe went a little long, because an afternoon storm was brewing. Matt sought shelter and waited for about a half an hour before continuing.

After struggling over more brutal rollers (his least favorite kind of cycling terrain, if you haven't picked up on that), Matt finally had the Questa Q in his sights! He stopped off at the market for some beer, of course, and then slogged up one more big hill to Jack's house. Irish Stew was on the menu tonight, but with a green chile New Mexican twist. He'll enjoy some Gleeson hospitality this evening until tomorrow afternoon when he'll hit the road again.

UPDATE FROM MATT
Day 9 – 70 miles, 4:47, 14.2 AVG

A great morning at the mountain meadow campsite. I rolled down hill for a while until the road hit a very large level valley that I had to climb out of. More up than I was expecting. I ran into Neil, a touring cyclist from Tucson, who was resting on the climb with a beer he had just found on the side of the road! Neil was “reinventing” himself after a divorce and was heading to Taos to see what he could stir up.


Neil and his free beer

After the peak it was a long slow downhill all the way to the Rio Grande and the beautiful bridge that spans the deep gorge there. It was a great place for lunch and I had the best view around. Not surprisingly, Neil caught up to me, so we had some lunch together. We watched as a huge cell of storm clouds moved in from the south. I decided to take off and try to get in front of it, while Neil told me he usually pitches his tent and jumps inside at the first sign of rain. I was hoping it would push me right into Questa. Not long after I left I knew this wasn’t going to happen as I pedaled real hard into the fierce headwind it was generating. I tried riding on the narrow sidewalk going across the bridge to take a photo over the edge, but the wind nearly blew me into traffic. It was still scary just standing up against the railing! The storm was looking pretty mean and had started to produce lightning, so I waited it out inside a warehouse along the highway.


My bike likes to pose, Rio Grande Gorge

It doesn't look windy, does it?

I made it up to the junction with Hwy 522, where it looked like a massive downpour had just occurred, and then had a glorious tailwind on my way north. I was making great time until I hit the huge rollers. These were no fun, especially the giant of Garrapata Canyon. I finally rolled into Questa thoroughly destroyed, loaded up a six-pack for the evening and found Jack and Heidi’s place just past the one stoplight in town.


The Gleeson family, Questa, NM

It was a great time meeting Jack’s family, shooting hoops with the Sangre de Cristos as a backdrop and eating a fine Irish/New Mexican stew prepared by Jack.

BIRDS
Spotted Owl - House Finch


The Sangre de Cristo Mountains and a whole bunch of sage brush

Avery is ready for a career in sports!

Today's route:

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Day 8 - Ghost Ranch to Hopewell Lake

It was tough to leave the Ghost Ranch in the morning, especially since Matt could've used a rest day at this point. But everyone wished him well and waved to him as he rode off.

Today's ride was less than 60 miles, but included 4,000 feet of climbing to reach the Hopewell Lake Campground, just past a 10,000 foot pass in the mountains. The first leg climbing up 2,000 feet into Tierra Amarilla, or T.A. as the locals call it, was into a headwind. T.A. wasn't much of a town, but it had a gas station with a mini-mart and a pay phone, and therefore had everything Matt really needed before he headed up towards the pass. He also got to talk to a local cyclist, who assured him he'd have no problem with the ride.

Yet again rain was threatening, but it only sprinkled. Matt reached the top of the pass before he thought he would. The campground was situated on a lovely meadow in the forest. Tomorrow he plans to head down, down, down and across the Rio Grande to Questa to see our friend Jack, his wife Heidi and their baby girl, Avery! The timing is great because Jack will be heading out of town on Wednesday.

UPDATE FROM MATT
Day 8 – 67 miles, 6:18, 10.6 AVG


My Ghost Camp

Well, it was hard to leave the Ghost Ranch. I met so many people and the vibe was very relaxing. If I wasn’t trying to meet Jack I think I would have stayed another night. But I pushed on and upwards. I didn’t think it was going to be so up to Tierra Amarilla, but turns out I climbed 1800 ft into a headwind. Definitely the whole area has a very mountain forest feel, even though it was only PJ (big PJ).

I roll into T.A. and find no market in town but do find only the biggest and scariest thunderhead I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It towered over the valley, bright white at its top, rain pouring out of the bottom. I would have tried to take a picture of it, but I knew it was pointless to try to capture that. Now I regret that I didn’t try. It did make it into this photo, though:


Tierra Amarilla politics with gigantic cloud in background

Anyway, I talk to a couple of the town drunks and also meet a cyclist who lives nearby. He gives me the lowdown on the huge pass I’m about to head over (and have already started to worry about). I feel better after getting some info on the climb and where a campground is that has water. Never can tell who you’ll meet at the local True Value Hardware/community center!


Why do I ride into this?

So I start off on this 28 mile, 2500 ft climb staring up at a dark wall of clouds hovering over the Tusas Mountains. I pretty much assume I’m in for some rain on this one as I jam up the lower slopes aided by a nice tailwind and the whole package of ham I had for lunch. I’m getting up there and the switchbacks start and the climb really kicks in. Also the rain is moving in on me from all directions, multiple cells cracking off lightning here and there.


Scary, but beautiful stuff

I’m really losing it toward the top, sweating like crazy but freezing, almost certain the downpour is about to begin. But I turn a corner and suddenly recognize that I’m near the top, and surprisingly, the other side of the mountain top is all clear of rain! Not being quite sure how this possible, I take advantage of the situation and decide to take in the view points, snap some pictures of the alpine meadows and get a good look at the Brazos Cliffs, 2000 ft vertical quartzite monoliths that tower over the valley below. Also, I take note of the scene of the infamous “Matt loses the car keys in the snow and Beto almost freezes to death waiting” incident of 2002.

Still not sure where exactly this campground is, I begin to worry as I’m still riding and go up and over some pretty big hills on this massive plateau on top of the Tusas. Finally I reach it and not long after the skies clear and the sun warms me and the meadows up here at 10,500 ft. It was a very trying day, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to feeling so vulnerable out there on the open roads.


The top of the Tusas

Brazos Cliffs

The view from my site, Hopewell Lake Campground

I’ve got a great site, and it’s a beautiful, calm and clear night in the forest. I’ll fly downhill tomorrow and meet Jack in Questa.

BIRDS
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher - White-crowned Sparrow - Canyon Towhee - Western Scrub Jay - Dark-eyed Junco


More Tierra Amarilla artwork

The rain is coming!

The high plateau of the Tusas Mountains

Today's route:

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