wheel

https://beninphoenix.fotopic.net/c1789449.html





Day 10
5mile drop


Salt River canyon Southbound to Globe Arizona what goes down goes up.

Day 10
One of the hardest days of my life. I started at the highest peak in the background 40 miles.
Up and down never flat.

wheel

a few more

Climbing Rose peak
Day 5


Day 5 on top Rose 8,000


Day 6
Mooglion Rim 9,000

wheel

Wildlife

wheel

Mile 0


Bush Valley




In a coyote retreat area. On public land. God I love public land.
Day 8 up to 10 nights all spent on public land.

azbackpackr

Hey, this is my neck of the woods! I live in the Springerville/Eagar area, collectively known as Round Valley. One of my jobs is working at a motel front desk where I see quite a few cross country cyclists, since Springerville is located on the 60, a route many follow.

wheel

That's a great area to cycle in.

azbackpackr

Right now the Coronado Trail/191 is closed due to snow. We have had an unusually large winter storm here, but on the other hand, cyclists should be aware that 191 is often closed for weeks in winter.

People have the mistaken notion about Arizona, either that it is all desert, or, if they know about Flagstaff, they seem to think that Flagstaff has a 4-season climate with snowy winters because it is further NORTH of Phoenix. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Arizona, as in California, climate is not a function of latitude as much as it is a function of elevation above sea level. We have pine tree mountain areas all over the state, in the north, south, east and even out in the western deserts, all of which receive snow in winter, and are generally cooler and more pleasant in summer than the desert areas. Most of our pine tree mountains, sometimes called "Sky Islands" are up around 8,000 to 10,000 feet tall, some are higher. We have 4 ski areas in the state, including the southernmost one in the US, at Mt. Lemmon near Tucson.

In fact, about a third of the state is high country, and relatively pleasant in summer compared to the low deserts. This also means, if you are a snowbird, that if you pass through these higher areas on your way to wintering in Phoenix, it is likely to be very cold and snowy. I work front desk at a motel and can't count the number of Canadians who stop over here, complaining of the cold and snow. "I thought Arizona would be warm!" they complain.

In fact, far south of the border down in Mexico, the Sierra Madres also have pine trees and snow, because they are 10 and 12,000 feet tall.

wheel

Also SR 260 is closed for winter.
89A is also closed in Oak creek area.


Awesome ride from Eagar to Show Low.


Eagar is @ 7,000 feet. Show Low 6,000 ish and in between 9,000.


Well I was hoping people would not even think about using the trail during the winter. Or two checking on conditions.

azbackpackr

260 is open again. It only was closed due to that big storm. But 191, the "Coronado Trail" which used to be Hwy 666, is closed.

The route from Pinetop to Eagar/Springerville does go up over 9,000 via 260, but not via 60, where it goes only to 7500.

I went cross country skiing off 260 yesterday, on top of 4 feet of snow. It was lovely!

Another thing I would like to try in this area is a prolonged mountain bike tour. You could ride dirt roads for days in this area. You could ride dirt roads from here all the way to the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, with very little pavement riding. I think it would be pretty fun. I should get the gear and try it. I am getting a mechanic lesson pretty soon from my friend--something I really need to know for touring, besides how to change a tire, which is all I really know how to do! Like, how to fix the darned disc brakes on my MTB!!

Thanks for posting this thread. I enjoy talking about my area.

positron

hey guys, making me homesick. I grew up spending summers in nutrioso. I agree, a dirt road tour from greer/eager through big lake area to alpine then down into the blue range would be amazing...


how much snow is there up in alpine/ nutri? I remeber getting stuck in a sudden blizzard up on escudilla once, I cant imagine how much snow there must be up there now!

great pics. really good to see over here in england!

azbackpackr

We got about 4 feet of snow in Alpine, Nutri, Greer, and about 10 feet up at Sunrise and Baldy. There is still a good three feet at Pole Knoll where I cross country ski. In the lower elevations, here in Eagar, it is now just in patches--in fact, I rode my road bike 22 miles yesterday, my first ride in a month or so. It was cold but the roadways are dry.

I do not know how to make the photos large. The left hand one shows a sign on the Pole Knoll cross country ski loop, where only the top of the sign is showing. (The sign's pole is pretty tall!) The second photo is in Water Canyon just south of the town of Eagar, the second day of those big storms we had. I skied up that road--can't do that very often as we usually don't get enough snow in town for that.

azbackpackr

Funny thing: The residents of Nutrioso like to tell people the meaning of the name of their village in Spanish is "beaver-bear" because a "nutria" is a beaver and an "oso" is a bear. However, these people do not understand basic Spanish grammar, and have made this story up (out of ignorance) somewhere along the way. If you understand Spanish grammar you'll know that if you add "oso" to a word it is exactly the same as adding "ous" in English. So, for example, in English we have danger + ous = dangerous, and in Spanish, the same word is peligro + oso = peligroso.

So, therefore, Nutrioso means "beaverous." And yes, there used to be many beaver dams along Nutrioso creek, and still may be a few!

positron

I guess they hold onto the memory of Aldo Leopold and the last grizzly in AZ up on escudilla..

I have an old old t shirt with a beaver and a bear on the front that says 'nutrioso' on the bottom...

azbackpackr

There were several celebrations in AZ and NM this past summer and fall, to mark the 100th anniversary of the day Aldo Leopold came into this country. I wrote an article for the White Mountain Outdoors Magazine about it. I did get the date wrong, I was told later, as to when Old Bigfoot the griz was killed. And I also heard there is a later report of a male, female and cub griz down at Strayhorse. The male was killed but the mother and cub got away. This is in David Brown's book on the grizzly in the Southwest.

As I am sure you are aware, we have no lack of black bears around here. I see them every year, in fact. They are very small, and they run away the minute they see you.

The website with my article on it is a bit squirrelly, but you should be able to click through the pages. There are a total of 5 separate pages for the article, starting with the fall photo on the trail. Hope you enjoy it! If you're interested I can probably find previous articles I have written, since I've been writing for them for 3 years now. Here's the link to the Aldo article:
https://www.wmicentral.com/site/dav.c...id=17541&ssp=6

wheel

Yea on 260 they have a nice meadow which would be great xx skiing.

It would be a great area to telecommute into work.
Yes lots of bicycle touring off road in that area.


In Scottsdale I saw snow on the 4 peak Mountain tops today.

The only bike tourist I saw was outside Eager. We're on Antelope hill. His day was done and I had to get to the meadow 9,000 feet.

azbackpackr

I xc ski all winter at Pole Knoll xc ski area between EagAr and Sunrise. Lately, I also have been giving lessons and organizing outdoor club xc ski events. The upper meadows are sometimes good, but they melt off faster than the forested areas. Pole Knoll has marked trails, some of which are groomed, although I tend to prefer un-groomed. I don't know if you read the article I posted, but I also wrote one about hiking Antelope Mtn. I don't know if it is the same hill you mentioned, off 260 near Eagar.

I love the skiing but I still dream of summer, and mtn biking. I road bike, too, but prefer mtn. because I like the solo wilderness feeling more than I like being out there with all the cars and people. I do love my road bike but just prefer mtn. We have a lot of singletrack which is easy to find out about at the Forest Service office. What most riders don't know about are the many mioles of rought two-track roads on state land between Springerville and Show Low, and also over toward St. Johns. I will be able to ride these roads sooner than the forest trails as well, because they tend to melt off and dry up fairly quickly in the springtime.