March 8, 2023 to March 11, 2023
Madera Canyon Two-Step
One more dance around Mount Wrightson
Gadzooks! I've let the lag time on the journal creep past the week mark. Let's chop a few days off that block.
We wrapped up our tour of Santa Cruz County a week ago Wednesday, driving back to Tucson the long way through the Sonoita-Elgin wine region. Last year on a ride we stopped in Elgin at the Autumn Sage Vineyards. It was on a Sunday afternoon when they had live music, a food truck and NCAA basketball on the big screen, quite the party atmosphere. We were impressed by their wines, most of which are made from grapes grown around Willcox Arizona.
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This time we decided to check out their neighbor, Deep Sky Vineyards. Wednesday is a quieter time and we had the undivided attention of Shanna in the tasting room. After a good sampling, we enjoyed a glass of wine on the patio with a little picnic of cheese, salami and grapes, while gazing at the rolling golden grasslands and Mount Wrightson to the west.
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Thursday was another easy day. While Barry attended to some bike maintenance, I doodled around on the trails, sessioning some of the washes that bedeviled me and soaking up some quiet time in the Sonoran desert.
After a couple slack days, the legs are feeling good so today we're going for one more dance with Mount Wrightson on a ride up Madera Canyon. With Mount Lemmon still a possibility rattling around in our heads, however remote that may be, we can use another climbing workout. At 2,800 feet of ascent, today's ride is less than half the 8,000 feet going up on Mount Lemmon, but it should give us some idea of what that could feel like.
In Green Valley we pack some sandwiches and walking shoes on the bikes. We should have some time for a short hike from the Mount Wrightson picnic area at the end of the road.
The ride out from Green Valley is easy and pleasant through a nice area with light traffic. We turn east on Continental Road, passing pecan orchards and crossing the Santa Cruz once again, which is dry here. A gentle climb starts on White House Canyon Road, then gets more meaningful on Madera Canyon Road where the average grade is 6 percent. It's doable, we just have to keep cranking.
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With less than two miles to go, Barry stops to put on a sweatband. Generally whenever I can get ahead of him he enjoys the chance to pick up the pace and catch me, so I keep poking along at a turtle's pace. With less than a mile to go I stop for a bio break and wait for him at a shady spot. A creek gurgles alongside the road and I amuse myself listening to the birds and taking a few bad pictures. I'm not sure how much time passes, maybe 15 minutes before I really start to wonder what's up.
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Checking my phone I find there's no service here. Rats. Clearly the time for waiting is over so I start back down the canyon. Barry isn't where he stopped, and now I'm really worried. A few miles further down my phone is back on the grid. When we finally connect I find out he's well on his way back to the car. What a relief.
Turns out that when he stopped, Barry was distracted by sweat in his eyes and did not notice that I was ahead of him. So he was waiting for me, I was waiting for him, we're both beset with needless worry and it was all avoidable if I'd just checked with him before continuing. My bad, an epic communication fail.
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Lucky for me, he's quick to forgive. Over ice cream at Culver's we consider our unfinished business in Madera Canyon. We were so looking forward to going back there. Last year we did a beautiful hike to Josephine Saddle with Brigitte, one of the best hikes of the trip. We wouldn't have had the time for that hike and a ride up the canyon on the same day.
Which brings us to Saturday. This time we’ve left the bikes at the park and brought the hiking boots that have languished under the trailer since we got here. The drive back up Madera Canyon is just as beautiful today, all the way to the trailhead this time. I find one pair of trekking poles in the car we can share, I guess the other ones are back at the RV. Good enough.
We start up the Old Baldy Trail, the steepest, shortest trip up to Josephine Saddle at 2.7 miles. The rocky switchbacks are challenging and slippery slush from the recent snow still lingers in the shady woods. Several families with young kids are out there with us, doing pretty well on the tricky rocks.
At 7,100 feet we round the corner to Josephine Saddle and walk out to the best view we'll get of Mount Wrightson. After all the time we've circled around it through Santa Cruz County over the last week it's very satisfying to be here today.
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We start back down on the Super Trail, a longer trip with a gentler grade that's easier on the joints. It's more exposed and warmer in the afternoon than Old Baldy. I'm glad we're going down this way rather than up.
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The 6.5 mile trip is a pretty big one considering we haven't done much hiking to speak of in almost two months, but we're feeling good. All the bike miles surely helped. We'll call this a wrap for Mount Wrightson.
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1 year ago
1 year ago
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 668 miles (1,075 km)
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1 year ago