Jump to content
IGNORED

Dirt riding in Patagonia, AZ


ArmyGuy

Recommended Posts

The riding season here in AZ is just starting to get nice. We put in nearly 100 miles of dirt with a lot of varying difficulty hills, gullies, slippery shale hills, and baby head rock fields. One wrong turn put us on a two-track that turned into a single-track, that turned into a no-track, and finally into a cow-track. Lots of fun was had.

 

We started out South of the Huachuca Mountains

 

37436669141_cba0dda6b5_k.jpg

 

 

Sometimes being friendly pays off. Just as I waved at this officer he lit us up. I'm not saying we were speeding but we were going at a rather 'spirited' pace. He kept going without a thought though, and we....well, we slowed down, for a while anyway.

 

36726966174_3ed0c60246_k.jpg

 

 

Following the border 'fence' it sure doesn't look like AZ here.

 

37182536390_ac38466678_k.jpg

 

36769960653_ab9b44ba1b_k.jpg

 

36769960423_d9662d6c6e_k.jpg

 

I was so busy looking at the scenery, I missed a turn. "That's OK", I said. "We'll follow this path until we come back out to our track. Well, this two track turned into a single track. That turned into a cow path, and we were eventually led to 'safety' by a cow with rather large horns.

 

36769580333_c1916d45d2_k.jpg

 

37182535470_6577c82917_k.jpg

 

36769579963_c028c0f1e1_k.jpg

 

We eventually made our way to Patagonia for lunch at the 'Gathering grounds'. They have GREAT coffee and pie if you're ever in the area...the food is pretty good too.

 

After lunch, we started up the Temporal Gulch road. The AZ Trail follows this jeep trail to the North. It climbs up to about 7400 feet on the trail but we didn't make it that far.

 

37436667681_46ee071985_k.jpg

 

My northern Wisconsin accent makes it difficult to understand...but just in case, one word in the following 30-second video is NSFW or small children.

 

 

 

36726965044_df4bf13896_k.jpg

 

37436666211_696c36ac7f_k.jpg

 

It was near this point my riding buddy informed me that our current path was so far above his skill level that he felt unsafe. The 'road' we were on would have taken us up over those mountains in the background.

 

36726963004_21553d2a5f_k.jpg

 

 

Looking back from where we came.

 

37405579222_f36ea473d0_k.jpg

 

 

Last shot before I turned off the camera.

 

36749718253_b812f2319f_k.jpg

 

 

He dropped his KLR twice going up and once more heading back down. I suggested he get a smaller weight bike, better tires, and some training. It's amazing how quickly one can get tired at altitudes above 5k feet. Anyway, nothing hurt but pride and it was a heck of a great day for a ride.

 

Link to comment

Mike,

Great pics! I was stationed at Huachuca in the seventies, had a old beat up 250 Elsinore and a Kawasaki Z1R. Had a blast riding in the Huachuca's, your ride tales bring back some good memories.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Mike,

Great pics! I was stationed at Huachuca in the seventies, had a old beat up 250 Elsinore and a Kawasaki Z1R. Had a blast riding in the Huachuca's, your ride tales bring back some good memories.

 

Mike

 

Mike, were you a cable dog?

 

I think Sierra Vista didn't go out much past 7th street in the 70's...if that far. Both of those bikes would be a hoot to ride out here.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Nice pics. Please tell us about the cam set up. Stills from vids? Set to take one every few seconds? Click on command? Brand? enquiring minds want to know :)

Link to comment

John, I have a GoPro mounted on my helmet that I set to take pictures every thirty seconds. I also have a larger battery for it that'll last 5-6 hours if I remember to turn it off at rest stops (it's not water proof though and when it's raining, I must use the original battery setup that'll last only a couple of hours). The other pics are taken with my Samsung Galaxy S6-Edge phone.

Link to comment
John, I have a GoPro mounted on my helmet that I set to take pictures every thirty seconds. I also have a larger battery for it that'll last 5-6 hours if I remember to turn it off at rest stops (it's not water proof though and when it's raining, I must use the original battery setup that'll last only a couple of hours). The other pics are taken with my Samsung Galaxy S6-Edge phone.

Thanks Mike.

 

I'll be trying out my DIY chin mount with my GoPro soon. I made a mold of the helmet with epoxy putty that will hold the mount, and then I bought some 3M VHB 4991 double sided stickum to secure it to the helmet. There are vids on youtube on how to do it.

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

Ventured out North of Patagonia around and through the Santa Rita mountains. It was a super fun trip today...160 miles total with about 110 of that on dirt.

 

27045175649_1ad6b943a2_h.jpg

 

38105201034_c7fd1029e3_h.jpg

 

 

Too bad the bug guts/dirt muddled up this picture. The views around this mountain range are spectacular.

 

38105200114_d34b5fe1bd_h.jpg

 

27045172159_d6ef86e861_h.jpg

 

38821066461_6de5dc6e19_h.jpg

 

 

We rode over/around this mountain twice today. Once in daylight and once to the light of the super moon.

 

24948857918_ede81687a2_h.jpg

 

Riding on dirt after dark is an entirely new ball game for me. I realized I need something more powerful than the OEM headlight on my XChallenge.

 

 

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...

Got to go ghost town hunting this past weekend out towards Ruby, AZ / Arivaca. Didn't see any ghosts but I think one may have helped cause a rear flat on my 650X... It was a good day for a ride....100 miles in the dirt.

 

39613760725_4836691a88_b.jpg

 

39806693834_1495e2fdf7_b.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

Took my buddy from California out for about 750 miles of mixed dirt/hardball riding this past few days.

 

We had beautiful desert and mountain views, hairpin curves, and carnage. His G650 Sertao decided to throw his rear taillight assembly into the desert...we never did find the stuff that fell off.

 

28871074418_998f3e5f0d_b.jpg

 

 

28871074318_911d6c489d_b.jpg

 

 

28871097738_ed4be08d42_b.jpg

 

Link to comment

Thank you John. Even in the heat, it is very fun riding here. Can't wait to venture out to New Mexico, the northern part of AZ, or Utah.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...