The road is a steady climb up (about 2500 feet up) with a few pickup trucks and ATVs here and there to dust you. The Bradshaws seems to roll on forever in the distance, just brown and shrubby, dotted with cactus and old homesteads and mines. We passed some gold diggers heading out on the backs of ATVs into the wild in search of left over treasure. And of course what is an AZ outdoors trip without a large party shooting guns.
Looking up at a series of switchbacks winding their way towards Crown King, we turned around and settled with some cheap beer from the bar in Cleator that we passed on our way up. This is quite a place and I regret not having pictures of the inside. There was a stuffed alligator and all sorts of other charming decorations and people.
Day 1 for reals. 45ish miles. With the addition of several friends, we left Camp Verde and quickly hit dirt, bypassing the highway for a forest service road up Copper Canyon. I have stories from this road before on our first AZ bike tour where we realized how burly forest service roads were in the state. This was a jeep road that descended steeply enough for your back wheel to slide out when braking, which was necessary because there's a rock wall on one edge with the highway far above, and a drop-off as the other edge down into the creek below. So awkward. So on this trip we rode up it. With the weight of my gear packed towards the back of my bike, the steepness this time would lift my front wheel off the ground and send me awkwardly off into another direction as I cranked my granny gears. I was pretty pissed, and I lagged behind pushing as folks with frame bags and more skill cranked on up to the top.
About 8 miles later at the top of Copper Canyon you've gained 1500 feet and the best part of the ride unfolds as you wind through blond rolling hills on FS 68D.
Then you start climbing again later on Dugas Road. And I stopped taking pictures. Dugas road remains dirt the whole way to the river, getting rockier as you go. It does a lot of little up and downs and false summits opening up onto vistas unfolding the next winding climb, and then it becomes a jeep road washed with cobbles that just goes up. We had heard that Dugas road was in the top 3 burliest roads in AZ, and it quickly gave our ride a nickname: the fun-hating ride. As in, if you hate fun, this is the ride for you. We ran out of water and climbed, and pushed, and I cried as I reached my limits but knew that camping dehydrated without a water source would suck even worse. Delirium had fully set in as we kept going, giving each other looks and exclamations about how fucked up the road and the tour was. Near the top we paused at a parched cow skeleton on the side of the road, and we stoked our spirits talking about how the last 10 miles would be all down hill, dropping us 4000 feet down to the river before sun down.
Reaching the top we took in miles of rolling landscape spread out below, with the Verde River nestled in waiting for us as an oasis somewhere between the folds of dry hills. With the sun setting, we bundled up and started the descent. The cobbles grew to boulders though and life got harder in a new way.
Partly riding, partly walking through sandy washes and boulder filled channels in the dark, we made it to the river late that night totally beaten down and yet somehow exhilarated by having pushed our bodies beyond our imagined limits. After a while we found our way to the hot springs and pushed ourselves to drop in for a soak under the stars rather than listen to our bodies that wanted nothing but to shut down in warm sleeping bags.
Day 2, getting helivaced doesn't sound too bad. A week before our trip the flow rate of the Verde was still pretty high, and we were a little nervous about needing to cross it to continue our loop out. We optimistically took our chances heading out on the trip, hoping that waters were low enough to wade across carrying bikes. Returning from the way we came wasn't an option, so if we couldn't cross we were going to have to find a way to get rescued. Luckily flow rates weren't too bad and we watched experienced visitors wade across up river a little way from the springs.
Our hardier friends headed out early as we stayed to soak some more before crossing the river and hiking out to a very nice paved road. Heading back to Camp Verde, pavement ends and rocky dirt continues as you climb out. I cried some more as the guys waited up at the top and I half-rode half-pushed because I was really ready to stop climbing. I envisioned for the first time on a ride, throwing my bike off the top of the cliff out of anger. Eventually I pulled my shorts out from where they were and got over my ego and was ready to keep riding and appreciate where we were.
Fossil Creek flows invitingly along the road after the first big climb, and its blue waters are as refreshing as they look. I didn't take any pictures though. After more bumpy climbing and coasting and a short stint on pavement we arrived back in Camp Verde where burritos and beer awaited to finish the trip. The climb out felt really long for the miles, but maybe that was because of the day before.
I don't think I would do this trip again, or would have if I had known what we were getting into, but I'm glad we did it. This trip set the bar for challenging situations, and it is always in my mind as a reference when I face a challenge. Things could be worse.
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| Day 1 |
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| Day 2 |
