During Thanksgiving week of 2001, Judy and I went on an outdoor adventure to Arizona. We wanted to backpack the Grand Canyon. In addition, we wanted to do a little mountain biking since we had heard so many great things about the mountain biking there. We were not to be disappointed. The mountain biking was outstanding as was the trip down the Grand Canyon and back. Along the way, we also managed to see some cool Indian ruins, walk through a lava tube, and visit a volcano crater. All in all, it was a fantastic week!

We left San Diego on Saturday, November 17 and headed for Sedona. That night, we car camped at a campground in Cottonwood, just south of Sedona. At 1 AM PST, we got up to watch the Leonid meteor shower. The next day, we biked the Cathedral Rock Loop, which offered us great mountain biking amid some spectacular views.

After the Sedona bike ride, we checked into a hotel. The next morning, we got up early to drive to the Grand Canyon. We hiked down the South Kaibab trail to the Bright Angel campground. The trail from the South Kaibab trailhead (7,260 ft) to the campground (2,480 ft) consisted of 6.8 miles with a drop of 4,780 vertical feet.

We planned to camp at the Bright Angel campground, explore the canyon the next day, and then hike out of the canyon the next day. Our return route would be along the Bright Angel trail which was 9.3 miles long with an elevation rise of 4,380 ft. (Bright Angel Trailhead is at 6,860 ft.)

After backpacking the Grand Canyon, we headed towards Flagstaff. We started out on a mountain bike trail that consisted of a 7 mile sustained uphill climb. It was very cold that morning and the winds were whipping pretty good, especially as we got higher. After going uphill for about 5 miles, we decided to turn back an head back. Judy, who breaks out the down jacket when the thermometer drops below 65 degrees, was claiming that she was on the verge of getting frostbite.

After returning to the car, we ditched the bikes so we could do some off-roading. We took some dirt roads out to the Lava River Tube which is an 3/4 mile underground tunnel carved out by lava.

We then headed towards the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. From there, we drove to the Wupatki National Monument where we saw the remains of an Indian pueblo and some other interesting remnants of these Indians’ society. Then we were off to the Walnut Canyon National Monument to check out the cliff dwellings. Finally, we headed south to Prescott to check into our hotel. We wanted to car camp but were unable to find a campsite. It was probably better that way as the thermometer dipped below 30 that night.

At Prescott, we rode the Thumb Butte loop trail, an incredibly fun ride with an assortment of rolling hills, twisty singletrack, rocky areas, small hits, logs, and beautiful surroundings. It is probably one of my favorite rides. After that, we headed back home to San Diego. We were lucky, since halfway through our ride home, it began raining really hard. Driving was a bit treacherous, but we were happy that we were fortunate to have great weather all throughout our trip.

Here’s the pics from our trip.

Posted by Roger at 4:13 PM.