Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

In Sabino Canyon in Catalina Foothills just north (maybe? east?) of Tucson. We had plans to go to Saguaro National Park instead but our waiter at the restaurant last night suggested we go here instead. He was right - amazing views!

Woke up this morning to find out that snow had blanketed all of Sedona and the surrounding areas - basically anywhere with elevation. WTF, I came here to get away from the snow! We had booked a room in Tucson tonight, and were wondering how and if we were going to get down there - the internet in the hotel wasn't working and several roads, including an interstate heading up to Flagstaff, were closed.

We had planned to do several hours of hiking this morning before heading south, but realized we had to alter our plans. We chose one out and back hike in the Secret Mountain Wilderness area, which we aren't sure if we even finished or not as we couldn't see anything but the start of the trail as everything was covered in more than a foot of snow - crazy to think that there had been none the day before! Despite the snow following us from Ontario, the hike and the contrast between the red rock and the snow was beautiful.

The drive from Sedona to Tucson was more harrowing than it should have been. We were lured into a false sense of security after one of of the first highways we got on was fine (but still closed going north) so I suggested we take a scenic route to the east of Phoenix. Big mistake! The Hyundai Elantra we are tooling around in this week did not handle the secondary highway, which climbed above 6000 feet, or the blizzard at the top of the mountain, very well! We were lucky to be able to follow a snow plow part of the way. It was a very long 60 miles until the secondary highway met up with a more major one.

Made it to Tucson eventually where there is a little snow on the ground, but not nearly as much as in Sedona. So much for the warm(er) weather vacation! Still nice to be in a different landscape.

The weather forecast was not looking too good in Sedona today, with rain and snow expected for most of the day. Nevertheless, I was determined that we were going to mountain bike; after all, we were in Sedona! We got to the Sedona Bike & Bean (thanks to Bash for the EXCELLENT recommendation) by 8:30 and were on the trails by 8:45. The guys at the bike shop mapped out a route for us that gave us a nice warm-up on some doubletrack (Bell Rock Path / Trail) then onto some single track around Cathedral Rock. First hour was fantastic, but shortly after that, the rain came. We managed another hour or so before we were both freezing and soaking wet in our bike shorts. Hey, what can I say, I thought it would be warmer! Despite having our ride cut a bit short by weather, this was still one of the most amazingingly scenic bike rides I have ever been on. We are doing a hike tomorrow before leaving Sedona for warmer temperatures south of Tucson, but will definitely have to make a longer trip back sometime.

By suppertime, the rain had officially changed to snow and the main highway going north out of Sedona towards Flagstaff was closed because of the weather. The red rocks look pretty cool all covered in snow, but I was pretty sure we came to Arizona to get away from that white stuff!

C • Sedona Biking 3