# The AZT30: PCL to Patagonia. A bikepacking adventure. (Pic heavy)



## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

A little something for AZ and Passion:

The AZT has a had my attention for a spell now, and with a route for the AZT300 well worked out and ambitions to give it a try, I figured why not give the southern section from Parker Canyon Lake a try. I recently bought another bike, a 2008 Monocog 29er, which meant I could lend the other one, a 2002 Marin Rock Springs, to my freind Jay that lives in Nogales. He, of course was up for the adventure, even though he probably hasn't done 50 miles on a mountain bike total. But he's a hearty fellow and guessed right that he could make it just fine.

The grandest of grand plans was to go from PCL to the I-10, about 107 miles away in two days - Saturday and Sunday. We had a local pickup from Tucson so we cold bail anywhere if things got late. I figured we'd at least make it to Patagonia the first day, 32 miles in, considering the racers do it in 5-6 hours. We traveled 9.5 hours and didn't make it halfway the first day. Here is our journey.

I'm a first time bikepacker but put some research into my setup. I was really pleased with it. Sleeping bag on the handlebars, clothes and a tarp off the seat in a compression sac, and food, stove and water in the pack. 

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The pose before hitting the trail. Jay was economical with his setup, utilizing a hammock, quilt and a backpack stuffed with food and three bladders that we affectionately called the tri-pus, as the three hoses would spill out of his pack. 

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Lets do it. 

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The temps the first day were 96. We had to stop often under trees to keep from blowing up. While the first few miles are gravity feed enough to let you daydream of an easy ride, it soon turns habby. We left at 11:00 and clouds didn't reach us until 5:00pm. Mexico is in the distance.

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AZT through the Canelo HIlls.

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The San Rafael Valley unfolds to the west.

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We had two major climbs for the first day, each of about 700 feet. The first is in the distance here as we've just come down it. HABing to the top was hot. Spending some time wandering around looking for the trail, trying to discern AZT from immigrant trails is difficult at times, but we manage to stay on track. Our pace was about a mile and hour, with the cool-down breaks were were taking.

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We finally hit some jeep road and were happy to get off the goat trails. We pedaled smoothly over to Canelo Pass, the second major climb of the day. The Huachaca Mountains are to the right. 

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Jay's favorite accessory: the machete. As I guesstimated distances to the top, the reply would be, "I have a machete." He tried to keep me honest. 

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Evening looms and we approach Canelo Pass. We would come down the pass at night with lights to where we camped the first night, at Canelo Pass Road. 

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Our campsite. Jay did the hammock thing. I did the tarp in a wash thing. Any bumps I could easily rub out with a fist. We slept at least 8 hours that night, temps only in the 60's. 

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A pocket stove gave us boiling water for Beef Stroganoff for dinner and Chicken Tetrazini with coffee for breakfast. Worked great. 

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I had hoped to be in or near Patagonia by the first night, but we were only 14 miles in for the 9.5 hours we were moving the day before. The effort in the heat really slowed our pace and this day would really be no different although there weren't to be any climbs like the day before and the temps were cooler, at 92.

The day starts at 10:00......with a climb. But small and manageable and we're in the meadow in about an hour. 

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The bandanas saved our necks. 

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The landscape was beautiful and we contoured along it without much effort for a few miles. Big grins. Being after the monsoons, the plants were full grown and I could but only follow the crease of grass that fell over the trail. I could not see what my tire was rolling over, but I didn't worry, my tire led me on. 

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One jeep road will take you where you want to go:

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And the other will lead you astray. We followed cairns and arrows after Down Under Tank and we were sent on a 2.7 mile, blue sky, 442 foot fools errand in the heat of the day. We lost about 3 hours and major calories as we corrected our error. The cue sheet I had still had a few miles until we hit the next one. We went down this, and then about 45 minutes later, back up. Silly thing is, I saw this strange deviation on the map, and told my self to look out for it. Amazing how a cairn and a few arrows can scramble your common sense in the middle of a hot day.

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We were getting tired, playing in the sun.

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We should have been on this nice flowy doubletrack.

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The GPS was starting to die, so I hooked up my minty boost, which got it running through the rest of the day and night. 

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We seriously lost the trail after it entered a big wash. I had gpx files on my Garmin, but they never loaded right. So, in despair, I tried one of the training files that Topofusion exports from its maps (.tcx) and it came to life. We found the trail and soon realized why we lost it. It was well hidden in catclaw, 1.1 miles of it. Notice, I'm on top of the AZT here.

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Our shins were sacraficed and the extra effort half pushing, half riding our bikes throug the catclaw tooks it's toll, especially after our detour earlier. We were beat, but still about 6 miles out, and we didn't know it, but still 4 more hours till we reached the end running lights in the dark. 

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We finally reached Patagonia and headed straight for the Wagon Wheel Saloon where I celebrated arriving with a few rum and cokes. Pizza soon was ordered and our ride arrived, and quite relieved I might add since my phone died and we couldn't check in, to let them know of our late arrival. 

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We managed 35 miles in the two days out, with a total of about 21 hours moving. 6500 ft of climbing and 8100 descending, but it sure didn't feel like it. The heat really took its toll on us. There was plenty of water to filter and always a tree to plop under, seemingly at just the right time. While I really wanted to make it at least to the north side of Mt. Wrightson, I still had a blast with what we rode. I'd recommend cooler temps and don't go after the monsoon season. The catclaw was horrible, it felt like The Passion of the Ride at times. Pushing a bike through waist-high catclaw should only be reserved for the damned. 

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But nonetheless, an awesomely brutal ride and a perfect first bikepacking experience. I can't wait to go again, it was so much fun riding all day and seeing some scenery that few get to see. I'll have to see if I can get our time to Patagonia down from 34 hours to at least 7. I have a feeling that in April the route is a little more hospitable, but maybe not. We were so tired the second day, that the last little bumps at mile thirty felt like the two major climbs the day before.

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Bikepacking: I recommend it.


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## AZTtripper (May 3, 2006)

Hey Dag, way to go that's a tough stretch to do this time of year!

The Canelo's are never easy but with highs in the 90's ouch. 

Looks like you did a good job balancing out your load.

That's 30 miles down only 780 left to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bikepacking is great fun but this time of year it might be better to hit up some thing a little higher up. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of bikepacking you should come out for the AZT 300 come April. The temps should be better but most likely the catclaw will still be there.


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

Really cool!


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## bigworm520 (Sep 18, 2006)

Nice write up. One of these days I will get my ***** together and start doing some bikepacking.


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## Maadjurguer (Mar 22, 2008)

nice job....tough intro, but I guess if you're still stoked....you're hooked for life. What's the deal with the minty boost? I'd like to expand my 705 and am curious.....


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## azepicriderandrunner (Feb 8, 2008)

Well done. Love the pics!


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## zukicidal (Apr 18, 2010)

Great write up and pics, thanks for sharing! How was the trip on the full rigid SS? Likes/dislikes?


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## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

Maadjurguer said:


> nice job....tough intro, but I guess if you're still stoked....you're hooked for life. What's the deal with the minty boost? I'd like to expand my 705 and am curious.....


I think myself and Jay are both hooked. I had a glow for about two days after. It was great.

The Minty Boost is a kit that consists of a PCB and a few diodes, resistors, capacitors, converters and a few other electrical gadgets, which when put together, will use two AA batteries to charge USB chargeable devices. Its a DIY since one has to solder it together, but for myself, one quick lesson and 45 minutes and I had a working charger. Its designed to fit inside an Altoids gum tin, but I couldn't find any so I just put it into a larger mint tin. That's what you see strapped to my downtube. The USB cable comes form the GPS right down to the tin.

Here's the unit opened up. Two batteries in the middle are for charging and the other two are just to stabilize it since the tin is a little big. 

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It pretended to charge my phone too, but the charge didn't take for some reason.

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It works best as an external power pack. It'll charge up my 605 about an 1/8 of a full charge then the GPS switches over to external power mode (for whatever reason) and stops taking a charge (but keeps running). Fresh AA's kept it going for about 6 hours. That was good enough for me. It worked great strapped to my downtube. Great way to get some more miles out of the GPS. (Works on my iPod too.)

Minty Boost.


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## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

zukicidal said:


> Great write up and pics, thanks for sharing! How was the trip on the full rigid SS? Likes/dislikes?


I had a blast on the SS. I've been riding it solid for about three months and I can't really get enough of it. Out there on the AZT I had no complaints, either for lack of bounce or poor gearing. Granted, it was too hot to try and power up the more extended climbs, so a smaller gearing might be in order (I was running 32x20). We pushed a lot. Other than that I loved it. Trail never was too chunky for the rigid, although I did have two nasty endos. A little squish might have eased the velocity with which I was tossed to the ground.

For the flatter stuff, the bike ate it up. The 29er tires rolled like they were being pulled by a tire magnet when we weren't pushing uphill. What I enjoyed most was probably not worrying about a derailler or poor shifting. I already had to keep the other bike in running order as well, so one less thing to worry about was welcomed. Luckily, the Marin ran without issue. The silent motion of the bike really added to the ambiance as well (Jay was usually a few clicks behind in the FS beast). I wouldn't think twice about taking it out again, or, heaven forbid, try the AZT300.....


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

I'm not good at soldiering stuff required for a Minty Boost, a quick search revealed these Duracell rechargeable USB chargers, something like this could come in handy.

http://www.duracell.com/en-US/category/power-reserves.jspx

For $27 at Walmart this seems like it might come in pretty handy.


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

randyharris said:


> I'm not good at soldiering stuff required for a Minty Boost, a quick search revealed these Duracell rechargeable USB chargers, something like this could come in handy.
> 
> http://www.duracell.com/en-US/category/power-reserves.jspx
> 
> For $27 at Walmart this seems like it might come in pretty handy.


btw - these seem to go on eBay for less than $10.


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## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

The disadvantage with those units is that once its out of juice, you'll have to recharge it and you're back where you started. They don't take AAs, unfortunately. I'm sure there is one out there though, but I just like tinkering myself.


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

Dag Nabbit said:


> The disadvantage with those units is that once its out of juice, you'll have to recharge it and you're back where you started. They don't take AAs, unfortunately. I'm sure there is one out there though, but I just like tinkering myself.


Correct - just depends on how much juice you need. My Edge goes ~ 10 hours between charges, something like this would give me over 20 hours. Anyway, easy and cheap, it may work for some.


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## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

Looking at the Powerhouse unit, you'll probably have enough juice for half a week! 60 hours of backup time they say. And you can charge the GPS and the iPod at the same time. Not bad at all, for only double the price of the minty boost and no effort. :thumbsup: 

No tinkering though, bummer.


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## bigworm520 (Sep 18, 2006)

Dag Nabbit said:


> Looking at the Powerhouse unit, you'll probably have enough juice for half a week! 60 hours of backup time they say. And you can charge the GPS and the iPod at the same time. Not bad at all, for only double the price of the minty boost and no effort. :thumbsup:
> 
> No tinkering though, bummer.


Do you have a link for that charger. My 205 doesn't hold a charge very long.


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## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

bigworm520 said:


> Do you have a link for that charger. My 205 doesn't hold a charge very long.


Powerhouse


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

Dag Nabbit said:


> Powerhouse


$45 delivered.


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## bigworm520 (Sep 18, 2006)

Crap thanks didn't even see the link above.


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## azepicriderandrunner (Feb 8, 2008)

bigworm520 said:


> Nice write up. One of these days I will get my ***** together and start doing some bikepacking.


You have been saying that for years. No more excuses. What equipment do you need? Just say what and when.


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## bigworm520 (Sep 18, 2006)

azepicriderandrunner said:


> You have been saying that for years. No more excuses. What equipment do you need? Just say what and when.


I know I have. I am guaranteeing that I will do one before the end of the year. No more excuses.


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

smoking deal on a four pack of battery chargers good today only.

Duracell Powerhouse USB 2.0 / micro-USB Device Charger 4-Pack


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## Solrider (Aug 6, 2009)

Great report, I was really hoping to make my first attempt at the AZT300 this year but I am in shape for that!

Does anyone have suggestions of a nice AZ Route in the high country for mid May? I'll have a week off and I'm looking for my first bikepacking adventure.


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## azepicriderandrunner (Feb 8, 2008)

Solrider said:


> Great report, I was really hoping to make my first attempt at the AZT300 this year but I am in shape for that!
> 
> Does anyone have suggestions of a nice AZ Route in the high country for mid May? I'll have a week off and I'm looking for my first bikepacking adventure.


Coconino 250

Do a search for Mike C's "Damn Fine Loop" for a good video from the loop.


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## Dag Nabbit (May 27, 2009)

randyharris said:


> smoking deal on a four pack of battery chargers good today only.
> 
> Duracell Powerhouse USB 2.0 / micro-USB Device Charger 4-Pack


Pretty good deal! How did they perform for you? I think I'm gonna jump on this. Thanks.


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## randyharris (Jul 1, 2009)

Dag Nabbit said:


> Pretty good deal! How did they perform for you? I think I'm gonna jump on this. Thanks.


I have a slightly different model but it works fantastic.


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## Solrider (Aug 6, 2009)

azepicriderandrunner said:


> Coconino 250
> 
> Do a search for Mike C's "Damn Fine Loop" for a good video from the loop.


I was actually thinking about doing part of that, breaking off and going in to Preskitt, maybe down the BCT or something. My problem is logistics...I've found a few shuttle companies willing to take bikes to Flag but they must be in a box. That doesn't work for me! Any suggestions, or should I just do the loop?


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## azepicriderandrunner (Feb 8, 2008)

Solrider said:


> I was actually thinking about doing part of that, breaking off and going in to Preskitt, maybe down the BCT or something. My problem is logistics...I've found a few shuttle companies willing to take bikes to Flag but they must be in a box. That doesn't work for me! Any suggestions, or should I just do the loop?


Just do the loop, logistically it is so much easier. :thumbsup: Cut off the Mingus HAB *up* Trail 105 by going through Jerome. It will save you about 6-8 hours of riding.


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## schillingsworth (Oct 23, 2009)

*Did you jump??*



Dag Nabbit said:


> Pretty good deal! How did they perform for you? I think I'm gonna jump on this. Thanks.


I'll buy one off you!!! :thumbsup:


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