AZBDR - Two Noobs, Two Mules, Two Weeks Off...

[Travis Gill 0]

The Arizona Backcountry Discovery Route.

Feeling excited but also a bit nervous. I feel we've put the due diligence in getting prepared to include mapping and documenting the adventure. It's only been a year of riding for us, but we've trained and practiced to ensure we both have the skills needed to complete the trail. It's the largest off-road motorcycle trip we've planned.

Our 'rough' plan is to cover the route in 9 days:
Sat, Apr 23: Leave Casa Grande, ride to start the trail to Sonora.
Sun, Apr 24: Senora to Benson
Mon, Apr 25: Benson to Mammoth
Tue, Apr 26: Mammoth to Globe
Wed, Apr 27: Globe to Young
Thu, Apr 28: Young to Flagstaff
Fri, Apr 29: Flagstaff to Cameron
Sat, Apr 30: Cameron to Marble Canyon
Sun, May 1: Marble Canyon to Utah

Side-trips to Tombstone, Sedona, and the Wave. Any others worth seeing?

I just made room on the iPhone and GoPro for lots of pictures and videos. Stay tuned...

Cheers,
Travis and Chantil

[Travis Gill 0]

AZBDR Prepare, Friday, April 22nd:

After weeks of looking at different option we finally went with renting a trailer for getting the mules and our stuff to my Sister-in-Law's home at Coolidge, AZ. Riding the bikes there would have been an option but we also needed to get our 17-year-old son and his school stuff to AZ. Poor dude, he had the 'joy' of doing home-school while his parents toured Arizona via adventure bikes. There is a lesson in responsibility in there somewhere.


The mules all loaded, strapped down, and ready for transit.


Saw this guy on the I-8. This guy knows how to pack a truck! Well done my friend.

We arrived that evening to Coolidge and had a good time with family. I forced myself to get some sleep even though I was a bit excited and nervous about the next couple weeks. I hoped all the planning and preparing had paid off. Did I forget anything?

[Travis Gill 0]

AZBDR Day 1, Saturday, April 23rd:
195 miles paved + 45 miles dirt = 240 total miles


Map

The bikes were unloaded and all the luggage was separated and organized.


How is ALL this stuff going to fit on two bikes?


All packed up! The mules are rearing to go.

We left Coolidge, with the incredible send-off and support of our family, and made our way to Tombstone via the I-10 and SR80.

Tombstone was fun but it really is a tourist destination. There are shops, restaurants, shows, and carriages all competing for your money. Not that this is a problem normally, but when it's all contained within a small town like Tombstone it was a bit too much. We found a quite restaurant called Café Margarita where we enjoyed some delicious fish tacos. Highly recommended.


Just hanging around Tombstone.


Our mules look better and eat less!


Beautiful horses and carriages.


Old prospector.

After lunch it was time to hit the road and make progress for our reason for visiting Arizona - the BDR. We took East Charleston Road to SR92 and then entered the official start of the AZBDR at Coronado National Memorial.


The official start of the long and exciting road ahead.

Welcome to the AZBDR. Within a short period you are in the dirt and making the climb to the overlook.


The mules look much better on dirt.


The views from the top are good ones. Looking East.


Looking West.

A little detour from the main trail takes you to the border of Mexico. Although this section is only about a mile, it was one of the highlights of the day.

As I was descending a steep hill near the border I remember thinking how great it would be to do the whole 750ish miles without dumping the bike. As I contemplating my awesomeness and skill I skidded the front tire and dumped it. It was my first of many times I dumped the mule. Sorry Apache (name of my bike).


The mule and Mexico.


A fence designed to keep Mexican cows from coming and eating USA grass.


The prairie land that we passed though was beautiful and remote. We didn't come across a single soul until just before reaching Sonoita.

We stopped for some chow (New York Steak and potatoes) at The Steak Out in Sonoita.


Old school motorcycle rider. Those old school motorcycles used A LOT of hay and water!

We continued up the trail north to East Yucca Farm Road where we found a nice quite spot among some antelope and set up camp for the night. If only we had a guitar... and someone who knew how to play it.


Sunset over the prairie. Makes me want to sing "Home on the Range".

[dirt dame 559]

Good stuff!

[Bp619 104]

Very cool can't wait for the rest and damn that a lot of stuff you packed 

[Dan Diego 40]

Yeah! Good stuff.  Looking forward to the rest. 

[hodnettjj 0]

Looks like a great way to spend some time off!!

Great looking pics...

[Beezzz 6]

My wife and I are following along.  I want to hear from your better half also.

[Travis Gill 0]

5 hours ago, Bp619 said:

...damn that a lot of stuff you packed.

It does look like a lot, huh? The tail bag is pretty light but takes up a lot of space. It held the 20° Big Agnes sleeping bag, air pads, tarp and 3-person tent. The rear panniers have parts, tools, and tubes on the right side and food and a foldable camp chair on the left. The front crash-bar bags have clothes on the left and foul weather riding gear on the right, The tank bag has the charger, electronics and cords, sunscreen, and survival gear. Total capacity is about 110 liters.

It was a good test run for full-time touring. I didn't see any reason we couldn't continue indefinitely with what we had (except for going back to my job).

[Travis Gill 0]

3 hours ago, hodnettjj said:

Looks like a great way to spend some time off!!

Great looking pics...

Thanks. 'Normal' people spend time off on cruise ships or resorts. We spend it getting dirty and muddy in remote places in Arizona 

[Travis Gill 0]

1 hour ago, Beezzz said:

My wife and I are following along.  I want to hear from your better half also.

I'll try to get her to give her perspective from time to time. Your better half can always PM my better half as well. 

[Travis Gill 0]

6 hours ago, dirt dame said:

Good stuff!

 

5 hours ago, Dan Diego said:

Yeah! Good stuff.  Looking forward to the rest. 

Thanks! Day 2 to follow:

[Travis Gill 0]

AZBDR Day 2, Sunday, April 24th:
45 miles paved + 36 miles dirt = 81 total miles


Map of Day 2

We woke to the sounds of a bunch of whelping coyotes. As we were folding up our tent a truck and horse trailer drove by and we exchanged friendly waves. We were on the road by 7:00 and had planned for this to be a light day of no more than 80 miles. It turned out to be anything but a light day…


Apache roaming the plains.


GoPro fun on the trail.


VIDEO of some of the rutted section of the road.

The road was pretty easy going until we go to the section where we had to make the choice of bypassing the deep sand or trying to brave it. We left the choice up to the my mule Apache. We placed him on his center stand and asked him which way to go.


As you can see from the turn signal, the answer was to the right. Right into the sand. Apache, what were you thinking?

Along the way, we ran into EJ’s Summer Home. It looks like EJ likes to shoot shotguns into his summer home and it definitely improves the ventilation.


It was full of holes but made for a cool picture of our bikes parked outside.

Once we hit the sand, the real work began. I can’t remember how many times we dumped those mules. It was a lot. I was getting quite frustrated with the sand. In my frustration I missed a turn-off to the left that climbed a steep hill. This mistake made us endure another 1/3 miles of sand.


VIDEO of me dropping Apache in the sand.


Even though it was a tough day, we still took time to smell the desert flowers


We came across these huge water tanks that were being pumped by the windmill. I was almost hot enough that I considered taking a swim in the tank but decided against it out of respect for the owners that were letting us travel through their property.


VIDEO of the road after the sandy section.

After the sand, we were making good time on the wide dirt road to the last gate before reaching the I-10. We made a quick check of the mules before hitting the fast pace of the freeway towards Benson. We gassed up at Love’s Truck Stop and then rode across the street to the Taco Bell where we had some early dinner at one of the outside tables under the shade.


VIDEO of our 650s getting smoked by a tractor trailer.

After dinner we rode through Benson and then headed north to Cascabel Road and the next stretch of dirt in the hopes of finding a turn-off where we could camp.


Now this is the Arizona I expected.

We found the perfect camp site (N 32º 23.016' W 110º 26.578') protected from the view of the road by a large rock formation. We set up camp well before dark and enjoyed a relaxing evening before sleeping under the vastness of a billion stars.

[hodnettjj 0]

It's cool that Google Street view works at your camp location... those guys go everywhere...

[Dress4Less 162]

TG - Great pics and ride report...keep 'em coming...and have a great adventure! Just FYI...not able to see the Viddy's on this end...?

[Bp619 104]

1 hour ago, Dress4Less said:

TG - Great pics and ride report...keep 'em coming...and have a great adventure! Just FYI...not able to see the Viddy's on this end...?

Click the picture that he says is video and takes you to flkr website and video will start 

[StealthDingo 5]

 

27 minutes ago, Dress4Less said:

TG - Great pics and ride report...keep 'em coming...and have a great adventure! Just FYI...not able to see the Viddy's on this end...?

Awesome Trip. Cant wait to see more. Dress4Less - click the pic marked video and it takes you to Flikr to watch them

[Bagstr 287]

   Great Trip, Thanks for taking the time to report to us.  Regarding the Sand -  Four times faster with 1/3 less weight!!  The tower on your tail is a Killer.

 

                  Bags

[Travis Gill 0]

7 hours ago, hodnettjj said:

It's cool that Google Street view works at your camp location... those guys go everywhere...

Crazy! You've just prided yourself on conquered a challenging single track with steeps hills and rocks... and then a Google Toyota Yaris rolls by!

[Dress4Less 162]

1 hour ago, Bp619 said:

Click the picture that he says is video and takes you to flkr website and video will start 

Thanks!

[Wierdrider 187]

Awesome write up and photos, thanks for sharing. ??

[Beezzz 6]

Sand on those bikes with that weight. My wife would kill me. If you end up missing, we know why it happened. 

[Travis Gill 0]

6 hours ago, Dress4Less said:

TG - Great pics and ride report...keep 'em coming...and have a great adventure!

 

6 hours ago, StealthDingo said:

 

Awesome Trip. Cant wait to see more.

 

4 hours ago, Wierdrider said:

Awesome write up and photos, thanks for sharing. ??

You're all welcome. Thanks for commenting. More to come shortly...

[Travis Gill 0]

5 hours ago, Bagstr said:

Regarding the Sand -  Four times faster with 1/3 less weight!!  The tower on your tail is a Killer.

 

2 hours ago, Beezzz said:

Sand on those bikes with that weight. My wife would kill me. If you end up missing, we know why it happened. 

All great advice. We had previously spend a day out in the sand at Anza Borrego and felt like we would be OK. Of course, like Bagstr and Beezzz mentioned, we were not as heavy in the rear. I'd say we had about an extra 35-45 pounds with the 1.75 gal Rotopax and tail bag.

[Travis Gill 0]

AZBDR Day 3, Monday, April 25th:
23 miles paved + 59 miles dirt = 82 total miles


Map of Day 3.

The sun crept into the tent at about 5:30AM causing me to wake and discover that I had the perfect view of our mules waiting outside the tent.


The mules excited and ready for another day of riding.


We took our time to explore around the campsite for a little while before packing for the next section of trails.


We don’t get to see a lot of Saguaro Cactus where we live so I am amazed at the size and shapes of these amazing species.


Enjoying breakfast. Most of the meals were quick ones; party because we forgot the MSR fuel bottle  in the truck.


Shortly after hitting the trail we came across the ‘famous’ three-tire cactus. At least is seemed famous to us since it was highlighted in the AZBDR trailer and movie. It looks like it takes a lot of work to put a tire up there.

A little later we came across the snake in the path . A previous vehicle had hit it and it was dead. We thought is would be fun to play with dead animals (despite what our parents probably told us as kids).


It looks pretty menacing all coiled up like that.


GoPro fun with snakes!

After playing with dead animals , we continued north where we played with the selfie stick… while riding a motorcycle... off-road...


Selfie. The self-made vinyl sticker is holding up well!

We continued ‘onward ho’ towards Mammoth where we topped off our water, fuel, and enjoyed some delicious breakfast burritos at Las Michoacanas Mexican Restaurant


The mules parked at Mammoth, AZ.

We continued north for only a short section of pavement before turning left on Camino Rio Road where we followed a train track access road that featured fun whoops and some little hills climbs to enjoy.


Exploring train tracks.


VIDEO of us riding by an ant hole. Gotta wonder what the tank like rumble of two thumpers feels like to a colony of ants.


Exploring an old abandoned church building.

After a little while it was time to hit the pavement, which was a nice break from the heat. It wasn’t to long before we were back in the dirt after turning onto Dripping Springs Road. This section of the road was a bit more challenging because of the hills. Large rocks were also thrown about the trail to keep things interesting.


Desert flower.

This particular section of trail was giving us a bit of anxiety because we had read an update on the AZBDR website where there was a large section of trail that was severely rutted. I had plotted this section on my GPS. We continued up the trail without seeing anything that was described in the update. Maybe the author's definition of heavily rutted was much different than ours? Maybe we are just so awesomely experienced that we just rode right up the hard stuff? Just about as we were to pat ourselves on the back we came across the heavily rutted section. Boy was it! It was a challenge to get both bikes up without dropping them, but somehow we managed it and were grateful once we got through that section! I provided an update to the AZBDR folks via email: http://www.backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com/News/AZBDR-Sec-4-Route-Update


Rutted, rutted road.

Well before dark we pulled into Pioneer Pass Campground where we had the entire campground ALL to ourselves. It was a bit cooler so we set up the entire tent and rain cover in the hopes that we wouldn’t be as cold throughout the night. Life is good!