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Friday the 13th... Devils Highway... a gaping hole in the earth... what could go wrong?

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Thankfully not very much. Just a leaking rotopax and an extra 90 minutes on the I-10 near Tucson.

 

I had been watching the weather the past couple of months hoping to coordinate a break in monsoonal activity with the availability of free time. The goal was to check out the Devils Highway and ride the Mogollon Rim, throw in extra dirt where time permitted. 

 

Day 1: Hours of super slab. Rode out the 8 and 10 to AZ191. Things started to get very twisty at Clifton. I planned to be passing Morenci Mine during the last bit of daylight for a picture but a shut down interstate at Tucson added over 90 minutes to the day and had me passing the still working mine in the dark. 16 miles of steep, twisty road to go past this huge mine. Steep turns a bit too sharp for 1st gear, big drops at the edge of the road, enough light to see very large equipment moving in the distance... still a cool sight in the dark. Pulled into Granville Camp about 8:30. The place was old and run down in deep woods; kinda creepy. 

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The fun part of day 1

 

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Internet picture of a small portion of Morenci Mine

 

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Night 1: Granville Camp

 

Day 2: Started the day with a couple of hours heading north on the Devils Highway. WOW! Endless twisties marked as low as 10 mph (100 miles or so of this), narrow, steep grades, cliff edge corners without shoulder or guardrails, this road was entertainment! Hopped on FR24 near Alpine. Looked like it might provide some challenging dirt. Rode a few miles in, calculating N Rim camp arrival as I went. Realized that I just didn't have time for FR24. Turned around and slabbed more twisties past Alpine, Show Low and off to the Rim Road at the 260. Found a camp spot near the Rim right at sunset. 

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Day 2 Route

 

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Some views from the Devil's Highway

 

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Night 2 camp near Mogollon Rim

 

Day 3: started out too cold to get out of the sleeping bag. Think it was in the 30's. It's funny that I knew it would be cold a couple of nights on the trip when leaving the house and my only thought regarding that was my sleeping bag was warm enough. A hat and other warm things for camp would have been nice. Not a big deal. The sun hit the tent and I was good to go. The Rim Road was overall a fun 45 dirt miles on a big bike. It was graded nicely. There were plenty of hills and turns, soft spots, bedrock poking through and shadows to hide most of it. It also had plenty of washboard to test my reinforced tail rack... broke the last one on washboard with very few miles and only 25 pounds.‎ Oh yeah, the views, lots of those. 

Following the Rim Road, slabbed it to Payson for gas and lunch. Picked up 512/288 half an hour east which was 110 mostly dirt miles down to Roosevelt Reservoir to camp. Made it with less than an hour of light left. A large pack of coyotes went nuts within a couple hundred feet of me as I went to bed. I was too tired to care. The following morning I met a cool guy named Larry who had recently been to the flying monkey rally with his wife. I came close to going this year. After hearing more about it I will definitely give it a go in the next year or two.

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Day 3 Route

 

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A couple of view shots from the Rim Road (300)

 

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It's getting late and camp is just across the lake.

 

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Night 3 camp at Schoolhouse Point

 

Day 4:‎ started with the Apache Trail at Roosevelt Dam. This was my favorite section of the ride. 40 miles of mostly dirt: narrow, steep, twisty, big drop offs at points... crazy good scenery... this was a really fun big bike section. I wished it wouldn't end. Wrapped up the trip with hours of super slab from Phoenix back to Ramona. Thought I felt pretty good when I got home and proceeded to sleep twice as much as I normally do. Can't wait for the next one!

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Fun part of day 4.

 

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Couple of views from the Apache Trail. Look closely at the second one and you can see the dirt road winding around on the left and snaking up the distant hills to the right.

 

I'm thinking about quitting my day job and becoming a professional campsite photographer ....

 

 

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Perfect!  When I was stationed in PHX, we used to go up to the rim often to get out of the heat - and for the views. Thx for taking the time to post up. :thumbsup_anim:

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Drove the Apache trail many times with GM for Off road testing. Now the Mesa Proving ground is closed and we are the Test driver in City Traffic.

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Had to change a tube on the Mogollon Rim last year. There are worse places to change a tube, that's for sure.

Nice adventure.

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nice trip.

How well are you liking that bike vs your other bikes?  How do you like that front tire and size (18" or 19") on street and dirt?

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10 hours ago, Beezzz said:

nice trip.

How well are you liking that bike vs your other bikes?  How do you like that front tire and size (18" or 19") on street and dirt?

It's my favorite when I'm riding it. Find it relaxing and comfortable when eating up miles and for slab in general. Does a lot better off road than expected. Just have to remember to keep moving and not get stuck (steep hills, deep sand, mud, rock ledges, etc) especially if solo as it is very heavy. The 19" front is wider than the 21" on my little bikes and is usually drama free on trails with deep sand or loose rock.

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Great.  Which model.  I think I saw you with a KTM adventure and I was wondering on the differences for your use and why the change?  Thanks for your postings.

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12 hours ago, Beezzz said:

Great.  Which model.  I think I saw you with a KTM adventure and I was wondering on the differences for your use and why the change?  Thanks for your postings.

This bike is a Super Tenere. I do not have a KTM Adventure. I do have a 690, maybe you saw that one. No change, they are completely different bikes. 

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