Sentinel Peak (Saturday's ride) with the mighty Catalinas in the background (Labor Day ride).
The proposed Catalina plan: Prison Camp to Aspen and back. You can laugh, I am laughing now as I write this. I came close. Aspen was the only missing ingredient. I will partly blame this on the ~2 hours of rain.
I started at Molino, climbed Prison and Bugs, before heading up to Bigelow. However, just after the San Pedro Vista, it started raining and hailing. 30% chance of rain....hmmmmm.
I took cover at Palisades along with 10 other hikers from the Southern Arizona Hiking group.
I scored this little fella' out of the deal. Mmmmmmmm. Did I mention it was 55 degrees while I was waiting here at the bathrooms?
I had some funny laughs while waiting at the outhouse. I stayed there for about 30 minutes as it kept raining. People would ask me if I was in line, others if I could watch the door (broken lock), one even asked me about toilet paper. I smiled and said, "this is the only one with TP, but hurry, there is not much left."
Soaked, I opted for climbing instead of bailing. Sound familiar? Secret (shown above) was superb. I dived into more singletrack, taking 1918 and Sunset to the General Store.
Can't pass this one up. I had to put the camera in a plastic bag as it continuously rained for about an hour as I rode the Catalina Highway to Sunset. I was soaked and the rain was not letting up; it was so bad that 2 cars stopped and asked me (during the storm) if I was doing okay.
I took a shortcut down to 1918, climbed 1918 and Secret. Warmer temperatures even encouraged me to ride Incinerator Ridge despite that HAB at the end.
Lovely trail, just a little overgrown at times.
Bug Springs and Prison Camp were next. 6 hours in, the scar on Bug Springs would not let me pass without a fight. Although fight I did, it like the kind of moment worthy of a picture. The waterbars at times seemed like giant logs. Prison Camp was a flash. Chocolate Milk as the recovery drink of choice along with some NPR.
