A Few Days of Riding in the Phoenix Area

Fun in the sun!

Between our trip to Sedona and bike packing on the Black Canyon Trail, we didn't have much time to explore the Phoenix riding scene. We were able to check out 3 different zones, each with different character and trails.

Bikepacking the Black Canyon Trail (BCT)

 Black Canyon Trail Bike Packing
Big Bug Trailhead to Carefree Highway (I 74)
125km/80miles
1500m Climb
2300m Descent
3 Days

"Adventure begins when plans end"

A Taste of Sedona

Sedona; land of jeep tours and vortexes

Sedona is a unique town in the high desert of central Arizona. About 2 hours north of Phoenix and 1300m in elevation, it sports significantly cooler temperatures than the lower Sonoran Desert, pine forests and magnificent red rock buttes and canyons. It is also home to natural "energy vortexes" which attracts lots of hippies looking to charge their crystals, but we were there to ride bikes. 

It was a brief 2 day touchdown for Kyle, Steve and I before we set out bike packing on the Black Canyon Trail and we wanted to sample the best the area had to offer and warm up our legs, and try not to wreck ourselves (unsuccessfully) for the big days ahead.

Kicking Horse and Terminator Ridge

Kyle scoping out freeride lines at the top of Kicking Horse

The trails at Kicking Horse Bike Park in Golden, BC are steep, rough and endless. We spent 2 days riding the hill with Peter and Kristina enjoying gondola accessed downhill trails. Sadly our first day was cut short by thunderstorms, but that didn't stop us from having an epic alpine weekend.

Retallack

The whole crew (Photo: Jon)

What do you get when you combine 12 friends, a fridge full of Kokanee, repurposed military vehicles, helicopters and epic single track deep in the Kootaneys? An unforgettable birthday party at Retallack!

North Shore Triple Crown MTB

Distance: 73km

Elevation: 2543m

Time: 10:01

Coast Gravity Park

Coast Gravity Park is a small bike park on the Sunshine Coast designed by the Coastal Crew. We took a day trip from Whistler to check it out and had a great time! After riding steep, tech gnar in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton, it was nice to get on some smooth jump trails that we could casually lap all day. The park had enough progression to let us work our way up to some of the bigger jumps as we figured out the speed through the day. The vibes were excellent too and we got to hang out with a fun crew of stoked riders from all over BC.

Welcome to Coast Gravity Park!

Southwest Utah Mountain Biking - St. George, Hurricane and Virgin

Utah is famous for its epic slick rock, mesa-top mountain bike trails and desert towers. When we started planning a riding trip to Utah this fall everyone assumed we were heading to Moab, the winter mountain bike mecca for Canadians looking to escape the snow. Most people had never heard of St. George, and were surprised to hear that it neighbours the town of Virgin, home to Red Bull Rampage. Southern Utah is a mountain bike destination in it's own right and is worth a visit for those looking for fun, technical desert riding.

Riding rock slabs on Gooseberry Mesa

Whistler's Four Corners

If you search for the Four Corners of Whistler on Trailforks, you will find a 100km, 5000m elevation ride that hits the "four corners" of Whistler (north, south, east and west). The route includes a sample of the many amazing black and double black trails in the Whistler valley network; Lord of the Squirrels, Zanarchy/Gargamel, Dark Crystal and Ride Don't Slide. To do it properly, you need to pedal it all in a day, which would take some serious fitness! Good timing is also important as Lord of the Squirrels is only open for a short window every year based on snow and the trail builders ask that you do not ride Dark Crystal when it is wet.

Pedaling up Blackcomb to ride our 4th corner - Dark Crystal

Revel-Smoke

Smokiest place on earth? Mid-afternoon in Revelstoke feels like perma-twilight

We made our annual August pilgrimage to Revelstoke and met up with Chad, Grace and Woody for a weekend of camping by the lake. We rolled in after dark and were treated to an amazing view of the perseids meteor shower as we sat around an illuminated water bottle due to the fire ban.

Disneyland Heli-Bike

The stats

1500m descent

11.6 km

3h30mins elapsed (2h20 moving)

Choose your own adventure in this adult playground

About 10 years ago, I heard rumors of the Disneyland bike trail high above Britannia Beach, but had assumed that the trail and its access had faded into oblivion and never pursued it. My curiosity was renewed this winter when I picked up the new Sea to Sky backcountry map and saw the trail marked on Goat Ridge. 

Black Rock Mountain Biking

14 km return
990m elevation gain
3hr 15mins

Black Rock Mountain in the Ghost Wilderness Area has a 7km hiking trail right to the top, most of which you can pedal up. It climbs from the river valley up a double track road which narrows to a single track up through the forest. About halfway up, you gain a ridge and follow the alpine trail up through a rocky notch to a meadow. The final approach climbs a steep scree slope with lots of switchbacks before finally topping out at an old fire lookout. We came prepared for a big alpine day and were ready for the inevitable hike-a-bike that this route would require.

Heading out of the river valley

Party Lap on Seven Summits

Distance: 39km

Elevation: 1075m

Time: 7h25m

Some of the first views and a good spot to rest

Sol Mountain Magic

After thawing out in Vernon following our chilly pedal on Beowulf, we made our way back to Revelstoke and south down the west shore of Upper Arrow Lake. Just before the Shelter Bay ferry terminal, we took a right onto the Shelter Bay FSR, heading for Sol Mountain Lodge. We have friends who love this place in the winter and Kyle had discovered some cool trails up there while browsing trailforks. In our effort to get off the beaten path and explore some new zones, it seemed like a perfect destination.

Arrow Lakes, looking south

Beowulf - Overrated "Epic"

Beowulf IMBA Epic 

Silver Star, BC

900m elevation

35km

The start of the trail

Since the early days of my relationship with Kyle, we have been opportunistically ticking off IMBA Epic rides, bike trails designated by the IMBA as immersive rides that are "technically and physically challenging, beautiful to behold and worthy of celebration." The list is updated every few years with new trails being added and other trails falling off. To date, we have ridden 5 of the current or past Epics including Comfortably Numb (no longer an epic), Waldo Lake, Seven Summits, Mountain Hero, Warner Lake, and a section of the Black Canyon Trail. A new trail was added to the list of Canadian trails recently, so with a week off and bikes in tow, we started our September BC bike road trip with a hurricane drive to Vernon to tick it off the list.

Chilcotin Bike-Packing

I don't know when I first heard about the riding in the Chilcotins, but whenever I start dreaming of epic riding trips, bike packing in the Chilcotins comes to mind. This was bucket list item that got tossed around regularly, but we never actually sat down and made it happen. Usually we would try and make use of multi-week holidays by traveling internationally, rather than exploring our own backyard. Closed borders, cancelled weddings and a slow melting snowpack forced us into looking closer to home for our 2 weeks off at the end of June and a plan to explore the South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park by mountain bike started to take shape.

Hours of dehydrating went into the final result - 18 meals and a tonne of snacks

Ghost Wilderness Exploring

Spring 2020 was not what anyone had expected. The COVID-19 pandemic brought out lives to a grinding halt, with new restrictions and updates daily. For a few weeks, we were glued to social media and watching the numbers climb. Terms like and social distancing, self-isolation and flatten the curve became part of our vocabulary and we all got acquainted with virtual chat platforms like zoom and whatsapp to stay connected with friends and family. It has been a stressful time for everyone as the stock markets crashed, people lost their jobs and businesses had to change how they operated overnight with people suddenly working from home. Our usual outlets for stress relief were also out of the picture. To ensure that hospitals were prepared for the possibility of an overwhelming number of sick people, and to avoid backcountry rescue where SAR teams may be exposed to infected individuals, the backcountry essentially shut down. Trail heads were closed, high risk activities were condemned and a province-wide fire ban was in place, because a forest fire was the last thing anyone wanted during a pandemic. 

While the pandemic is far from over, Canada's response so far has been promising. The numbers are decreasing, we have not hit capacity in our ICU's and restrictions are starting to lift. As the weather warms and spring rolls towards summer, we are getting more comfortable with our new normal. Small gatherings, social distancing and "chilling the shred" will be the routine this summer. All that time at home has motivated us to do some exploring in our Alberta backyard, and the bike trainer that served as an outlet during the darkest days of spring has kicked my butt into shape for riding season.

The view from the ridge into the Ghost River Valley

Alpine Riding in Revelstoke - Frisby Ridge and Ultimate Frisby

 Frisby Ridge

24km (out and back)

800m climb/descent

Ultimate Frisby

600m descent

For the third and final day of our epic alpine weekend in Revelstoke, we decided on the ultra-classic Frisby Ridge. On prior trips to Revelstoke, the trail had been under a voluntary closure due to trail maintenance issues, so Kyle and I had never rode it. We were both eager to see what all they hype was about! Sunday night was spent around the campfire, watching dry lightning over the surrounding mountains and experiencing some of the most amazing stargazing of my life. With such a dark night only a few weeks before the height of the Perseid meteor shower, we were overwhelmed with the number of stars. It was difficult to pick out the usual constellations due to the sheer number and brightness of normally unseen stars! The northern lights made an appearance too. It was a magical night.

Sunset chainsaw

Alpine Riding in Revelstoke - Mt. Cartier Heli Drop

Heli-Drop Mt. Cartier (Arrow Heli) - $200

Vertical Descent ~ 2100 m

Distance 17 km

If you are looking for an epic day out around Revelstoke, a heli-drop on Mt. Cartier ticks all the boxes. I mean seriously, helicopters make everything better. Combine a heli-drop with amazing alpine views, mountain summits, steep switchbacks and fast technical forest riding and you can't go wrong.

We rolled into Arrow Helicopters around 10am on Sunday morning of the long weekend. With nothing pre-booked, we were worried we might not get a chance to catch a ride to the top of Mt. Cartier but the only people in sight were a few pilots tinkering with the choppers. Waivers were signed and cash exchanged ($200 all in covers taxes and a trail maintenance fee - cash is preferred) and after a quick safety briefing we were loading the machine. 

Getting ready for our taxi

Alpine Riding in Revelstoke - 5620 Trail

Gondola up 1170m

Climb 500m/7km

Descent 1700m/15km

5620 is a new flow trail that starts just below the top of the Stoke Chair on Revelstoke Mountain Resort. It just opened a week ago (July 26th) so we got lucky to be some of the first people to ride the trail over August Long Weekend! Revelstoke doesn't have a bike park, but with the new lift-access trail, I think we will be seeing something in the near future. If you happen to be out in Revelstoke anytime soon, hit this trail before it gets too shralped!

We bought our day pass ($35) that allowed us to ride the gondola all day and walked straight on the lift (this ain't Whistler folks!). But, from the top of the gondola you don't get to drop in right away. It's a 7km, 500m climb up the Stoke Trail to the start of the trail. The trail is well built and not technical, but it is a bit relentless. The climb took us about 1.5 hrs with lots of breaks to enjoy the views.

Loading the gondola for a 1170m bump