If I were a poet I would tell you about the air so hot and dry my skin cracks and my nose bleeds If I were a poet I would tell you about the wind red sky in morning, they say... hold tight to the tent, my dear If I were a poet I would tell you about the cold and rain my thumbs locked unable to shift If I were a poet The spring bloom I would rave about a sea, an ocean, an atmospheric river of wild desert flowers dessert for the eyes, the nose, the bees Since I am not a poet I will tell you straight about the near perfect weather the frosty nights the rough and the smooth the snakes and the moon
For spring break Jesse and I headed to Arizona to ride the Queen’s Ransom bikepacking route east of Phoenix. The rain in Santa Barbara just won’t stop this year and most of our trails are still closed following the particularly potent January storms. We were jonesing hard for some dry weather and trail riding. My dream was that we would land in the middle of peak wildflower season and never have my hopes been exceeding by such measure. My pictures don’t even begin to highlight the endless tunnels of purples and yellows we rode through for over 200 miles over six days. Then there were the reds and white and oranges. Seriously imagine the most intense super bloom images your brain can conjure and multiply it by 100. Honestly, I didn’t even try that hard to capture it because my phone camera plus my limited skills would never do it justice.
The riding was rough and rugged and slow going — truly one of the best routes I have ridden in a very long time. A mountain bikers route. You do not want to underbike this one. Water and resupply were quite regular for the desert. We made camp before dark every night, choosing vacation over epic.
Did you ever wonder what the inside of a saguaro looks like?
On the first hot day of the season snakes are always plentiful. During the trip we encountered four rattle snakes and two garter snakes. The camouflage of the rattlers to their surrounding was amazing.
We had some beautiful camps and frosty nights that were chilly in my light bag. But fortunately for me Jesse always gets up in the morning and makes hot tea and serves it to me in bed. I’m so spoiled. He also cleans and lubes our chains most days.
No flowers were harmed in the making the photo below.
We did plenty of cooking, but there was also lots of purchased food along the route. Including pizza delivery by Gary directly to the trail with a makeshift table next to the Arizona Department of Transportation Building!
The Queen’s Ransom route was developed by my friend John Schilling and he recently celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the route in style with a huge group ride. If you want a detailed post on the route you can read his blog here. Luckily for Jesse and me, John was available for lunch the day we finished and also gifted us these awesome patches and some stickers. Thanks for all you do for the bikepacking community, John (ps. the answer is 669)!
I have no idea what these ball flowers are, but they sort of blow my mind!
Glad you had another great adventure, even though you had to go to AZ. to do it. The pics are amazing. Keep up the adventures and the posts.
Those ball flowers are COOL and the jalepeno pizza looks amazing especially after a ride! You two are badass!