Saturday morning my friend Rick and I arrived at the Oracle Ridge trailhead in Oracle, AZ early. We were riding by 9:30, but acclimating to the altitude hit us pretty hard. By the end of the day we climbed from 4700 ft. to over 7500 ft. in elevation.
The Oracle Ridge trail is part of the Arizona trail system that cuts up and over the Santa Catalina Mountain range (north Tucson area). It is very technical and, in some spots, downright scary. We knew we'd be riding the ridge up to the peak of the Santa Catalinas, but one misjudgement or lapse in control and you could be tumbling down a very steep slope. Needless to say, we did a whole lot more walking than we were expecting, and left ourselves in a pretty bad situation time, and water availability wise.
Here's a elevation map of the Arizona trail, with the highest point being in the Santa Catalinas...the area we were in.
All in all, it was a 12 mile climb to the town of Summerhaven where we raided the Convenient store 5 minutes before closing time. I had 3 white castle microwaveable cheeseburgers, a snickers bar, and all kinds of beef jerky goodness...
The Oracle Ridge trail is part of the Arizona trail system that cuts up and over the Santa Catalina Mountain range (north Tucson area). It is very technical and, in some spots, downright scary. We knew we'd be riding the ridge up to the peak of the Santa Catalinas, but one misjudgement or lapse in control and you could be tumbling down a very steep slope. Needless to say, we did a whole lot more walking than we were expecting, and left ourselves in a pretty bad situation time, and water availability wise. Here's a elevation map of the Arizona trail, with the highest point being in the Santa Catalinas...the area we were in. All in all, it was a 12 mile climb to the town of Summerhaven where we raided the Convenient store 5 minutes before closing time. I had 3 white castle microwaveable cheeseburgers, a snickers bar, and all kinds of beef jerky goodness...The descent was a classic...about a 15 mile cruise down a winding dirt road. after that, it was about a 10 mile road ride back to the car. Something cool to point out in the picture with Rick below...it had snowed the night before on Mt. Lemmon. A nice surprise for late May in Arizona.
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