After a good night sleep, 406 was feeling spry, the weather was looking good, and we were all itching to get to Sedona. A 2 hr drive put us in around 11. We scored a spot at the Manzanita campground on Oak Creek, and set up camp before heading out for our first ride.
Setting up camp
The creek would be a nice swimming hole in summer. This time of year, not so much
We headed down into Oak Creek for our first ride, I figured a spin around Slim Shady, Cathedral Rock, Templeton, and Baldwin would be a perfect intro to Sedona riding for 406 and Gman.
We parked at the shopping center and rode up the main road for a bit of a warmup (pic courtesy Gman)
Starting off up to Slim Shady (pic courtesy Gman)
Checking out the view at a slickrock overlook
We head up a new trail that we had not been able to find last year
It was a great climb, technical in spots but not painfully steep
And the views were great too once we got up a bit
Gman and 406 roll on ahead
Nearing the top
Cathedral Rock emerges from the shadows
Gman snaps a shot of his shiny new frame
He had found a crack in it recently, and only got the frame back late in the week before making a snap decision to join us for the trip (pic courtesy Gman)
Trying to see the route down (pic courtesy Gman)
406 leads the way
Singletrack doesn't get any sweeter than this
On to the slick rock
A ribbon of water is all that's left of Sunday's rain
406 checks out the view
Traversing across the ledge (pic courtesy Gman)
The terrain was nice and varied with some interesting climbs and descents
We finally reach what appears to be the start of the descent off the rock, but opt to take the high line
My turn
Excellent pic courtesy Gman
406 drops in (pic courtesy Gman)
This section leads into some fun steeps
406 getting ready for battle
Dropping
Gman rolls a tough drop lower down
406 rounds a corner
Me on another roll (pic courtesy Gman)
406 rolls the bottom of the steeps
Catching air on Baldwin (pic courtesy Gman)
406 tests the new sultan frame (pic courtesy Gman)
I had forgotten how good Baldwin was, its sort of an afterthought in this whole loop
Cool rock formations
406 enjoys the scenery
Dropping into a corner on Baldwin (pic courtesy Gman)
Traversing around the rock formation (pic courtesy Gman)
Pretty flowers trailside
406 along the creek. Shortly after this we ran into fellow DTer JHardeman - nice to meet you Jim, hope the rest of your trip kicked ass!
There were hikers yelling at us to ride the log
It took a couple attempts and they had moved on before we cleaned it (pic courtesy Gman)
Climbing up Templeton
Backdrop of fall colors (pic courtesy Gman)
Riding back along the rock on Templeton
Cruising
Afternoon sun lighting up the rock across the valley (pic courtesy Gman)
Gman rides a G-out
Gman on slickrock
Closer up pano
Wide pano
Gman drops an off camber roll off the slickrock
Shadow of one rock on another in fading sunlight
This put an end to a great afternoon of riding. We set off in search of a place to eat with a TV so we could catch the Chargers game. They won, making the day even better. We got back to camp and found the campsite had filled up completely (and this is Monday). A few people had fires going but we were all pretty beat, and crawled into our tents around 9pm. Everyone slept well that night.
