We have been wanting to ride the Grand Canyon Loop for a couple of years now- the three day Memorial Day Weekend and the need to try out a new cat sitter provided the perfect opportunity! We left Saturday morning around 9am, headed up towards Flag on I-17 with a great tailwind, and were looking forward to a day of rolling hills and lots of traffic. We were lucky and had fantastic weather all weekend- as well as surprisingly light traffic.
My (Sarah’s) longest day ever–82.6 miles. My fastest day ever- 39+mph (until the next day), too! What a ride!!! For lunch we dined on cheese and gorp in the parking lot of the Flagstaff Nordic Center, then rode past Kendrick Mountain and Red Mountain and on to Valle and Tusayan. The passing motorcyclists seemed to feel quite an affinity with us- as fellow two-wheeled travellers- a nice fellow even pulled over and chatted with us at one of our breaks. As we rode through the ponderosa pine, and descended into pinyon-juniper, the sound of wind was almost constant- and when it wasn’t it was filled with the hum of cicadas.
We rolled into GCNP around 8 am after a long, hard sleep, alongside a herd of German motorcycle tourists, each one oozing Peter Fonda cool. We didn’t spend much time actually taking in the canyon, not with a 77.24 mile day ahead, what would be Sarah’s second longest day ever. Her new helmet mirror came in handy with the constant stream of cars, motorcycles, and rental RVs. After quick stops at Grandview and Desert View for rest and french fries, we exited the park and started the descent to Cameron. The 40+ mph descent bested Sarah’s top speed from the day before, but every second spent descending was just a reminder that we would have to make it all up the next day. The climb started as soon as we left Cameron. Thanks to the CO Bar for a quiet spot to spend the night!
Up before the sun rose, we were on the road before 6 am. Heading south on 89, we had about a 50 mile day ahead of us- half of which was uphill. Riding slowly, but steadily, we enjoyed the scenery as we climbed out of the cinder hills back into the trees- spotting a lone pronghorn and taking in the fantastic view of the San Francisco Peaks. With many breaks on the uphill, we were wind-blasted as we descended, and rode through Doney Park and back into Flagstaff. Just before hitting the city limits, the traffic increased to a non-stop, overwhelming, absurd, oversized flow of RVs, ATV trailers, and large motorized toys, heading back to Phoenix after a weekend in the woods. 208 miles later, we turned into our driveway just before 2 pm, and were greeted by two very happy cats and a nice long shower.