| Description: | On this trip the back feels alright so it was time to take the abuse of South Mountain. I started at the main trailhead on the east side and went onto National trail. It is as nasty as ever, and not wanting to get hurt I did quite some walking. Next time I'll try to ride the Mormon trail which goes about 1/2 way to Buena Vista lookout and looks less nasty. The National trail has some smooth spots sandwiched in once one reaches the crest but there are rough spots too. Past Buena Vista there's less smooth rock drops and more rock steps and loose rocks. The worst part comes past Telegraph Pass, steep switchbacks filled with loose rocks which I mostly walked. After all that abuse, the rest of the trail down to the west end feels like a breeze, through there are numerous sections with loose rocks, including a few descents that I walked. This time I made it all the way to the end at San Juan lookout and then took the road back to Telegraph Pass - which was not as bad - I think I was a bit less wasted than 6 years ago when I did this the first time. Then I went down Telegraph Pass trail which drops down to the south, it has lots of drops and loose rocks so that meant more walking. Once the trail levelled off the riding was good as well as the Desert Classic singletrack that I took back to the trailhead. This trail is mostly smooth and fast and as a result I saw more bikers. In the end I was happy to hit the trailhead as the body was signalling it's time to rest. |
