Second Weekend Of January

Another exciting weekend, mostly spent on two wheels. On Saturday we checked out the Lost Goldmine trail on the mountain bikes, out in Apache Junction, at the base of the Superstition Mountains (I will upload the riding pics later). On Sunday, yet another dirt bike day, out at Lower Sycamore Creek, brought the camera but didn't take a single picture :(.

Lost Goldmine trail (and connecting loops)

The trailhead is buried in a very nice AJ neighborhood, and in what seems to be the middle of nowhere is a big parking lot and trailhead. There are a lot of hikers here, but hardly any of them are here for the Lost Goldmine trail. There is a trail that branches off a few yards from the trailhead, climbing a ways up onto the mountain, that is the one most people take for hiking.

Coming out of the parking lot, there is a short climb up onto the first hill, very loose rock, with some moderate switchbacks. Very fun, but can be a challenge when you're not really warmed up. The next couple of miles remind me a lot of the front side of Pass Mountain, the dips into the washes, with technical climbs out. In general, the trail is very rocky, and very loose, very chunky, very fun. After a couple of miles (say about 4 or 5), the singletrack ends, and you can take a jeep trail heading south. This double track is actually very fast, not technical, but large rocks and boulders. Like a non-technical downhill you can bomb down.

A couple hundred yards down there's a turn to the right (maybe more like a mile), and there's some more of this same kind of jeep trail. Then hidden in a turn, there's a rock canister, indicating the beginning of the single track that meanders back towards the parking lot. This is an extremely fun trail, fast, mostly hardpack desert. Very twisty, lots of switchbacks, little rock obstacles, even a large log. This trail basically takes you back to the fenceline of the neighborhood and turns back north towards the parking lot. This north heading section is pretty tricky at some spots, it's back to the loose rock.

I'm looking forward to riding this hidden gem again, let them South Mountain people keep fighting the crowds, I can have this single track all to myself. It has a little bit of everything: tough technical obstacles, fun downhill, fast singletrack with some jumping obstacles.

It will be even more fun, once I get this delivered:




Yeah baby! 160mm of enjoyment. I will rebuild my front wheel with a 20mm DMR Revolver hub and red/silver DT Swiss Spokes/Nipples. Hopefully I'll be able to ride my new setup next weekend!