Back Road Adventure

BACK ROAD ADVENTURE Fall Touring by Mountain Bike Is Special in the Bountiful White Mountains Area

Mountain bikes. Family. Singletrack. Beginners - five words seldom seen together. But together they belong on two beautiful loop rides created for cyclists near Hannagan Meadow in eastern Arizona. Add the burnished gold of fall's quaking aspens and cool, crisp days, and you have a perfect place to ride. Hannagan Meadow (280 miles from Phoenix and 246 miles from Tucson) is the only stop along U.S. 191, the Coronado Trail, as it twists, winds, and climbs for 95 miles between Morenci and Alpine through some of Arizona's loveliest scenery (see Arizona Highways, August '94). But for hundreds of families who have spent their vacations at Hannagan, some every year for decades, this spot is no way station: it's the destination.

You can stay at either a nine-site campground or Hannagan Meadow Lodge, (520) 339-4370. Because nighttime temperatures dip into the 20s in October, our decision was easy. We took a cabin at the lodge.

Hannagan Meadow Lodge opened in 1924 as a retreat for hunters and fishermen. But now at least half of the visitors have come to hike, bicycle, or ski cross-country. Beyond the highway east of the lodge stands the Blue Range Primitive Area and its miles of groomed trails - a hiker's Eden strictly off-limits to bikes. But a designated bike trail runs right behind the lodge.

The Hannagan Meadow Loop and the Ackre Lake Loop are the two routes that were designed with mountain bikes in mind (although open to hikers and cross-country skiers). Both offer isolation and beauty along quiet back roads and single-track away from already sparse traffic. Mountain bike racer Tom Bartlett and I (a mountain biker since 1982) were joined by photographer Steve Bruno, the perfect person to come along: he'd been on a mountain bike only once before and had just purchased an entry-level bike. Is this paradise actually for beginners? He was our test case. For five days, we scouted the bike loops several times each, took a couple of driving tours, and rode a part of one extended loop suggested by an Apache-Sitgreaves Ranger District brochure, (520) 339-4384. Days of mountain biking in cool weather in one of Arizona's loveliest spots? Writing for this magazine is absolutely grueling. Here's what we found.

Hannagan Meadow Loop: this is the first ride to take, simply because it's easier. And the first time you do (you'll want to ride it more than once), I recommend driving from the lodge to my suggested starting point, especially if you're not sure of the abilities of your riders.

Take U.S. 191 north from Hannagan Meadow for 1.2 miles. Turn left (west) onto Forest Service Road 564 and drive uphill .3 of a mile. At the top of the rise is a cattle pen. Stop here and get out your bikes.

You'll be following blue diamond markers posted at important junctions, and the first marker, with an arrow pointing to the left, is on the cattle chute. You'll immediately descend into a delightful meadow, where, especially in the early morning or late afternoon, you might see the elk that occasionally graze there.

The road makes an easy, quick descent into a graceful arc and then begins a short climb to a fork in the road at 1.1 miles into the ride. A blue diamond instructs you to go left, where you'll begin the one major climb of the loop. In only .4 of a mile you'll gain 160 feet, according to my altimeter, but you can take solace in the knowledge that you'll only climb 300 feet for the entire loop, so you're doing over half of it right here. You're at nearly 9,000 feet elevation, so expect to breathe heavily. And there's no shame in getting off and walking - especially if you're new to the sport.

At 1.5 miles into the loop, take a left at the blue diamond and a bicycle sign and join an old logging road that is yours alone. You'll climb for most of the next mile, but it will be so much gentler than what you've just done, it will seem almost flat.

The road has double tracks, which is especially enjoyable for social riding, as you can travel alongside a companion. As you go through fields of wildflowers and ferns, you'll be rewarded with some impressive views of the spruce and aspen forest. The aspens were a glorious gold and red for our adventure.

Soon you'll enter the forest you've been observing from the meadows. It's here that you have the best chance tosee (or at least hear) Abert's squirrels and perhaps even the wild turkeys that inhabit the area.

At 3.3 miles, you'll come to a "T" of bike trails at a power line. To the left, downhill and .6 of a mile away, is your car. When we first reached this spot, we heard a raucous cawing from above and looked up to see a swirling flock of about two dozen ravens. Steve captured it perfectly: "Look, a tornado of ravens!" I glanced warily at him and said, "You're the photographer. I'm the writer. I'm supposed to come up with great stuff like that!"

The trail to the right would take you back to Hannagan Meadow Lodge in .9 of a mile of more challenging riding than you've done so far. For those who found the Hannagan Meadow Loop easy, take this route from the lodge when you ride it again. To do that, pick up the singletrack, which heads north-south, at the rear of the clearing behind the cab-ins. Go north, where you'll fol-low a power line. At FR 576, take a short jog to the right (east) and then again go left (north) at the blue diamond, rejoining the power line up a steep grade. A descent follows that could be treacherous for beginners. When we saw a Caution sign at the crest, Tom said, "Caution! That means we get to go fast!" And indeed he and I did, wildly jouncing from rock to rock as we descended. Steve, wisely considering his inex-perience and his backpack of camera gear, took it easy.

At .9 of a mile from the lodge, you'll come to the junction at the end of the loop where we saw Steve's raven tornado. Either ride to where you parked the first time and begin the loop, or give yourself some variety and ride the loop in reverse.

Ackre Lake Loop: if the family is now ready for something a bit more challenging (but still fairly easy), it's time to ride to Ackre Lake. The person to thank for this marvelous singletrack is Donald Yates, a Hannagan Campground volunteer host who began to lay out the trail in 1990. The Forest Service assisted in the removal of the largest deadfall, but Yates and a few other volunteers cut the trail over a period of three years. Hikers are welcome, but the route was planned for mountain bikes (even so, remember that bikes yield the right-of-way to hikers).

The same singletrack that headed north to the Hannagan Meadow Loop from the back of the lodge heads south to Ackre Lake. Once again, you'll be following blue diamond markers, most attached to trees.

From the lodge, you'll venture into a lush pine and spruce forest. You'll join an old logging road with a series of moguls (piled steep berms, here constructed to keep motorized vehicles off the trail but also exciting for cyclists and skiers). At .4 of a mile, a diamond points the way off the logging road and onto singletrack. A trail from the campground also joins the route.

The Ackre Lake Loop is different from the Hannagan Meadow Loop in that it traverses denser forest, and it's almost all singletrack. The result is that you feel much more at one with the surroundings it's a more personal experience. At many points, when you stop for riders to regroup, you're completely alone in the forest, only to have a rider suddenly appear through the trees. It's wonderful but almost eerie. A turnoff to the KP Rim trailhead appears at 2.2 miles. Stay on the main route. At 2.5 miles, you'll leave the forest and enter Butterfly Cienega, a lovely meadow where elk often graze. I think the place should be called either Butterfly Marsh or Cienega Mariposa, but that's a small point. After a pause to enjoy the sunshine, it's onward to more forest shade on the singletrack. If there is a difficult section on the loop, and "difficult" is certainly relative, it begins shortly after Butterfly Cienega and continues to Ackre Lake, now only 1.5 miles away. Part of the singletrack follows a ridge, although the trail itself is fairly level. But if a rider accidentally left the trail on the downward side, he could be in trouble. Younger or inexperienced riders should be cautioned to keep speed down and stay in control. Also, ignore the cross-country ski trail that leaves the main route almost a mile beyond the cienega. As you near Ackre Lake, four miles into your ride, you also approach the only potentially dangerous place on the loop: the small threeplank wooden bridge that crosses the spillway at the earthen dam. Please warn inexperienced riders. The trail takes an abrupt turn, and the bridge itself is intimidatingly narrow. Steve, cautioned in advance, took one look and made a very smart move: he put one foot down and eased his bike across until safely on the dam. J. Wiley Aker, once the Greenlee County superintendent of schools and the lake's namesake, built a cabin in this clearing. Aker, who was born in 1883 and died in 1963, lost parts of an arm and leg in a mining accident. He was a man of very strong opinions and frequently was at odds with government bureaucrats, so one wonders if the misspelling of the place-name was an oversight or some cartographer's revenge. To complete your ride, follow the road on the south sideof the lake up to a junction in .3 of a mile. Take a left and begin your most challenging climb of the loop. You'll gain 150 feet in.9 of a mile. At 5.2 miles, you'll see a blue diamond. Follow the logging road to the left, which will take you back to Butterfly Cienega. There take a right and retrace your route to Hannagan Meadow, 2.7 miles away. You'll be climbing gently much of the way, and even though you've been on this stretch before, it will look quite different coming from the opposite way. The moguls near the end, which you struggled over on the way out, will be downhill this time and will offer a roller-coaster treat if taken carefully. Then it's back to the lodge for a well-deserved snack. We ate ours out on the porch. Author's Note: Hannagan Meadow Lodge is often booked far in advance; make reservations as early as possible. Hannagan Meadow Campground has no running water, but fresh water is available at the public spigot in front of the lodge. Two Arizona Highways books feature tours along the Coronado Trail: Travel Arizona and Travel Arizona: The Back Roads.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions, and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and you have plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return.