Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Dan’s alarm went off from somewhere within the van. He had to drive two hours south to be in Phoenix for work by 10am. Sure enough, there was a few centimetres of snow on the ground. Nothing like that first snow with Kevin but it was still pretty damn cool.
After snuggling with us in bed for a bit, Cleo was out like a shot to find a choice place to pee in the snow. Dan snapped a few pictures of her in the wilderness, she’s a very photogenic pit bull. After a perfect doughnut in the mud and snow, Air Force One disappeared from sight.
I followed my friends halfway to south to Sedona since I had the day to kill before Vanessa arrived in Flagstaff later that afternoon so figured I’d get a ride in. it snowed the whole way out of Flag, it was miserably cold. It didn’t improve much into Sedona, the sky was thoroughly grey and specks of snow were falling so the appeal of riding was diminishing. Because of this, I dawdled. I was aiming for the Skyline trailhead but was surprised to find that the bike shop I’d rented from the year before was no longer there and trailhead parking was strictly prohibited, so I went to the Bell Rock parking area, which required a recreational permit. Bull shit. I hadn’t had breakfast, so I parked in at Bell Rock anyway and made some hot oats to try and get me in the mood to get on my bike. I had a couple of hikers complement me on my van setup which is always nice, but I was missing my comfy chair a bit, sitting in the driver’s seat for breakfast so I was out of the cold.
After breakfast, I remained in the driver’s seat, just looking at bloody social media because I was procrastinating going out in the poor weather, but eventually I got my ass into gear. I decided I’d go find parking in a residential street so I got geared up where I was, putting some warm riding clothes on and getting my pack ready. By the time I found a park in a street nearby the trailhead, the sun was coming and going between the dark grey clouds. While I was mucking around greasing my chain, the owner of the house I’d parked in front of asked if I planned to park there. I explained that yes, I planned to leave my car there for an hour or so if that was ok. She wasn’t sure, but advised me I should be ok if it was only for an hour. I didn’t see any parking signs! As I rode off, I contemplated that she could have been scamming me and was back inside the house calling the rozzers, but I made a conscious decision not to worry about my parking situation and just enjoy my ride.
The trailhead was familiar from over a year ago, right through an old resort. I got started on “Made in the Shade” which was a bit of steady climbing with some tough pinches. I was pleased with myself when I came across a small group walking their bikes when I cranked up the steep little section to get past them without putting my foot down. Shortly after, I ditched my jacket since I was warming up too much. Typical whenever I go riding in cold weather. I was happy to finish the climbing and get onto “Slim Shady” which was a little more mellow.
I was stoked to get to the intersection for Hiline. I came across another group that was saying they weren’t at all interested in Hiline since they wanted to ride their bikes instead of walking them. That made my try and think what it had been like last January since I didn’t remember it being that technical. I was soon walking my bike and the memories were coming back. The rocky climbs weren’t too bad, requiring a bit of walking, but once I got out onto the side of the cliff, I was in heaven. The middle section of this trail is absolutely to die for. I went from stunning vistas on a narrow single track dotted with small embedded rocks to rolling over massive rock formations with the trail identified only by painted white dots along the red rock. I let it rip wherever I could, conscious of Derek’s Strava time that I was semi-trying to beat. At the end of the boulders, I scared the shit out of myself when I went down the steep channels of massive rock with my seat post all the way up. I got through three downhill sections before I had to stop and let my brain catch on to what I was doing, which was bloody dangerous, especially riding solo. I walked most of the rest of the gnarly downhill shit, a bit disappointed that I didn’t feel comfortable hitting the hard stuff, but also happy to saviour my functioning body.
At the tip of Hiline, I got onto “Templeton” to take me back to base. It took me along a beautiful flowing river, then after a huge climb (which I walked) I got onto flowy, scenic single track again. All the while, the cliffs of Sedona were in and out of cloud and I could see patches of snow falling from the sky. There was even a couple of snow sessions when small white specks landed on my sleeves. By the time I got back to the top of “Slim Shady” I was ready for a relaxing bout of downhill flowy stuff, which I got. It was a fun trail to finish on. After an hour and a half of riding, I got back to the van, finding her exactly where I’d left her, exactly how I’d left her. Big smiles, I put the bike on the roof and drove off straight away. I was in desperate need of a shower, quite happy with that short ride.
I drove to Andante trailhead on the other side of town, a place I’d ridden past with Kevin that seemed quiet enough for a van shower. Sure enough, when I got there, the carpark was deserted but it was raining. I only had to wait a few minutes for it to pass, then I was showering with the sun out. Fresh as a daisy as always after a shower, I was feeling good. After making and eating some lunch, I was even better.
Nothing more to do in Sedona, I started the drive back north to Flagstaff for the airport. After climbing the switchbacks on the highway, the snow started and it became heavier as I approached Flagstaff. I had about an hour to kill before Vanessa’s flight arrived so I went to Walmart to get a few things. Before I went into Walmart, I just sat in the driver’s seat, having a semi-nap as the snow fell heavily around me. It wasn’t blizzard status since there was no wind, but it was a constant blanket of white all around. After a half hour, I snapped out of it and braved the snow to walk into Walmart. I was disappointed I couldn’t find a water container to replace the one that Kevin broke but I got the few other things I needed.
With that done, it was time to get to the airport. The Flagstaff airport is tiny, consisting of a free carpark of about 100 slots and a small building. There was no flight information on screens, just a place to check in and a door for arriving passengers to walk through. I wandered the airport, getting up to the top floor in hopes of watching Vanessa’s flight come in, wondering how it would be possible in all the snow. After a while, I descended downstairs to the waiting area to make sure I wouldn’t miss my friend. There was no chance of that. About twenty minutes past her due arrival time, she started texting me from the plane. She’d purchased Wifi for $5 to do so. She told me that the pilot planned to hover for the next twenty minutes in the hopes that the snow would subsede. If it didn’t, they’d be turning around and going to Phoenix. Long story short, the plane turned around.
So, I got to see Flagstaff airport, but once Vanessa told me she was on her way back to Phoenix, I started heading there too. Shame that I’d been in Sedona and only an hour away, but who can plan these things? I was surprised to find I was much happier as I drove to Phoenix, most likely because it would mean we didn’t have to camp in the cold. My days of camping in the snow are supposed to be done! On the way down to Phoenix, I got in touch with Dan to tell him me and my girl would be back in town and he was up to meet us. Good mood increasing!
I spoke to Mum and Dad on the way down and they helped pass the time. Thankfully, after a half hour of driving, I was no longer in snow and the sky was clearing. I’m sad to admit that I’ve never done so much texting and driving, talking to both Vanessa and Dan to figure out the night’s plan. Vanessa at least had made herself comfortable at the airport with a beer or two.
After two very long hours of driving and one wrong turn on the highway in the city, I was approaching the airport. Vanessa told me she was standing at Terminal 4, Door 8. I drove through the painstakingly slow traffic at the pick up area to Door 8 and beyond only to get out of the car and not see any Vanessa. I got on the phone to her to find out what was going on and it soon became clear we were not in the same place. Eventually we used our engineering minds to figures out there was a Terminal 4 South and Terminal 4 North. More driving through painfully slow traffic until I saw a small person in her trademark silver puffy jacket waving her arms madly at me. I stopped as soon as I could, jumped out of my van and got her into a big hug. Oh how I’d missed my friend.
She was up for the random plan of meeting Dan at Lake Pleasant for a pub dinner and a camp. I caught her up on my recent activity and she spilled the beans on Tesla shit to get it out of her system. It was surreal for her to be sitting in my passenger seat. We drove back through town until we reached the lake. I was thankful to leave the chaos of the city and airport behind to get onto Carefree highway. Both famished, we munched on some left over tacos Vanessa had on the way. At the lake, we followed Dan’s specific directions to the marina where Dillain’s Bar was situated. We had to pay $6 entry free into the marina which was good for 24 hours, which meant we’d be camped there for the night. There were RVs everywhere so it was definitely a popular thing. After a few wrong turns, we found the dirt road that led up to a vista point which doubled as a campground and we spotted Air Force One to the side of the network of RVs. I scared Vanessa a bit as I manoeuvred the car near the cliff, but eventually parked sideways to please everyone.
Dan was waiting for us, but Cleo was nowhere to be seen. She was with his parents for the weekend since the jetski boss didn’t want a dog around the whole time Dan was working. I already missed her. Dan met Vanessa, Vanessa met Dan and minutes later, we were all in Air Force One drinking beers from Dan’s cooler. Dan had made even more improvements to his digs it was nearly at apartment standards. We were both astounded when Vanessa stood up comfortably in the middle of the living room and could barely touch the walls with her outstretched hands. Oh, to be a short person!
After a couple of beers, we were off to the pub at the marina. As we walked along the narrow floating walkway, a golf cart stopped and the driver offered us a lift, which we graciously accepted. Vanessa sat down next to the only passenger who was a strapping young man wearing a Harley Davidson jacket. Dan and I both poked fingers at the new couple as they chatted, acting like high school kids singing “Vanessa and Harley, sitting in a tree…” Vanessa turned around and gave us a face at the appropriate time to make us think she’d read our minds, but she was actually looking for support since Harley man was talking weird stuff.
A short golf cart ride later, we were at the door of the pub, which we opened to loud live music. Dan was ecstatic, this was exactly his type of bar. We sat down, ordered ourselves some drinks and a very late dinner (I think it was past 10pm). The band was ripper, especially the lead guitarist, so we got right into it. After dinner, Vanessa was so much into it that she got up to dance, making Dan and I follow. We shuffled around with each other to each song amongst a couple of older ladies who were apparently eyeing me off. For their last song, I managed to fall over myself thanks to my untied shoe laces and fall square on my arse. Embarrassing since I wasn’t at all drunk, but it was much to the amusement of the two middle-aged ladies who fussed over me. I think one of them had grabbed my arse in an attempt to stop me falling. We cheered the band as they gave accolades to each of the players then retreated to our table. Before we left, the lead singer of the band gave us each a guitar pick as a memento. I’m sure all of them have been lost by now, mine sure has.
The walk back along the pier was nice. The lake was quiet and the stars were above us. Back at camp, we got straight into bed. Lucky Vanessa had the Astro all to herself for the first time. I made sure she was comfortable before sneaking into Air Force One.