RR: Watson Lake Loop, Prescott, AZ

After a fabulous week in Sedona, (R&R with pics here:7 days of Sedona, AZ - Rides 1 thru 7 (Merged)..., and after getting 2 more days tacked on to my vacation, I still had 5 days till I had to be back to work which included the normal 3 days off I get...., so I headed to Prescott. I checked into Sheldon Lodge. Great location as it was just a block away from the center of town. Albertsons Grocery store to restock and fast food & other places to eat right across the street if you choose not to eat in one of the places in the downtown square area.

A pic of the front desk








The room was small but cozy, clean & the price was right at $75.00 a night


After a much needed day of rest, I checked out Watson Lake which is out on the Granite Dells. The Dells are a unique formation of rocks and is located about 4 miles north of the town. It's a city park so besides hiking, biking, horseback riding, there is camping, boating & fishing available. It didn't cost anything to get in because on Wednesdays, the city of Prescott waives the fee. Otherwise I think it cost $5 for the day an $15 to camp overnight. Maps and a sign in register is available at the trailhead. You can read more about the Dells here: http://granite-dells.com/

This place is amazingly beautiful. The formations looking like something out of a prehistoric movie. This stuff was like 15 grit sandpaper and falling on this stuff will certainly lose you some layers of skin.




The trails are well marked with signs and white dots. The direction I chose was CCW so I would get a lot of the scenic shots first, then finish with the technical stuff later.


A plaque with a little history about the 2 Lakes


Riding along part of The Peavine Trail. This trail is a most flat easy trail that will take you all to Hwy 89.


I veered off to the left to take the more difficult route


There are creeks that go in & out of the lake




Now the fun starts. From Peavine, I took the Lake Loop trail


Just follow the white dots


No dots here as the trail is pretty obvious






Pano of what lies ahead...,

 

Continued


The trail is actually on the rocks here..,


.., but every now and then you do get to ride some dirt


You can see the trail down below to the right


Token bike shot


This section was not difficult. In fact, I tried to set up my camera down at the bottom, run up, then ride down, but I was quick enough before the pics snapped.




Luckily for me, a hiker came along and snapped these for me




This section goes around to the right like a u-turn then down the rocks


There are some tough ups..,


..., some easy downs


Some steeper ups...,


and some steeper downs


If you look closely, you can see my bike up there as I walked down to give some perspective.


This was a switchback if you can tell


Better from this view as you go from the top self to the lower from right to left and back right


Again opting for the more difficult trails




This was steeper than it looks. The trail goes left here along the left, then down and around the tree

 

continued


Here's another fun easy section. The trail here starts left, then goes around the 3 rocks below


From the signs, this section could be under water during the rain season


Off chamber, but rough as sandpaper.


Looking back.


Wow, some dirt!


More ups




This one here, you had to get your front wheel onto that flat rock with the white dot in the center to clean this.


Some more ups


Just some of the features that rock climber may like


I was glad to be able to ride in the lower section as it was dry




Cross over to the other side and continue...,




There was another trail heading up that


After hiking a bit up, I opt not to go this way since this was completely unridable.


Instead, I went this way. You can see the dots.


Nice little workout here coming up from the lower section


Back up on the main trail, just continue along the rocks.


Now for more fun..,

 

continued

Last set...,

Yup, I went steeper of course.


These were marked with white/red dots


Trail selfie


The trail wasn't as bad as I expected. I guess they meant steeper climb cause there were no steeper downs than what I had already encountered.


Almost back


Last "smooth" section


From this shot, the area across the lake is where I was riding


Last bit of dirt here


Finish off the ride with a nice bridge crossing


There is only about 6 miles combined unless you do repeats of your route for added miles. It's a tough 6 though because of the rough terrain and sometimes steep ups.

No GPS track cause I forgot to turn my Garmin till I was already more than 1/2 way thru the ride, but just follow the map posted on the trail signs and you'll be fine.


Afterwards, I went to Granite Mountain Brewing Co. Fitting since that what I was riding. No IPAs on tap that day so I got the Wee Heavy Scotch Ale from AleSmith


Nice tree using regulars mugs


always..,

 

Good stuff Gene!!

 

Arizona has so much variety, looks like a beautiful place, great photos. I just read up -- looks like Prescott and Sedona are around 5000 feet

 

Gene,

Thanks for the RR. You take some striking pictures ! Question.... do you use your phone or bring an actual camera ?

 

Thanks Luke. Ya, this ride was at about 5,200 ft elevation. The next ride I did which I have yet to post the RR starts at about 5,700 and went up to 6,600+ of elevation. With the 7 days of riding in Sedona beforehand, I was well acclimated by the time I rode Prescott.

Thanks Jason. I use a Canon pureshot SD1300 IS for most of the shots. I had the ISO set to 200 on this day, but adjust accordingly to the amount of sun or grey skies. I use the flash even outside at times and also play with the macro on real closeup shots like these:




I also use my iPhone 4S for the pano shots:



The subjects have to remain still or be at the beginning or end of the frames as not to take double shots of them while you pan.

I have also use an app called "Pro HD" for some of those really vivid shots. What Pro HD does is takes 2 pics at 2 exposures and combines them. You have to hols the camera very still and your subjects have to be still as well or you'll get double images like with the leaves in this pic since the slight breeze was making the leaves move around:


When done right with a nice scenery/subject or view, pics will come out like these:

Fully Loop, Laguna Lake


Manhattan Beach Pier


Hiline Trail, Sedona


Somewhere along the Main Divide between Bedford & Motorway


I carry both in the front pocket of my riding shorts of my jersey so I'm always ready to snap a pic.

I also take 2, 3 sometimes 4 pics of the same trail, feature or scenery and use the best one, discarding the others.

 

RAD, thanks for posting. I miss the scenery in Prescott (Pres-Skitt) that Big Blue building at the Round-About is where I used to work when I lived in Prescott. -=Jason=-

 

More great pics, thanks. Also the wording and description on some of the trail signs is pretty cool.