Ride Report Thanksgiving in Sedona Day 2: Mescal - Aerie

Dstepper said Mescal was a must do. After a good night of rest I head over to Over the Edge to get the lowdown on Mescal. The guys point to the Chuck Wagon Trailhead, only 5 miles from where I am staying. Sweet!!!

Funny the difference one day can make. Day 1: Slim Shady was cool . . . there are no bad trails in Sedona . . . but . . . it was like the Walmart of Sedona trails after I hit Mescal. A MUST DO in Sedona.

Bike pr0n at the Chuck Wagon Trailhead.



The hippie in me sure does love some trees.



Don't be fooled by this butter smooth singletrack. It is a rare sight in Sedona, but it sure is nice not to be riding riding over brown dust.




After descending Chuck Wagon I come to the split for Mescal.



On the way to the highlight of Mescal . . .






WTF?!?! Difficult or extreme? Where is the HAB Crew option? I of course chose difficult (which surprisingly it really wasn't).







Essentially you are riding where that white line is. I am not a fan of exposure, but this was doable for me.







I thought this would be me when I first saw Mescal, but like I said it wasn't so bad.





Aerie . . . a sweet little up and down roller trail that then climbs up on the edge for some really good views. This is my kind of riding.

 

Great Pics!!
Thanks for posting...

 

Nice RR Ryan, looks like you had perfect weather for this, great photos!

 

Sedona Day 2: More Pics

Meadows . . .





And trees . . . What's not to love?


Nobody around most of the day. Snake didn't even have tire tracks.







Note to self . . . after a second of hard riding make sure you read the map right and don't turn right when you should turn left . . .




Then again if I didn't get lost I wouldn't have come across all of this . . .








But I knew once I climbed up this nasty loose shale and looked around at the top I had gone the wrong way . . . by several miles over some really loose and tough terrain with a pretty good climb.





Post Day 2 Stoke.



Day 2: 20.1 miles and 1500 feet.

I was beat like a redheaded stepchild after this one. But . . . it was all worth it. One of the best trails I had ever been on and only came across a few people in 4+ hours of riding. Awesome! Steppie was right . . . this is a don't miss trail.

 

Beautiful! I definitely need to hit those trails when I get back there.

 

epic, looks like a ton of fun, thanks for posting

 

Thx Ryan
I can see from the pic why Dean has highly recommends Sedona. I hope to get out the someday.

 

Great stuff Ryan, but be careful, if you don't ride with a visor on your helmet, you'll get your "mtb" card revoked!

Nice photos and commentary. Looking forward to reading day 3, but my legs are tired from your first two days.

 

Very cool again. I missed this one last year but opted for a little crazier action on hangover. Really looking forward to riding this one.

 

thanks!

 

I absolutely love this area of Sedona. Mescal and Aerie are two of the best trails I've ever ridden.

 

Thanks for all the photos, I love this series of RR's. Aerie is one of my favorites, too bad it over with so quickly. Great memories for sure, I can't wait to go back to Sedona. You found some great routes.

 

Awesome RR

Thanks for taking the time to Share your photos with us.

 

Great RR BTP. Did you see any Javelina's? Boy the trail signs have sure improved since my last trip there a year and a half ago. Had a hard time finding my away around that area. This is from then... :bang:

 

I'm drooling over those trails - so glad you had an epic trip!