A little late, but better than never....
Sweet vids Jeff, thanks for putting those together! I am glad you got some good footage at Guacamole. It isn't the easiest system to capture in pics.
Thanks to Dell as well for setting that trip up! We had been going to Sedona a lot the last few years but it has turned into a bit of a circus, now that all the trails have been adopted and signed they are overrun with hikers. So it was nice to get back to Hurricane where there were pretty much no hikers on any of the trails. Plus they are constantly building new trail...and it is fun/techy new trail.
First day we did Hurricane Cliffs system. There are a bunch of new trails since my last visit so we explored some of those.
A few of us did a quick lap while waiting for everyone else to show up. Top of JEM was up first. The upper part is now downhill only
A little ways down JEM we turned R onto Goosebumps. Pretty fun trail, lots of undulation and G-outs with a few alternate lines. It sort of hugs the bottom of the cliffs below Gooseberry.
At the bottom we got a little lost as the trails aren't all marked and there are a few alternate social endings. We found the bottom of Dead Ringer and climbed that all the way back to the trailhead.
Dead ringer is pretty cool. It hugs the side of some steep canyons. Little room to pass if you meet other riders. The bike shop recommended this trail for climbing only.
By the time we got up top most of the group was there and Dell's vehicle was just a few mins out. Not long after that we were back off down the trail for another loop.
Started with top of JEM again, and then crossed over to descend Dead Ringer. That trail has some smallish jumps on it, and climbing it meant we were going the wrong way on our first lap. None of them were really that fun, mostly a bit awkward.
We rode DR and Cryptobionic all the way down to Hurricane Rim and took that trail back over to JEM. From there it was JEM - Crypto - Goosebumps- DR back to the top.
Most of the group had done More Cowbell while waiting for others to show up. Gil, Rob and I did a quick lap on it at the end. Its a ~2mi trail with maybe 100ft total gain/loss, but has some awesome views. Looking down over Goosebumps:
Trail follows the edge of a mesa for a while
A few were done for the day, others wanted a bit more. A few descended Dead Ringer down the the next road crossing. Gil and I decided to ride Goulds Rim back into town instead. I had never ridden it that way before and it would be mostly downhill. It is definitely more fun riding it back toward town!
Great views
We checked out a new connector trail near the bottom that would cut off the final bit of the ride on Hwy back into town.
We found a super primitive trail along the top of the cliffs, heading south. It was actually hard to follow
Then, it finally ended. We searched around for a bit trying to figure where it went. When we looked over the edge we spotted freshly built switchbacks down below, and a line of pin flags going up the hillside. So, the trail is so new it is not even done yet! Should be a good one when it is done, it will mean riding singletrack right from town!