We are tempted to be in, although we would have to catch up from behind. Pats run is that morning so we would be a few hours behind out of Phx. I will be interested in hearing about the pre-run report. Haven't ever been up there.
April ROTM Official - April 25
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- #42
Hope you can make it. Look for a report on Monday.
Gnarly might be a strong word, I would say it went to difficult vs moderate. Several large boulders had slid, it was easily passable but I would say it a maybe challenging for stock height and tires without some bumping and grinding, that's what I meant, again, about a month ago now so may be cleaned up a bit
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- #44
We completed the pre-run yesterday and it went very well. It's definitely stock friendly with a few really rocky areas that required speed control and wheel placement. The biggest obstacle was only about a foot tall. My truck is totally stock with 2" of 19 year Lexus spring sag and I'm running 275/65-16 tires (29") so I'm a bit less than stock actually.
The trail begins in the pines and ends at Cottonwood airport. We started at 9:30 and the whole thing took just under 2 hours with us stopping to take a stretch and pictures now and then. We aired up just before the airport at about 11:30. The trail is 85% easy and flat with about 2 miles of pretty rocky terrain (moderate for sure). My low profile mall cruiser handled it all in stride, drug my hitch once or twice and have some pin-striping down the lower right side but the worst incident was a rock contact on my rim which left a pea sized chip in the chrome which I didn't even notice when it happened. Had a decent amount of sidewall contact with all the rocks on the gnarly part but nothing to write home about. We aired down to 20lb about 5 miles into the trail once we found a spot in the pines with lots of camping areas. From the highway to that point, it was graded forest roads with light wash-boarding. Again, no biggie. The trail has a few tight spots but nothing to worry about, just some pin-striping. It was very scenic and there was absolutely nobody on the trail until the last few miles where we passed some mountain bikers and 2 Polaris about 1 mile from the end. I've put some pictures at the end of the post showing the most gnarly areas.
As far as camping goes, I'm going to keep this a day run. We were totally finished at noon, grabbed lunch in Cottonwood and were on the road home by 1:30. The low desert is not very camp friendly. Those who wish to camp could just get on Hwy 89A and run back to our starting point and there are many camping options there. We saw about 10 people camping in the first 3-4 miles.
We will meet up at the Chevron gas station at Cordes Junction at 8:30 AM which is at the I-17 and Hwy 69 intersection (19625 E Cordes Lakes Rd,I-17, Cordes Junction, AZ 86333-5102) which is about 66 miles north of Central Phoenix. There's a McDonalds next door. I'll be on CB Channel 25 and monitoring HAM 146.460 (I can't broadcast yet). We will head up Hwy 69 then head east on Fain Road just past Mortimer Family Farms. We'll stay on Fain road for about 7 miles until we turn East on Hwy 89A. Around 12 miles on Hwy 89A we will turn right at the Prescott Forest Picnic area where the trail head starts. Unfortunately the picnic area is closed so we will travel down the forest road about 3-5 miles where we can air down. At 3 miles, there's some small areas to pull off, at 5 miles, there's lots of wide open camping areas to bring a larger group.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
The trail begins in the pines and ends at Cottonwood airport. We started at 9:30 and the whole thing took just under 2 hours with us stopping to take a stretch and pictures now and then. We aired up just before the airport at about 11:30. The trail is 85% easy and flat with about 2 miles of pretty rocky terrain (moderate for sure). My low profile mall cruiser handled it all in stride, drug my hitch once or twice and have some pin-striping down the lower right side but the worst incident was a rock contact on my rim which left a pea sized chip in the chrome which I didn't even notice when it happened. Had a decent amount of sidewall contact with all the rocks on the gnarly part but nothing to write home about. We aired down to 20lb about 5 miles into the trail once we found a spot in the pines with lots of camping areas. From the highway to that point, it was graded forest roads with light wash-boarding. Again, no biggie. The trail has a few tight spots but nothing to worry about, just some pin-striping. It was very scenic and there was absolutely nobody on the trail until the last few miles where we passed some mountain bikers and 2 Polaris about 1 mile from the end. I've put some pictures at the end of the post showing the most gnarly areas.
As far as camping goes, I'm going to keep this a day run. We were totally finished at noon, grabbed lunch in Cottonwood and were on the road home by 1:30. The low desert is not very camp friendly. Those who wish to camp could just get on Hwy 89A and run back to our starting point and there are many camping options there. We saw about 10 people camping in the first 3-4 miles.
We will meet up at the Chevron gas station at Cordes Junction at 8:30 AM which is at the I-17 and Hwy 69 intersection (19625 E Cordes Lakes Rd,I-17, Cordes Junction, AZ 86333-5102) which is about 66 miles north of Central Phoenix. There's a McDonalds next door. I'll be on CB Channel 25 and monitoring HAM 146.460 (I can't broadcast yet). We will head up Hwy 69 then head east on Fain Road just past Mortimer Family Farms. We'll stay on Fain road for about 7 miles until we turn East on Hwy 89A. Around 12 miles on Hwy 89A we will turn right at the Prescott Forest Picnic area where the trail head starts. Unfortunately the picnic area is closed so we will travel down the forest road about 3-5 miles where we can air down. At 3 miles, there's some small areas to pull off, at 5 miles, there's lots of wide open camping areas to bring a larger group.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
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- #45
Now they'll all laugh at me at the mall! 
Great writeup and pictures - really informative for those considering going
sorry about your bling but we appreciate the the commitment!
. Thanks for takin one for the club
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- #49
LOL, I'll get revenge on the 25th!
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- #51
I just phoned the Prescott Verde Ranger District and we don't need a pass for this trail or to camp in dispersed (undeveloped, no facilities) camp grounds! 
EDIT:I didn't have a Prescott Pass for Sunday's run, I didn't think of it until we were nearly done. You may want to pickup a day pass if you are going on the trip. I'm not sure if you can buy them locally as you can Tonto passes. Anyone smarter than me know about this?
EDIT:
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- #52
It looks like there's no fire restrictions up there as of March 30th. http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/prescott/alerts-notices/?aid=27504
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- #53
I just phoned the Prescott Verde Ranger District and we don't need a pass for this trail or to camp in dispersed (undeveloped, no facilities) camp grounds!
The Whiskey Offroad MTB race is occupying downtown Prescott that weekend. So, use caution if you are headed that way.
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- #55
We will be far away from Prescott for the majority of the trip but thanks for the heads up!
I plan on making the trip...
who is planning on camping afterwards?
If works out I'll get to go but will be coming from the north and probably met up at the campground at the entrance to the trail.
As for camping I'll need to get back north so I can tow my car hauler back to the valley Sunday. Possible could camp up on the rim toward the east out of Camp Verde if people end up going that way but not heading back up Mingus Mountain.
As for camping I'll need to get back north so I can tow my car hauler back to the valley Sunday. Possible could camp up on the rim toward the east out of Camp Verde if people end up going that way but not heading back up Mingus Mountain.
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- #59
Good to hear you'll be able to make it down. The actual trail head starting point is at 34.70746, -112.14943, just off 89A. This happens to be about 50 minutes from Cordes Junction (40 miles) so we should arrive at the trail head about 9:30 if everyone shows up to Cordes Junction at 8:30.
We are out. Just found out my brother is coming in from Seattle to watch his son play lacrosse against ASU on Saturday.
So, now we have:
ROTM
A wedding
Family in town
I think ROTM is not going to win.
So, now we have:
ROTM
A wedding
Family in town
I think ROTM is not going to win.