PHX - AARG! - Apache Trail to Young, AZ

I joined up with 21 members of the Arizona Adventure Riders Group (AARG!) for a ride on Apache Trail and the Desert to the Tall Pines Highway to the Antlers Restaurant in Young for lunch.

I haven't been doing much adventure riding on my big bike over the past few years, so I decided to reassign the KTM 950 from its cushy desk job and bought it some hiking shoes.



The AARG! pirates generally have large turnouts for their rides. This day was no exception with over 20 riders on KTM's, BMW's, KLR's, Suzuki's, a Super Tenere, and a Moto Guzzi Stelvio!!

Canyon Lake



Bridge over troubled water?? I don't think so.



Not much activity at Tortilla Flats yet this morning.

Ride into Fish Creek Canyon.

Descending into Lewis and Pranty Creek.

Hardly any traffic along the Apache Trail this morning.

There's WATER in the wash!!



A big bowl of Mesa with a side of Cactus.

Back along the Salt River.





KLR



BMW

End of Apache Trail.



AARG! ride organizer extraordinaire!



AARG! riders.



View from Inspiration Vista.

You must have a special camera, Nightstalker. I've done this ride a number of times- it's never looked this good through MY lenses.

Moto Guzzi on the Desert to Tall Pines Highway.



Crossing the Salt River for the last time.



Climbing, climbing, climbing...

Zip tie roadside repair.



YELLOW KLR! Very nice!



Snow and ice scattered about the roadway as we crested 6000 feet.

Lunch destination, Antlers Cafe and Bar, in Young AZ. And, we arrived at LUNCH TIME!!







OMG!@! It was so good!!!



And the staff there is truly motorcycle enthusiasts!!

After lunch, the group split with most returning south on 288 to Globe and a few heading north to 260 and Payson. I joined the north bound group into even higher elevations.



Easy bladed/graded roads.



Elevation + shade = SNOW + ICE!! Dave demonstrates the proper snow and ice riding technique on his Husky 650.

306 miles door to door.



21,745 AEG!!

Yo, buddypal! I always loved the decent into Fish Creek... especially when there is no traffic.

Glad to see that Antlers was rebuilt. It burned down several years ago, correct?

Nice report as always.. why no Cherry Creek route to Young????

Yes, the Antlers burned down in January, 2010. I am glad to see it resurrected as well; it's really cool now. The desserts are still great!

- Jo

The Antlers is super nice now that it has been rebuilt.

Route to Young was chosen by the ride leader, not me.

That never seems to stop anyone from trying...

Haven't done the trail in a while. Looks nice, enjoyed the photos.

This trail is why I picked up my DR650. I did a little of it on my Bandit and decided to turn back, didn't want to tear it up too much. Nice report and pics, thanks!

James