McDowell Part II

I believe I am addicted to McDowell Mountain Park. The trails are just plain fun to ride. You know, the kind of trails where you find yourself grinning like a fool as you ride. Trails that you can ride over and over and over again and still be entertained. For me, at least, McDowell is that kind of place. I had originally planned to hit the road today, and even spent a fair amount of time this morning trying to talk myself into showing the road bike some love. But when it was time to roll I found myself loading the mountain bike onto the rack for another 2.5 hours in the desert. Since I'll be on the dirt the next two days with my brother that makes this the 2nd trip in a row where I've only ridden the road bike once. Next time I head south I think I'll just leave it at home...

This afternoon I rode Pemberton to Granite to Bluff to Pemberton to the Secret trail and finished with the Scenic trail, riding the latter in the opposite direction I rode it yesterday. The Secret trail was pretty cool. Nothing remotely technical but the feeling was one of really being out in the desert where not many people had ridden before. The singletrack ended at a huge water trough for cattle accessed from the north via a primitive dirt road. Apparently the dirt road eventually connects into the Pima/Dynamite trail network in Scottsdale. Many thanks to the husband and wife out riding yesterday who shared its location with me.

To get to McDowell you drive through the city of Fountain Hills. As you can see from the picture below, it's clear where the name comes from. They don't run the fountain all day, but when it's on you can see it for miles.