So, my co-worker Greg Luck (www.ridetotheride.blogspot.com) is headed to Chile, South America, and might go as far south as Patagonia. Not to be out done, Mary and I headed to Patagonia first, Patagonia Arizona that is. The picture above is of our camp, from atop one of the Patagonia Peaks. 
Gus and I had quite a little adventure. We started up on a whim, I didn't even put on jeans, which in Sonora is a good idea. My legs were stinging from the scraping of the pokey desert plants, but luckily I had some leg warmers in my pack and put them on. We made the top in about an hour, I waved at Mary below and she acknowledged by waving back. I noticed while sitting on the cliff at the top, that below the cliff band there was very little vegetation. If Gus and I could get down the cliff we could "walk" back down. Well, getting down the cliff with Gus was absolutely scary. Lucky for me he obeys every command and did exactly as he was told or we both would have fallen. At one point I arrested his downward fall, it was the only way, and he trusted me completely. 
Once we reached the bottom of the cliff band I was shocked to realize that the slope had no vegetation because it was too steep for any to grow on it. My view from the top had skewed my depth perception. It was a scree field most of the way to the bottom. It was like surfing on rocks. Finally we popped out about 500 ft BELOW camp, making my "short cut" quite dangerous and substantially longer.
The picture above was taken very near the bottom where vegetation took back over.
Mary was starting a camp fire and dinner when we trudged back into camp. I had forgotten bread so our hot dogs got dumped in with the pork and beans. Quite a good mix actually. Half way through dinner the sky got all hot and bothered and started strutting its stuff. Not a bad sunset.
The wind howled all night and Border Patrol trucks kept driving by our little slice of wilderness reminding us that thousands of illegal immigrants were struggling through the hills around us, probably wishing they had worn jeans to keep the pokey plants off of their legs too. 
We drove back north after breakfast to Kentucky Camp, an old mining town from the 1800's. The hills around it are laced with singletrack, part of and IMBA epic route. Mary's hands were not feeling it, and Gus was tuckered out from the day before, so I went on a solo ride. These trails make up part of the Arizona Trail system.
(Bleeding Tree) Anyone know what this tree is, or why it is half red? Cool photo I thought?
Above is the handle bar view of the butter smooth trails running through the high grasslands below the Santa Rita Mountains. The ride was twenty two miles, which was all I wanted this early in the season.
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