Flat Tire at the Black Canyon Trailhead

Well it had to happen. The thing everyone who rides in the desert doesn't want to deal with is being alone with a flat tire in the summer. But a little planning and some good luck made it no big deal.

The first thing to always do before leaving is to tell someone else where you are going, and be sure to pack a few essentials. I had done that, Vicki knew my route, I had my cell phone and some water. Beside those bare minimum precautions I had also put Slime in my tubes, carried a patch kit, tire irons, and those CO2 cartridges to pump up the tire.

Where the luck came in is first of all I noticed that the KLR was feeling squirrelly and stopped right away, before the tube or tire was damaged. Second, the puncture, while it let the tire go flat was partially plugged by the Slime so that the CO2 was able to reinflate it long enough to get about 10 miles between each refill without having to patch the tube.

The tube will probably have to be replaced but what could have been a real pain turned into a minor annoyance.

Prescott by Way of Crown King

The old Senator Highway from Crown King to Prescott is a real piece of work. Mmmm, highway is a bit of a stretch. It is mostly a one lane extremely twisty dirt road just asking for a head-on.

When I asked a Crown King local where to find the road to Prescott he pointed back to I-17. "No, I mean the dirt road."
"Sure ya want to do that?"
"I've got a dirt bike with me."
"It's 38 miles and not wide enough for two cars to pass. People drive it way too fast."
"Yeh, that's the one."
"About a half mile up the road there's a sign."

Luckily I didn't come face to face with anyone going too fast and doubly lucky those I did meet were only on quads. A full size vehicle would have been very tight. It is passable but I sure wouldn't take the crew cab. A jeep or small SUV would do ok, but nothing larger.

It was fun . Left at 6:00, reached Crown King via back roads except the I-17 stretch between Black Canyon City and the Bumble Bee turn-off. Lunch in Prescott, and then the back way through Yarnell. Great curvy roads and cool air ..... until Congress (at the bottom of Yarnell hill). Then the blast funace all the way back to Phoenix.

Nice ride, 238 miles, 4.63 gallons, the KLR performed flawlessly.