I'd like to do a short self-supported ride to Payson (or
Scottsdale) over the Labor Day weekend - Fri Sep 3 or Sat
Sep 4 until Mon Sep 6. I don't want to go alone, so if you
are interested in coming with, send me an email. We don't
have much time to plan, so act fast!

It's 95 miles (mostly downhill) from Flagstaff to Payson
via Mormon Lake and Strawberry/Pine. Figure to camp
overnight somewhere between Happy Jack (43 mi), Clint's
Well (58 mi), or Pine (81 mi). Jane's working on finding a
campground location. There isn't much along the route
until you get to Payson, where there is a campground and
several motels.

Since this is a practice self-supported ride, you should
load your panniers or trailer with whatever you need.
You'll probably want a tent, sleeping bag, air mattress,
food, water, clothes, raingear, bike spares & tools, etc.

The biggest problems are getting ourselves and bikes up to
Flag and back from Payson.

We could ride home from Payson, but it's 80 miles of steep
mountains and heavy traffic between Payson and Scottsdale.
If we have the right number of riders and a vehicle, we
could share driving the sag wagon like we did to Tucson.
Unfortunately, Tim's van had a crash, so it's unavailable.
We might be able to use his bike trailer, if another rider
has a van or car. Anybody have any other ideas?

Two commercial alternatives to Flag are Greyhound and Open
Road Tours. I talked to Greyhound at the main station on
Buckeye Rd & 24th St by the airport. They sell bike boxes
for $10 and a roll of packing tape for $2. (The dollar
store has packing tape for $1). They leave at 4am & 8:10am
etc, with the last departure at 10:15pm. Tickets are $24.
The ride is more than 3 hours. Open Road Tours runs an
airport shuttle from Sky Harbor to Flagstaff. Tickets are
$30, and another $20 for a bike, which must be boxed. They
estimated they can take only 2 bikes.
http://www.openroadtours.com/flag_main.html#PHX They have
an 8:30am departure, then about every 3 hours till 7:30pm.
It's a 3-hour ride.

The only bus from Payson is on White Mountain Passenger
Lines http://www.wmlines.com/. Unfortunately, they don't
run on Sunday or Labor Day.

tla




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