Sky Islands Odyssey
WOrds by WIlliam Boucher // A short film by Ralph Samson
The Sky Islands Odyssey route in southern Arizona consists of two loops: The West Loop and The East Loop found on BIkeapcking.com.
Sky Island Odyssey is a short film about a bikepacking trip that fellow Québecois, Ralph Samson, made with his friend, Will Boucher, last January. They followed the Sky Island Odyssey route traced by Sarah Swallow applying the leave no trace rules. The boarderlands route featured a diverse network of dirt, rocky, and sandy roads that traverse the ever-changing landscapes characteristic of the Sky Islands bioregion in the Sonoran Desert.
Last December my good friend Ralph and I started to plan a week-long trip we would take in the beginning of January. We had been on a 3 day bike packing trip on the Vermont Gravel Growler last summer and had an amazing time out there so we started to look into a new destination to climb in the saddle and discover some new ground. Our primary concerns were the weather since we’d be riding at the beginning of January and the length of the trip since we each only had one week off from our usual lives. Thanks to bikepacking.com and their beautiful work in mapping out so many bike packing routes all over the world we chose a route and ended up in Southern Arizona at the head of the Sky Island Odyssey full loop, a 350km route with 3500 meters of elevation. Totally doable in 5 days of biking.
So in the early morning hours of a very cold January day we packed our bikes into plane bags and flew to Tucson, Arizona. From there we drove to our base camp, the Appelton Whittell Research Center, where we were met with a super warm welcome. The ranch provides campgrounds and bunkhouses (small cabins with beds, a kitchen and a shower) to cyclists who cross their path. After spending our first night there, sleeping comfortably in beds, we woke up to the view of frosted grounds – not exactly what we expected in the desert of Arizona. We put our bikes together over a nice warm classic oatmeal breakfast, put on the warmest clothes we packed and set out on our quest.
After biking through a bunch of ranch properties we found ourselves in the Coronado National Forest, riding through seemingly endless fields with views of a mountain range in the horizon – mountains we’d eventually cross. The excitement of the trail ahead really set in as we biked through the beautiful landscape and truly saw the immensity of this little corner of Southern Arizona.
As the first day of riding went by we noticed so many places to camp, even some camper trailers left behind until their owner’s next visit. A reassuring sight that meant we didn’t need to worry about finding a good camping spot for the night. Leaving the endless fields of the Coronado Forest we started climbing our first ascent of the trip, finding ourselves in a section we nick named “Rasputitsa”. “Rasputitsa” was completely different from what we’ve had seen earlier in the day – suddenly we were riding a cold, muddy, snowy forest just like as if we were in back in East Burke, Vermont. With the sun going down and feeling exhausted we were desperate to find a spot to spend the night. We finally saw an opening in the forest and a sweet field where we could camp.
After one of the coldest camping nights we’ve ever experienced and feeling like we haven’t slept at all we made a morning fire to warm up, ate breakfast, packed our lives back into seven bags and we were on the road again. Riding out of the forest, and starting one of the most amazing descents we realized our lucky little camping spot was on the top of the Patagonia mountains. No wonder it was freezing. Going down some switchbacks, we were just mesmerized by the beauty of the landscapes. Some of the most beautiful views and untouched nature for as far as we could see. We eventually arrived at the bottom of the mountain where we ended up on some country roads, a crossroads of highways, then a typical southern small town to finally come back to the Coronado national forest. Being at the most southern point of our journey we encountered more and more border patrol, although they didn’t seem to care much of our presence. Starting a 10 kilometers climb around 2 o’clock, we knew we would again sleep in some pretty high in altitude. We stopped our second day in a nice little spot 200 feet away from a herd of cattle who also didn’t seem to mind our presence until 3:00 in the morning when we could feel the ground shaking from their stomp. Fortunately though they didn’t stomp on either of us, or worse any of our gear.
Waking up a lot warmer than the day before we were ready for day two of our adventure, starting with another incredible descent into the wonderful scenery of the Atascosa mountain. Exiting the national forest we arrived on Ruby road, one of the nicest parts of the loop, which led us to Ruby Ghost Town, an ancient mining town. Continuing on our way we came to Arivaca, another small border town. Naturally we went in to investigate and found a really traditional Mexican restaurant La Gitana Cantina. Having wifi access for the first time since we left the ranch we looked at our progression and realized that we weren’t quite as far as we thought. This was a turning point for us as we were unsure we could complete the loop in time. We decided to skip the Buenos Aires National Wild Life Refuge / Altar Valley part of the original loop and stay on Route 19 to reach Santa Cruz, shaving not even 50 kilometers off the trip. Arriving in Santa Cruz I started to feel some pain in my knee, nothing to serious at this point just the effects of being in your mid-30’s after a life time full of sports like skateboarding, snowboarding and biking. After taking a little break to let our joints rest we saw signs advertising campgrounds and lodging 10 miles away in Madera Canyon. This definitely felt like the longest 10 miles of my life - my knee was getting worse, the sun was setting and there was no sign of any place to set up camp. Feeling exhausted we walked our bikes 6 kilometers and 400 meters of elevation before finding an open bed and breakfast. A warm meal, a shower and a bed were a real treat after 3 days out in the wild.
The night spent inside paid off as we started day four feeling good as new, ready for the biggest climb of our trip. After riding down the Madera Canyon we started the 30 kilometers climb of the Box Canyon, one of the nicest climbs I’ve ever done. Reaching the top of Granite Mountain we started our descent and eventually reached the beautiful Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, the last section of our trip before coming back to The Appelton Whittell Research Center.
The whole adventure was beyond amazing. Riding 305 kilometers and 4220 meters of elevation in four days. It’s definitely one neither of us will ever forget. We took time on the trip to capture the memories, Ralph with his modern film gear, drone, go-pro and a Sony camera and me with disposable cameras. It’s been a dream to be able to share it with everyone and relive it all while writing this article and with the release of Ralph’s short film. Every part was worth it and I can’t recommend it enough. It was the trip of a life time, to say the least, and I can’t wait to start planning the next one.
Find out more about Ralph and Will:
Instagram: @wilhelmboucher, @ralph_raft
Ralph’s website: ralphsamson.com
Will’s bikepacking bags: Atwater Atelier