Spring 2023 AZPT Ride

[Keebler]

GRN500, his wife, my wife, and I are going to ride the upper loop of the AZPT 3/18/2023 through 3/25/2023. Our tentative plan is to leave from the Quartzsite staging area on 3/18 and travel to Lake Havasu City (~96 miles). Day 2 will be Lake Havasu City to Bullhead City by way of Oatman (~80 miles). Day 3 will be Bullhead City to Kingman by way of The Secret Pass (~60 miles). Day 4 will be from Kingman to Wikieup (~77 miles). Day 5 will be from Wikieup to Alamo Lake (~45 miles). Day 6 will be from Alamo Lake to Salome (~52 miles). Day 8 will be Salome to Quartzsite (~50 miles).

Due to the border situation we plan to stay in hotels a couple nights and camping in established camp grounds the rest of the nights and not ride the southern portion this year. Anyone is welcome to join us, however please know that your UTV will need to have a license plate and our cruising speed on road sections will be limited to about 30 mph.

 

[ByronM]

Frank if I am able I will be there. Back surgery Thursday but will still need a hip at some point. I will keep you posted

 

[Keebler]

I will keep you in my prayers.

 

[crewcabrob]

Glad to see you guys are still getting this trip back on peoples radar. I hope that it works out.

Rob

 

[Adam490]

GRN500, his wife, my wife, and I are going to ride the upper loop of the AZPT 3/18/2023 through 3/25/2023. Our tentative plan is to leave from the Quartzsite staging area on 3/18 and travel to Lake Havasu City (~96 miles). Day 2 will be Lake Havasu City to Bullhead City by way of Oatman (~80 miles). Day 3 will be Bullhead City to Kingman by way of The Secret Pass (~60 miles). Day 4 will be from Kingman to Wikieup (~77 miles). Day 5 will be from Wikieup to Alamo Lake (~45 miles). Day 6 will be from Alamo Lake to Salome (~52 miles). Day 8 will be Salome to Quartzsite (~50 miles).

Due to the border situation we plan to stay in hotels a couple nights and camping in established camp grounds the rest of the nights and not ride the southern portion this year. Anyone is welcome to join us, however please know that your UTV will need to have a license plate and our cruising speed on road sections will be limited to about 30 mph.

Good luck and keep us updated via the thread. Few of us have been tossing around the idea of doing the full loop in early 2024.

 

[Keebler]

Anyone ride the AZPT following the .kml provided on the AZPT website or the AZPT atlas? I am working the plans for my upcoming ride and have found inconsistencies between the route in the .kml file and the route in the AZPT atlas. One of the areas of difference is just north of Salome, the route in the atlas takes a powerline trail and the .kml files takes an unpaved road instead of turning off on the powerline road. Another difference is just north of Alamo Lake where the atlas and .kml file differ on which route is the main trail and which is an alternate. I have not yet finished the western section of the AZPT so there may be more differences. Should I plan to follow the gps route or the Atlas?

 

[Adam490]

Anyone ride the AZPT following the .kml provided on the AZPT website or the AZPT atlas? I am working the plans for my upcoming ride and have found inconsistencies between the route in the .kml file and the route in the AZPT atlas. One of the areas of difference is just north of Salome, the route in the atlas takes a powerline trail and the .kml files takes an unpaved road instead of turning off on the powerline road. Another difference is just north of Alamo Lake where the atlas and .kml file differ on which route is the main trail and which is an alternate. I have not yet finished the western section of the AZPT so there may be more differences. Should I plan to follow the gps route or the Atlas?

I’d be more inclined to trust the GPS file since it has been updated more recently. I’m thinking about doing an AZPT trip in 2024 so I’m interested in what you guys figure out next year

 

[K9Paco]

I’d be more inclined to trust the GPS file since it has been updated more recently. I’m thinking about doing an AZPT trip in 2024 so I’m interested in what you guys figure out next year

Adam, how are you getting around the plate issue being from Louisiana?

 

[Adam490]

Adam, how are you getting around the plate issue being from Louisiana?

Not sure yet, but pretend I didn’t know is pretty high on my list

 

[ByronM]

Update: Frank and all Merry Christmas to you and yours. My back surgery had a unintended effect on my ability to use my left leg, although I am still using a walker I am finally getting better and believe I be able to ditch it in the next couple of weeks and start walking again. I still need to have a hip replacement in my future but after the problem I have had with rehab I am considering waiting until April or so to do it. Depending on how my hip feels in the next month or two I am still very interested in this trip in March. Please let me know about your motel arrangements for the trip.

 

[Keebler]

Update: Frank and all Merry Christmas to you and yours. My back surgery had a unintended effect on my ability to use my left leg, although I am still using a walker I am finally getting better and believe I be able to ditch it in the next couple of weeks and start walking again. I still need to have a hip replacement in my future but after the problem I have had with rehab I am considering waiting until April or so to do it. Depending on how my hip feels in the next month or two I am still very interested in this trip in March. Please let me know about your motel arrangements for the trip.

I will pray for your continued healing.

I will be meeting with GrnP500 early February and will nail down hotels at that time. As of now it appears that we will be in a hotel in Kingsman and maybe Lake Havasue. The trip will likely be 8 or 9 days and the daily distance has been decreased to about 50 to 60 miles, allowing for more side trips and sightseeing.

 

[Keebler]

Not sure yet, but pretend I didn’t know is pretty high on my list

Not sure pretending you didn't know is a winning strategy since will be riding through the center of multiple cities, Lake Havasue and Kingsman being 10 or more miles of busy city roads. A lot of us have gotten a restricted plate from Idaho and use it for states with repository, Arizona included. You can look at the Rimrocker thread from last year for details on how to get an Idaho plate. If you need additional details let me know and I can provide.

Remember that you will also need an Arizona sticker.

 

[Keebler]

Just a little over two weeks until we head out to Quartzsite to ride the AZPT. It looks like it will be two P500s so I don't expect we will set any speed record. We are running trails along I-10/Hwy 60/I-10 from Quartzsite to Salome, then run the AZPT counterclockwise up through Kingman, Bullhead, Lake Havasue City, Bouse, then back to Quartzsite. We are leaving the Quartzsite staging area Sunday, 3/19/2023 at 9ish and will return to Quartzsite on 3/27/2023. We plan on camping in RV Resorts, State Parks, BLM Campgrounds, and stay one night in a hotel in Kingman. Anyone wanting to join us is welcome. I will provide a ride report after we complete the trip.

 

[ByronM]

Have a great ride, hope to see you in the future Frank

 

[CID]

I just happened on a section of the AZPT a couple of days ago, completely by accident. The section I rode takes off of the power line road WSW of Quartzsite. If you’re headed west at that section, 7/10ths of mile from the power line road, it gets really bad IMO but at least you’re going downhill. The first time I went through, I turned back at 8/10ths, too much remaining trail down the creekbed and, If it remained that rough, I’d have been there past dark.

I went back today and attacked it from the west end, riding up the creek. I already had my previous track showing where I had turned around (GAIA GPS on an iPad) so I knew where I had to get. From the west it’s pretty easy up until where I had turned around earlier. I’m not familiar with the layout of the AZPT so I don’t know if I was going CW or CCW.

My point - get past the boulders at the east end of that canyon and yer good. It’s only 3.4 miles long and it took me 30 minutes from the bottom. There’s only a bit of ‘holy sh!t’ at 7/10ths in from the east end.

fwiw: riding alone in a Talon. Have fun, wish I could join you but not plated and can’t plan lunch so a multi day ride is over my head.

 

[Keebler]

If you were WSW of Quartzsite it sounds like you were on the lower half of the AZPT, south of highway I-10, maybe even on the good the bad and the ugly section. We will be going east from Quartzsite so we won't have the privilege of running that section this time. I did see on the AZPT Facebook page that the mountains between Wikieup and Kingman was closed earlier this week due to snow and they had to rescue a couple in a Polaris RZR .... hope it warms up in the next 2 weeks!

 

[CID]

If you were WSW of Quartzsite it sounds like you were on the lower half of the AZPT, south of highway I-10, maybe even on the good the bad and the ugly section. We will be going east from Quartzsite so we won't have the privilege of running that section this time. I did see on the AZPT Facebook page that the mountains between Wikieup and Kingman was closed earlier this week due to snow and they had to rescue a couple in a Polaris RZR .... hope it warms up in the next 2 weeks!

Definitely south of highway 10 and Good, Bad and Ugly would certainly describe the section. It starts straight north of Cunningham Mountain off of Pipeline Road. Sounds like yer gonna miss the fun stuff.

33* 35’ .012” N
114* 20’ 56.81” W

 

[crewcabrob]

I wish you guys the best of luck on your trip! Wish things would have worked out better for everyone to go on this trip.

Rob