Kara's Adventures : June 2026

Flagstaff Lady Shredders Group shot at
Flagstaff Bicycle Revolution before heading out on the
Beginner overnight bikepack trip!

There is an amazing facebook group of lady shredders in Flagstaff. Since flagstaff is only 2.5 hours away I follow along in case there is an event I want to join. Flagstaff is one of my happy places to ride especially in the summer. It is at 7,000ft so significantly cooler than Phoenix. Also, every time I ride amongst the pine trees I can't help but smile. I just love the smell of pine! Back in 2019 John Schilling took over as race director of the Arizona trail race (AZTR). Since Covid shut things down for awhile in 2020 he took that time to add some amazing (crazy) miles to the route and moved the grand depart to the fall in 2021. One reason was to hopefully not have snow on the north rim as they often did with the Spring grand deport. It also works out for most of the country to be able to train in the summer instead of the cold winter. For us Phoenicians that means a bulk of our training would be in the summer when it is 110 degrees! Hard to get long rides in during that heat. I knew I was going to have to take a lot of road trips up north to Flagstaff to get in some long training days. I also wanted to keep my training fun. I didn’t have a coach as I didn’t want to get hyper focus on the workouts. One of the reasons why I even started dreaming about the AZTR was because I felt like I was in a riding slump and and not in a good place mentally in 2024. I needed a goal and something fun to chase. AZTR became that adventure. Therefore, I wanted to keep the training fun as much as I could. Bring back my love of adventure and mountain biking. I was on a high from the Aquarius Utah hut to hut ride. That week was a perfect training week and an example of making my training fun.

In early July 2025 I saw a post in the Flagstaff Lady Shredders facebook group. They posted the dates for the 3rd annual beginner bikepacking overnight. It would be 8/2/25-8/3/25. The past two events I had something already planned and was unable to attend. I quickly checked my calendar and was so happy when I saw I had this weekend open! I put the event on my calendar and I was committed. It is a rare occurrence these days that I have an entire weekend open. I have two jobs. I am a full time nurse program coordinator at our local Children’s Hospital in outpatient genetics. This is a Monday-Friday job. I'm also do speaking engagements for a rare disease drug company to do disease education to providers and patients. This second job includes a lot of travel across the country. So between the two jobs I am kept pretty busy and sneak in my training/riding when I can. Sometimes I have to get creative especially navigating the phoenix heat. A coworker shared with me a challenge at work. Climb the 12 stories of stairs at work. I quickly realized this would be a great way to train for all the hiking during the AZTR. I started running the stairs and doing five sets when I could. Sometimes with my weighted RUCK (20 pounds). This became a routine when I traveled. I would run the stairs at the hotel for 30 min! It ended up being a great workout.

As the date drew near I realized I have never set out on a solo trip or camped overnight alone. The AZTR is a solo self-supported ride. I knew I would be out there for at least 15 days and most likely longer. I wanted at least one solo trip. I decided to take Friday off work. I didn’t figure out where I was going to add on miles until a few days before I headed north. However, I knew I would bike long miles Friday, camp overnight solo and then bike to the start. I just had to figure out the logistics.

I got up super early Friday morning and headed north. Decided to stash some water near the top of snow bowl road. I would hopefully make it there to camp that night. Little did I know there is a cow pond not far from there I could have filtered from. Found It later on my research for AZTR. Now I know. I then headed to Rogue Panda Headquarters. Just a few weeks before on the Utah hut to hut, I broke a clasp on my Rogue Panda Ripsey bag. Thankfully they are local to Flagstaff. I love shopping local when I can and this is a great example of why. I contacted them and they were awesome. We made a plan for me to stop by on Friday morning. Big shout out to Michael for meeting me before their normal hours. He 100% took care of me. We got the clasp fixed in a jiffy and also mounted the new clamp. I went and grabbed breakfast and then headed to Mallory’s. Mallory offered for me to park at her apartment. I was thankful and it would be a great staging location. I got started a little later than I wanted and hit the trail around 11AM. Flagstaff has a great urban trail system called FUTS! I took that to Schultz parking area. Ran into Mallory there. Chatted way to long and then started my climb up dog food trail. I kinda had a route in mind but also called many audibles along the way. You can do that when you are solo. I just wanted a big day on the bike and to camp solo! I needed to make sure I didn’t loose my mind out there solo. Also, a great trip to continue testing my setup.

Rogue Panda has great customer service and really
Took care of me! Thanks for meeting me earlier
Than your normal posted hours.

Already to go. Thanks Mallory for
Letting my stage at your place!

I was able to get on trails right away from Mallory’s
Place via the FUTS system

FUTS system. Great not having to ride
On roads to get to Fort Valley Trail system area.

Fun sculpture along the way.

Run into Mallory at Schultz trailhead. She was just
Finishing a ride! Hung out chatting way to long but
Eventually hit the trail.

Schultz Tank! I have never seen It with no water
This time of year. Crazy.

Schultz Road

AZT heading to toward snowbowl area where I stashed
My water. The greenery was crazy and as tall as me!
It was like I was riding in an Aspen Jungle. It was pretty cool
And I did need feel like I was in Arizona.

I love these AZT signs with the mileage! Reality
Setting in what I will embark on in 2.5 months!

Pretty sunset partly due to the smoke up on the
North rim of the GC.

I ended the day with 45 miles and 5,138ft elevation gain. I mix of my favorite single track and a few dirt roads. Even though I got a much later start than I anticipated I was able to put together a big day on the bike. Moving time was about 7 hours! I obtained my goal. I was so glad I had my tent. The bugs that night were really bad. I set up as quick as possible and jumped in my tent. It was about 9pm. Time to figure out if I loose my mind sleeping solo in the woods. I ended up enjoying it. Fell asleep to white noise through an app on my phone. It was nice being able to send a text to Todd through the nreach so he knew I was safe. The next morning I flew down the AZT to meet up with the flagstaff lady shredders at Flagstaff Bicycle Revolution. I timed it perfect and had just enough time to grab some breakfast from The Toasted Owl Cafe. I ordered bacon and hash browns to go. I figured out this keeps for several hours in my bag and is perfect meal on the trail. Had a fun day pedaling to our overnight spot at Scholz Lake. It was a hot day but we took a lot of breaks to regroup. We biked 47 miles and 1800 ft elevation gain on dirt roads. Everyone did great. It was fun meeting new friends along the way. I needed motivation to get out there. Any miles on my loaded bike are solid training miles. This weekend is exactly what I needed to keep motivated.

Enjoying my breakfast. Thanks Bike Revolution for
Letting me eat at there little bar area in the back of
The shop. Also, was able to charge up my electronics.

Sprawled out eating lunch! My potatoes and bacon
I bought earlier from the cafe hit the spot.

Group shot during our lunch break

Heading out! I love beginner bikepacking
Trips. It is fun to spread my love of bikepacking.

The wildflowers were on point.

A dip in Scholz Lake was the perfect ending
to a long day of pedaling!

Scholz Lake

We found the perfect camping spot. Large flat area
For our large group to spread out.
Walking distance to the lake.

Vegan Ice cream! What a fun surprise.

Thanks for the ice cream. It hit the spot
After a long day of pedaling in the heat.

My little camp spot!

Best part of the day. I love hanging out and
meeting new friends.

We walked down to the lake after dark. The frogs were crazy
And the noises were entertaining.

Day 2 resupply at Parks Feed and Mercantile

Taking a break in the shade to regroup

Mother Road Brewing Company. Great place to refuel