GNBR East Day 1 - Ottawa to Wakefield

 44.6 miles, 3887’ ft climbing, rainy

August 23, 2026

We woke up about 7am at our hotel in Ottawa to clouds and chances of rain.  We got dressed and headed out for a quick breakfast at Scone Witch, which is just what it sounds like, a scone breakfast sandwich. After that we went back to the hotel and got ready to ride and took our bikes outside where it was raining steadily.  We zipped up our rain gear and started riding. There was a bit of maneuvering through the city streets to find the start of our route, but eventually we were on our way across the Ottawa River to Gatineau.

We rode along the Ottawa River and up to Gatineau Park, a large park similar to a national park in the US. At first we were near small subdivisions and some small lakes and ponds, then we headed into the woods on a paved bike path. After 10 miles, we turned off onto some singletrack. It was still raining as we made our way over rolling hills with puddles, rocks, and tree roots. None of it was too challenging for our Day 1 legs. We saw a lot of trail runners. Between the woods and clouds, it was fairly dark.

Around noon the rain lifted and we came to a picnic area where we stopped for a bite. Clouds of mosquitoes stopped for the same! The mosquitos turned out to be a theme for the afternoon, not bothering us if there was a breeze or we were moving quick enough to create one, but on slower climbs they bit us on our limbs and faces, even through our long sleeved shirts. We planned our trip for after peak mosquito season, but there were plenty for us.

After some overlooks back toward Ottawa, we had fun, flowy down hill all the way to the beautiful Meech Lake. We rode around the southern end of the lake on weathered pavement and found some thimble berries we snacked on along the way.

There were some rocky sections and a bit of hike-a-bike as we made our way to Lake Phillip. We saw a couple mountain bikers going in the opposite direction.  At Lake Phillips there was a little market at a campground where we had a coke before we finished our ride at the Wakefield Mill Hotel.  A lovely little hotel and spa where we had a nice warm shower to clean up and a delicious dinner to end the evening.

GNBR East - Ottawa

 0 miles, 0’ climbing 

August 20-22, 2026

On the evening of August 20th we flew into Ottawa with the plan to ride the Great Northern Bikepacking Route (GNBR) from Ottawa to Quebec City. Afterwards we want to pedal along the St Lawrence to Montreal. Our plan is to ride at a moderate pace and take days off in each of the three large cities we pass through so we can spend some time exploring the sights, history, and culture. Neither of us has previously visited this part of the world.

We arrived in Ottawa at night and caught an Uber XL to our hotel, the Lord Elgin, which was really well located. We were even able to get a late dinner in their restaurant. Our room had plenty of space for our two large bike boxes.

Over the next two sunny days, we assembled our bikes and put on the bags, disposed of the boxes (the front desk insisted on doing it for us). We took busses and the metro to the local MEC to get fuel for our camp stove, we bought groceries for the ride, we watched boats go thru the locks from the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River. We peeked inside the ginormous Fairmont Hotel, we walked around parliament hill, the seat of Canadian government. We looked at public art, walked Sparks street, a charming pedestrian zone. We took a historic walking tour of Bytown and Lower Town, walked up Major’s Hill to see the art and the view and enjoy a beer. We spent a couple hours in the fantastic national gallery, had dinner in a historic Irish pub that was brought from Ireland and reconstructed, rode water taxis across the Ottawa River, walked to waterfalls that turned out go be a dam, had dinner in a waterside pub, and had a dip in the pool at our hotel. We stumbled onto a kids’ break dancing competition. We each felt obliged to buy a short sleeved shirt because it was so warm and humid.  We did all that, not in that order, in two very full days. We found Ottawa charming and scenic, very much worth a visit.

RAAZ Day 10 - Big Lake to the New Mexican Border

Also part way up to Alpine, AZ

60.3 miles, 4790’ climbing

We needed to resupply at the Big Lake marina store which didn’t open until 7am, so we took our time in the morning, then rode over to the store. There wasn’t much on offer, and later we realized that one of the freezer-burned sandwiches we bought for lunch had ants in it, and other food was a year past its sell-by date. It’s what you get when you resupply in tiny places, but disappointing. Our food karma was not great at the end of the trip.

We rode back to our route and headed through the forest, seeing a coyote lope across the road. A lot of this area burned in the past, and there were signs warning that dead trees could fall in winds. There was also logging taking place, and we passed a couple of logging trucks before we turned off onto a smaller road.  We lost a lot of elevation which made the miles pass quickly.

As the day went on, we continued thru pine forests, then we turned a corner and found ourselves out of the pines on a several mile descent through scrub, oaks, and juniper. It was hot and windy, exposed to gusts, switchbacking down to the Blue River crossing. The Blue River canyon had red dirt cliffs, stands of cottonwood trees, and private properties. It was 93F according to Ed’s bike computer, hot. Thankfully we had a tailwind for many of the last miles of our route. We stopped to chat with a friendly local, then soon arrived at the New Mexican border.

We took a couple of photos to mark our finish at the RAAZ sign, then there was nothing to do but start the steep ride to Alpine where we left our car. The climb was more elevation gain than any on our route, and very steep, a grind. We pushed on for about 7 miles, then a local, Mike, gave us and our bikes a ride for the final few miles to our car at the Outpost RV park, our bikes piled precariously in the back of his small vehicle and secured with some of our voile bag straps.  We heard that a couple other riders had similar experiences, grinding up the hill then catching a ride with a friendly passing driver. We loaded up and drove to Show Low for the night where we celebrated with dinner out. It was great ride, and we will be glad to take a few days to recover.

RAAZ Day 9 - Show Low camp site to Big Lake

64.7 miles, 5275’ climbing

At our camp site, about 10 miles past Show Low, Sarah’s sleeping pad failed. It was a long night on rocky tent site for her. We thought the valve was the likely culprit.

We were close to civilization and a paved road. We packed up early knowing it was a long day to Big Lake, and the store there closes early at this time of year. We turned onto a few miles of pavement early in the day, the smooth riding easing the start to the day. Soon we were on a washboard gravel road with high speed traffic, then finally we turned off into the woods.

The bulk of the morning was spent going from one dirt road to another in the pines, oaks, and aspens. Most roads were good with the usual rocks and ruts. We chatted with a turkey hunter who lamented the lack of snow and rain this winter.

We had a long climb, about 9 continuous miles, to the high point of our entire ride, around 9600’. Cloud cover kept us from getting hot, and there was a predicted chance of rain that never materialized. We saw storm cells, but it looked like the rain wasn’t reaching the ground, but it did bring strong headwinds for much of the day.

We stopped for sandwiches, but the cheese we had just purchased in Show Low, with a sell-by date of Sept 2026, was full of green mold. Yech! Plain rolls for lunch. We continued up hill.

At around 8900’ of elevation, Sarah saw a creature on the roadside, head facing her. For some moments they stared at each other head on, then the creature turned and dashed into the trees. It was clearly a Mexican Gray wolf, much too large to be a coyote. They are known to be in this area, having been reintroduced in years past. As we rode past the trees where it left the road, we tried to catch another glimpse of it, but there were only chittering squirrels. We’ve seen wolves before in Canada and Yellowstone, but never in Arizona. A couple of miles later we saw a handful of turkeys cross the road ahead of us, quickly disappearing into the trees, a prudent choice given all the turkey hunters that are out and about.

Soon we came over the high point of our ride, out into some open meadows and strong headwinds. We could see the Sunrise Ski Area and Pole Knoll, where we have snowshoed in the past. The wind was vicious. It should not be necessary to pedal down hill, and it’s particularly offensive when it’s a washboard road! We slowed down. Eventually some hills and stands of trees gave us shelter.

We knew the store at the Big Lake marina closed at 5pm, and we were not likely to get there. Shawn the rider we had driven to start with had passed thru 2 days ago and told us there were showers at the campground, so we were motivated by the thought of rinsing off. As we approached Big Lake, our route had us turn onto a rail grade trail that was so faint that it was nearly invisible. Shawn had also mentioned this, so we plowed ahead.  This was the only singletrack riding on the whole route. We stirred up clouds of mosquitos in tall grass as we approached the lake, then we were on pavement to the Apache Trout campground which had luxuries such as potable water, picnic tables, and showers. Sarah tried to use a ponytail holder to partition off the leak in her sleeping mat, but it didn’t work. That’s a problem to be addressed later, and it was another night on cold rocks for her.

RAAZ Day 8 - Mogollon camp site to Show Low camp site

57.3 miles, 3350’ climbing

We woke up in time for a beautiful sunrise and a glimpse of an elk running away. After packing up, we hit the road which was rocky and bumpy for about 18 miles. After that it was rutted, sometimes feeing like a pump-it track as we went thru dips. We chatted with a genial turkey hunter, the only vehicle we passed until we reached the outskirts of Show Low. The road had turned rocky again, and the we were on pavement leading into ten. 

We took a long break at the Persnicketty Cafe, then picked up Subway sandwiches for dinner. We detoured about a mile off route to Safeway to load up on supplies. We don’t know if we will get to a store tomorrow before it closes, and it’s a long stretch to the next water source.

Riding the main road thru Show Low was one of the worst cycling stretches of the trip so far. There’s a shoulder coming into town and departing town, but the middle has no bike lane and lots of big trucks. 

With our blinking taillights on and a lot of weight from our food and water, we headed out on the highway. After a handful of miles, we turned off onto dirt. A smiling man with a friend in a 4 wheeler and a lively music soundtrack held the gate open for us.

The next several miles were a little bumpy, and we felt the difference on our loaded bikes. We wound around a mountain with oaks and scrub. A number of people were camping, and somebody up the hill was doing target practice endlessly. Before we edged back to civilization, we found a place to camp out of sight. 

Tomorrow we would like to make it to Big Lake with its nice campgrounds and store, but there’s a lot of challenging climbing between here and there.

RAAZ Day 7 - Rim Country Camping to Mogollon Rim Camping

62.7 miles, 3757’ climbing

We set an early alarm but didn’t roll out quickly. The air was cold as we descended through a canyon, but we quickly warmed as we climbed out the other side. Rolling through the pines we saw about 20 elk which ran across the road in front of us. 

After a series of smaller roads, we came out on the Old Rim Road with its washboard and bumpy rocks and dust, not to mention the scenic views. We were hot and took a few food breaks. The road suddenly turned to asphalt which was a welcome break for a few miles.

We came down to the visitor center, but it was closed and had no water. Some fun small roads brought us to the community of Forest Lakes. There were two very similar general stores where we resupplied, both called "General Store”. Both had similar inventory and friendly employees. Could there be a rivalry? Our hoped-for restaurant lunch didn’t happen when we found out that the cafe was closed on Monday’s. Back we went to one of the general stores for a microwaved meal and ice cream.

After a couple of miles of pavement, we were back on a dirt road, this one a little bumpy. We camped a few miles away from  the Travis Walton abduction site, but we saw no UFOs and had a quiet night in the trees.

RAAZ Day 6 - Flagstaff to Rim Country Camping

69.0 miles, 3878’ climbing

Campsite in the pines

We had breakfast in our hotel room and rolled out at 6am. It was chilly as we rolled down the pavement for a few miles before turning off onto a maintained gravel road with washboard. Eventually we turned off onto a smaller road. The day was characterized by a series of roads through the pines, oaks, and aspens on roads that had washboard or a thick layer of gravel. The scenery was beautiful with some large meadows and wildflowers including irises.  

After a welcome descent on good pavement, we topped up our water bottles at the Happy Jack ranger station, then headed back into the woods. The afternoon felt hot.

Eventually it was getting late. We spent some time looking for an expected water source that didn’t materialize. Finally we dry camped in a pullout, surrounded by pines. We had a full sky of stars and not a single other light visible at night.