Lost Dog Wash, McDowell Sonoran Preserve
Yesterday I was in the north part of the valley for a family party. I brought my bike seeing that the McDowell Sonoran Preserve was only a mile away. I’ve heard a few things about Lost Dog Wash and Sunrise Trail up there and thought I’d just sneak away for an hour to go explore.
I drove out to the Lost Dog Wash Trailhead
on 124th Street just north of Via Linda. I was pretty excited to see a new trail. I love riding my favorites (Hawes, National, McDowell Race Loops) but there is just something about a new trail that puts the adventure back in riding. One of the funnest parts of riding is rounding a corner to see some daunting obstacle, a tech climb or a sequence of boulders to navigate. Not to mention the new cactus dangers. I’m so familiar with all the “danger spots” on my usual rides that I hardly notice them anymore, I just hug the trail on the safety side.