Tres Rios Loop - Day 1 - Saguaros, Junipers, and a Wander down the Santa Maria River

January is always the middle of winter here on the South Rim.  And the craving for desert warmth and escape always hits true.  When Janna and I were looking ahead to the MLK, Jr. holiday weekend, we decided to travel with Dan and Kate, who were scheduled for furlough and were going to be down in Arizona from Glacier NP at that time.  The four of us wanted to catch up, and we felt a bikepacking trip through the desert deserved merit for an adventure all together.  At first, we were looking at creating a route through Gold Butte NM, but we all felt a closer, warmer, and shorter route would be preferable since none of us had ridden much due to winter.  At the beginning of December, Kurt Refsnider published his Tres Rios Loop...(Keep Reading)