Exploring Cave Creek Dam & My New Camelbak Rogue

There is a new major road that just opened up in our neck of the woods.  It's about 8 miles long, has no stop lights, and is relatively flat.  It cuts through the desert and offers views previously unseen.  It's a great route to incorporate into any ride, as it adds an additional 16 miles of continuous riding.  Once we started utilizing this new stretch of road, one of the previously unseen views was that of Cave Creek Dam.  Previously, the only way to see it from afar was if you were on one of the MTB trails in the area.  Every time I saw it, while on the new stretch, I became more and more intrigued.  Today was the day that I made the decision to hop on my MTB and take off on an exploratory ride.  I had no idea how to get there, or if it was even accessible.  I simply hopped on my steed and followed a number of different, unmarked, trails that led to the general area that I wanted to go.

This is the first ride that I was able to use my new Camelbak Rogue.  I've been trying to get a bottle, and cage, to fit in the middle of my frame, but had absolutely no luck.  I borrowed a side loading cage from Airpark Bikes and purchased the smallest (20oz) bottle that I could find.  Unfortunately, it was still too big and would mess with the suspension/shock.  As a result, I was carrying a bottle in my jersey pocket, but that didn't provide enough water.  I should mention that there is a place for a cage on the underside of my frame, but who the heck puts a bottle down there?!?!  It would get muddy, dirty, dusty, and be hanging out down there....impossible for me to reach whilst riding.  A few of my pals have Camelbaks, and a few of them actually use them.  The few that don't tell me that they don't like having the extra weight on their back, or that "you just don't see the elite guys wearing them"  Some of my other MTB buddies have hardtails that have a frame that allows for two full sized bottles, so no pack is necessary.  With all that considered, I still HAD to make the purchase, but didn't want a huge, monstrous, back pack.  After checking them all out, I settled on the smaller, 70oz, minimal, Rouge.  I didn't want a black one, since I figured that it was really heat up in the summer, and the yellow one just didn't catch my fancy.  I kind of liked the white one, but I could only order that from the UK.  That left me with the red one and, I gotta say, now that I have it, looks bad ass!

Once I get some more use out of it, maybe I'll give a full report.  Until then, I'll get back to the ride report on the Dam.

After about 7 or 8 miles of riding seemingly endless trails, I came upon the dam itself.  It was actually quite the site!  I took my time to take it all in, take some pics, and just ride around.  I found this guys MTB blog with more detailed info and more pics:  Cave Creek Dam Blog Entry
Once it was time to head back, I decided to take a different way then I had come in.  I mean, why not?  Let's explore!  At one point, I wasn't sure where the trail was going to take me and the only landmark I had was the North Sonoran Mountain and it's trail system.  As long as I was heading northeast of that, I was good to go!  Eventually, I made my way back safely and had an awesome time out there alone....just exploring.

Link to the ride: Cave Creek Dam Ride 

Pic of my bike with the dam in the background: