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Approaches

From East. From Az188 to Apache Lake the surface is intermittently paved, and even when not, it is still hard pressed to a very smooth surface that is much better than cracked pavement. The biggest problem are the many trucks that apply some sort of dust supressant/sealant to the road surface, and thus potentially produce a messy biking experience, even though it hasn't rained in 3 months. But even then, the liquid dries really fast.

Turning off Az188 onto Az88, the road passes two scenic dam-view gazebos and quickly drops to the waterlevel on other side of the dam. This already amounts to  ~300ft.

The frst 200ft climb aims back towards the same picturesque elevation water of the reservoir, After that the road diverts into the hills south of another reservoir, Apache Lake. From s(u)-4, the next giant rollers are pretty evident. In the blinding, frontal light they resemble a rolled out roll of toilet paper, curving between power lines, over dessert hills. The next climb actually leads a bit higher, but it drops less than 300ft, and so I consider it part of s(u)-3, which is the actual subject of this page.

Climbing this next set of steps culminating in s(u)-3 becomes increasingly scenic, due to height gained over Apache Lake. A small lip of trailers at its shore provides scale to the four peaks behind it. There is steep one mile descent to the lake which allows defining more summit points along the route. The best part comes shortly after this steep turnoff when the power lines disappear from the vista and the image becomes a whole. But this is also the point where the surface turns into a sandy washboard. However, road work is happening all along the route. So after December 2024 this has probably changed. From the summit you only catch a first glimpse of the real climb up from Fish Creek.

From West.  (also described upwards). Just a short shallow climb, involving two more signed one-lane bridges, both not nearly as spectacular as the one over Fish Creek, which is part of the approach to the highest point on the Apache Trail.