YAHOO!!! ON THE ROAD AGAIN

After a rather dull couple of months at Hidden Valley Ranch in Deming, we left for Arizona and better weather just before the temps plummeted.  The day after we left, temp at night hit 14 degrees at the ranch.

I pull the flatbed trailer with the two side-by-sides while Mike pulls the travel trailer with his truck.  The past two years, we have gone from Deming to Buckeye, AZ, in one shot.  (There is a Walmart in Buckeye which is RV’er friendly.)  This year we decided it’s just too far for me to drive so we stopped at a park in Casa Grande, AZ, for an overnight before going the last 150 miles to Hope, AZ.

Hope, AZ, is a tiny place at the junction of two highways.  There is a gas station/minimart (closed) on one corner.  The RV park and a church are across the street.  We got into the park early afternoon and were getting set up when a guy two sites down walked over.  He had seen the flatbed with the side-by-sides and came over to see if we would like to ride the next day with him and his wife. Mike (another Mike) and his wife Colleen are from Montana. This is their third year here and he knows all the trails.  Like most of the BLM land we've explored, this area has no trail markers; you really need to go out with someone who knows the area until you get a good idea of where everything is.  

We took off following Mike and Colleen and he led us to what is called a Whoop-Ti-Do, a trail which winds in and out of a series of washes.  Fun riding.  Then the trail started up and up and up.  We topped out at a point on a ridge where we could see miles in all directions.  (This is an old mining area so there are lots of trails, much like we have in Deming.)

RV'ers can be quirky, especially when they are bored.  As we dropped down off the ridge and started across the flat, Mike (our guide) said he would take us to some interesting sights.  I believe he said there is a retired engineer in the park who likes to build things in the desert when he runs out of other things to do.  

He built this nice bird bath.  Note the polished stones around the rim.  Mr. Engineer's wife is a rockhound and the park has a lapidary shop.

Someone has to keep putting water in it as there isn't enough rain to keep it filled.  And then....TA DA...THE PYRAMID.

Montana Mike at The Pyramid.

Can you imagine the utter bafflement of some future archeologist who stumbles across this and tries to figure out who built it and why?

Just down the trail from these historic markers are three decorated trees:  The BRA Tree, The HAT Tree, and The STUFFED TOY Tree.  (Did I mention that bored RV'ers find odd things to do?)  I missed getting a photo of the Hat Tree but I did get the other two.  

Obviously there is no grocery store in Hope.  The nearest Walmart is at Parker, AZ, some 50 miles from Hope.  There are dozens of RV parks in Parker or across the river in CA and shopping at Walmart is an exercise in patience.  

At 60 miles from Hope is Wickenburg,Arizona, a charming Old West town, with a Safeway and a couple of very good restaurants, gas stations, hardware stores, etc.  So we went to Wickenburg.

When Wickenburg was an Old West town, they didn't have a real jail.  Local lawbreakers were chained to the Jail Tree.  The photo below is what the Jail Tree looks like today.

The area around Hope has a number of citrus farms.  The park has planted citrus trees, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, at various places along the rows of sites.  At the end of our site is this lemon tree with wonderful fruit.  I fixed shrimp one night and used the lemons from this tree.

Mike and Colleen invited us to ride again with them.  This time there were several other rigs and Mike took us a different way, across the highway to the north.  Great trails.  

We started out with four or five rigs and along the way picked up two or three more.

The Two Mikes discuss the route.

At strategic spots, we stopped to admire various points of interest.  

Petroglyphs

Being a law-breaker in this part of the world was a bad idea.  Our next-to-last stop on this ride was Jail House Rock.  There was a quarry here once upon a time.  The cave under this gigantic rock served as the overnight accommodations for the chain gangs who worked the quarry.  

Colleen and Mike N.

The Two Mikes enter Jail House Rock.

There were petroglyphs here as well, high up on the rocks; and then there are modern "petroglyphs".  (Who are these idiots who spray paint everything?)

A day or two later, Mike and Colleen took us out again, this time on a scenic route to the old Vicksburg Mine.  At the first stop, (Mike and Colleen said it was an old stage stop; Mike N. and I thought it looked too modern, that it was an old mining office or saloon or a bordello for the miners.)  Montana Mike got too close to a teddy bear cholla with painful consequences.  These cacti are armed with long, barbed spines and the joints of the plant break off with barely a touch.  Once the spines go in, you have a hard time getting them back out.

Montana Mike cutting the spines from the cactus joint.

 After Mike got the spines cut away from the cactus joint, he had to pull out the spines with needle nose pliers.  Ouch.

Stage coach stop?  Mining Office?  Saloon? Cathouse?

One of several mines within 100 yards of each other.

It seems that most of the mines are vertical shafts.  This is one of the few we've seen which goes horizontally into the mountainside.

There are quite a few empty spaces in the park as most snowbirds wait until after Christmas to leave the cold and frozen north.  The people behind us are from Kansas, somewhere north of Salina and they have decorated their space for the holidays.

I will probably not post again until after the holidays.  So to you all, the merriest of Christmases!

Payson, AZ and Reserve, NM

We cancelled our last two reservations in Utah, as we were satisfied we would encounter the same 50" restriction wherever we went. As my son says, it's slightly hotter than the surface of the sun in Deming, NM, in the summer so we couldn't go back there too early. 

Last year we met a couple originally from Kansas (Lela went to first grade in Dearing, Jim lived in El Dorado for years.) Summers they have a place at a park in Payson, AZ, in the higher elevation. Jim and Lela entertained us last year at Tonto Basin, their winter home near Lake Roosevelt, AZ.  We called them and then the park management.  Got the last open space for the week we needed.

Jim and Lela took us up a long run to the top of a nearby mountain. Beautiful scenery and old mines here and there along the way.
On the way to the mountain, we passed this interesting structure. Jim said years ago there were sensors buried all over this area to monitor underground nuclear blasts and this was the control room.

Lela and Jim

Muppet and Mike at the top of the mountain.

Jim is a very experienced driver and no trail intimidates him.  The first day he took us out, he dropped into a wash that was almost straight down.  Since I am still learning what my new Polaris will/won't do, I took a long look at it before launching over the edge.  No problem.  (We tried to take this trail later in the week without Jim and got totally lost.)  

On a later ride, as we followed Jim and a friend of his up and up and up, we came to this interesting spot.  (Photo was taken as we came down.)  Jim started up, dropped a wheel into the big gully in the middle of the trail, lost momentum, nearly went over backward.  He took another run at it with similar results.  There was an alternate way out of this wash which some kind and conservative soul had started, so we all re-grouped and took it.  No point in getting hurt or damaging the side-by-sides.  Jim was annoyed because he had taken this same place earlier in the week with no problem.  I was behind Jim coming down , took the alternate route, and photographed him as he came down.  (Note that Jim's passenger is leaning HARD to the left to keep the rig from rolling over to the right.)

An Old Hippie Lives Here

 Trailer park people tend to be quirky.  


It was still too early to head back to Deming after the week with Jim and Lela in Payson.  Somewhere in our travels we talked with someone who said Reserve, NM, might have decent riding in the Gila National Forest.  A little investigation showed us Reserve is a tiny town of 500 or so with a reasonable RV park nine miles north of town.  Before we committed to Reserve, Mike called the National Forest Service office there to see if they, too, have the 50" restriction.  As luck would have it, Mike talked to the head ranger. He said they have NO gates.  They have Forest Service road, trails, and tracks.  Exactly the answer we wanted.  

The park had an opening (actually, they had a LOT of openings) and off we went. Park manager doesn't ride so he wasn't a whole lot of help but the park owner showed up one day and he does ride. Showed me on the map a bunch of good trails.

The first trail we tried is called Wilson's Canyon, and it's only about 1.5 miles to the trail head from the park.  It is confusing because you follow a trail across a pasture and then come to a big bluff and it appears the trail ends. The park owner said to keep going over the bluff and there is a way down on the other side.

The Bluff at Wilson's Canyon.

Access to the mountain trails east of the highway is by following a track along the highway to Apache Creek Campground, a Forest Service facility.  It's four miles from the park to the turn-off and then another eight miles to get to the trail heads.  Not great but okay.  

There is a trail to the top of John Kerr Mountain which branches off the main trail.  You might be able to take it in a pickup truck but it would be dicey.  When we got to the top, there was a set of concrete steps in the middle of nowhere.  No evidence of a foundation or a building, just the steps.  

A puzzle, for sure.  Unless there is a spring somewhere close, there is no source of water so living up here would not be feasible.

One day we drove up to the famous Pie Town. If you aren't paying attention, you will be through Pie Town and headed for Arizona before you realize it.  

Well, we can't be in Pie Town and not eat pie.  There are actually three small cafes in this wide spot in the road.  We picked the one with the most pickup trucks parked in front, The Gatherin' Place

Owned and operated by a local couple, there were a couple of ladies the front making pies.  The male half of the couple who owns it was escorting guests into the dining room.  He was fully outfitted in western garb, complete with a side arm.  He says he is never without it.  (New Mexico is an open carry state, for those of you who might be wondering.  It's common to see people in Walmart with sidearms.)

They had barbecue on the menu.  Always a chancy thing to order barbecue out here, as most of the time it is dreadful.  However, in a pleasant change of pace, the sandwich was decent, as was the potato salad.  There is a glass-front cabinet displaying one of each pie they have available that day.  The one below was our selection.

The building itself must be 75 years old.  On the west wall is a big map and a dish of push pins so guests can mark where they are from.  I put a pin at Coffeyville.

ATTENTION OMAR:  Guamanians get around.

This sign was on the wall in the Gatherin' Place Cafe.

One afternoon we were enjoying a lovely summer day, light breezes.  And then a gust of wind destroyed the trailer awning.  

Hard to imagine but it's $8,000 worth of damage.  When the broken end of the awning brace hit the roof, it tore holes in the roof fabric. Insurance company is replacing the whole roof structure, including the wood underneath the roofing fabric.  Of course, the awning also has to be replaced.  Poor little trailer is sitting down at Jimmy's RV Repair awaiting attention.  We are not planning to go out again until after Thanksgiving so Jimmy will work on it as he has time.

With the damage to the awning, we decided to return to Deming after Labor Day and hope the heat wasn't brutal (we were wrong).  The park manager also mentioned that the high-powered rifle elk season started September 1 and we might not want to ride the trails east of the highway.  Hunters were coming into the area and the park was starting to get their share.  Time to leave.

This will be the last post for a while.  Life at the ranch, as you all know, is pretty quiet.  We are planning to go to Arizona after Thanksgiving for a couple of months.  There may not be another post until then.  

So Much for Utah

Not As Advertised

Utah has been a major disappointment as far as off-roading is concerned.  We kept moving from place to place, based on the State of Utah’s tourism information about the Arapeen and Piute Trails. 

The Piute Trail was developed forty years ago, when the only recreational off-road vehicles were four-wheelers which are about 48 inches wide.  The good, fun trails (read STEEP, ROCKY, CHALLENGING) have 54” wide gates to prevent any vehicle wider than the old four-wheelers from entering the trail.  My new Polaris is 52 inches so I can scrape through the gate but Mike’s Wolverine is 63 inches. 

Umm...maybe not.

Fillmore UT

We left Ferron, UT, arriving in Fillmore just before Independence Day. Same situation here:  it was miles to the trailheads and all the good trails were restricted to 50 inches or less. 

The city of Fillmore was experiencing a sufficient drought that watering was restricted to every other day.  Nonetheless, fireworks started July 3, continued through July 4^th until midnight, and then July 5^th in the morning.  Mike’s old dog, Indy, isn’t bothered by loud noises.  He slept through all of it.  Lola and Muppet were increasingly frantic, drooling, panting, pacing.  Even a doggie sedative didn’t help.  Finally at 11:00 pm on the Fourth, I loaded them into the truck and drove out to the edge of town to get away from the noise.  After an hour or so when the racket subsided, we returned to the park.

After a week in Fillmore, we were more than ready to move on.  I still find it incomprehensible that a town with such dry conditions would allow fireworks for three days.  This is forest fire country. 

Marysvale, UT

Next stop, for a month, was Marysvale, Utah, at the heart of the Piute Trail network.  

Our neighbors took us for a run up the mountain behind the park one of the first days we were there.  First stop was the Bully Boy mine, moderately interesting but with a surprising sign:

The Daltons in NM????

We had one good ride, down Deer Creek.  It was a narrow, steep trail which ran along a stream, sometimes a few feet above the water, sometimes twenty feet above it.  As we worked our way down, the stream was on our immediate right, and a steep slope to our left; in other words, no passing another vehicle.

We dropped down and saw a Suzuki Samurai parked on the trail and two guys with fishing rods walking around to the trunk.  They waved at us, finished loading up, and drove down the trail ahead of us.  O dear…coming up the trail was a group of three or four off-road vehicles.  The standing rule is the the vehicle descending the trail must back up and give right of way to the one coming up.  Obviously the folks coming up didn’t know this rule and they backed down the trail until they could find a spot wide enough to allow the Samurai to get by.  For one heart-stopping moment, I thought the Samurai was going to roll over into the stream, which by this time was probably 15 or 20 feet below the trail.  The driver had moved too far to the right and his right back wheel dropped into a low spot at the very edge of the trail.  Fortunately, he had it in four-wheel drive and recovered.  We learned a few days later than a tree had fallen across this trail and it was no longer accessible until the Forest Service removed the tree.

We got tired of riding twelve miles to the trail head for Dry Creek Canyon to just run gravel roads up and over the mountain.  The second week we were there, the rain started, turning many of the roads into mud.  And with the rain came hordes of flies.  Sitting outside in the later afternoon became unpleasant; either it was raining and blowing hard or the flies were swarming.

One of the last few days we were in Marysvale, we took the gravel road over to the town of Monroe and then up the mountain road to Monroe Peak.  Dicey weather when we left and when we arrived at the peak, there was rolling thunder in the distance and black clouds headed our way.  A quick look at the scenery and we got off the mountain top with dispatch.

(Note:  We also ran over a different mountain to the town of Koosharem to have lunch at the Koosharem Cafe.  If you find yourself in that vicinity some day, stop in.  Great burgers and the best root beer float I've had in decades.)

The couple across from us for the last couple of weeks, Karl and Joy,  are retired law enforcement officers.  A new Class A rig from California arrived one afternoon and parked next to Karl and Joy.  The next morning, the driver of that rig, next to the officers, was outside smoking pot at 5:30 am.  Karl mentioned it to the park owner, Jim, who promptly went down to inform said toker that pot is illegal in Utah and not to smoke outside his rig.  (When Jim’s wife Terri found out, she went into their computer system to put a note on toker’s information to keep him out of the park in the future…and she said if she had known about it at the time, she would have told Mr. California to pack up and leave immediately.)

The wildflowers here are spectacular.  Have no idea what most of them are, but I am enjoying them all.

Stay tuned for another post shortly about riding in  north central AZ and west-central NM.

Koosharem and Ferron

We left Torrey and headed for Koosharem (population at the last census:  276), a tiny little town with access to trails around Fish Lake.   Our park has two locations, one "in town" and the other a couple of miles away.  The park in town is cramped and, with two trucks and two trailers, we needed more room.

There are a total of 10 sites, half of which were occupied by permanent or semi-permanent people.  On the good side, our site was directly across the lane from the laundry.  On the not-so-good side, when we got in, there was no water to this park as a line had broken.  How could we possibly have drawn two parks in a row with water problems????  The park owner said her son was coming after he got off work so we just crossed our fingers.  As good as gold, the son showed up and fixed the pipe.  Voila!  Water from the spigot!  It was a miracle!

Adjacent to the "in-town" park is a small diner with excellent food and friendly people.  A good place to hang out for a while.  The owner works in the kitchen and her son waits tables.  

It's about a ten-mile ride from the park to the closest trail heads. Not great, but the ride is easy and the views pretty. It continues to surprise me how much snow is still on the ground in the high country.  Locals tell us they had a LOT of snow last winter as the snow is usually gone by this time.

After a day or two, the charming couple below pulled into the site next to us.  (Odd coincidence:  Bob was the corporate pilot for Rousch Yates Racing Engines for 10 years.  Madison is working for Rousch Yates.)  

Bob and Jolee live in North Carolina and drift back and forth between there and Las Vegas where their son lives.  We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them. They were thrilled to play with Muppet and Lola.  One morning I let the dogs out and they went to Bob and Jolee's door and waited for them to appear.  They (the dogs) were very disappointed when I made them come back.

We made the run up to the mountain a couple of times.  As it was at Torrey, it is still late spring at the higher elevations.  The aspens aren't quite leafed out and there are flowers everywhere.  We topped out at about 10,000 feet and found a snowbank for the pups to play.  Notice that Indy and Muppet are just walking around; Lola is rolling, squirming, generally having a great time.

Lola loves the snow....




We discovered after four days in Koosharem with NO internet connection unless we drove down to the cafe that we have become dependent on it.  Both of us use it to pay bills and keep up with events.  So we will inquire at each potential park whether they have decent wi-fi (many have it but it's not usable) and a strong Verizon signal.

Next stop on the tour was Ferron, Utah, where there was supposed to be good riding.  We spent a month or two there one week.   Same problem we have had in other USFS locations:  trails are limited to rigs 50" or less.  Mike's Wolverine is 63".  We went to the local USFS office for a map and information.  The guy behind the counter marked a map for us with two trails which once were 50" but have been modified for larger off-road vehicles.  

O well, how hard can it be?  They say the trail will accommodate 66" vehicles...

And there were a couple of other little bridges without sides.  Mike's rig barely fit.  This is definitely a "no mistakes" trail.  The riding for the first few miles was interesting and challenged driving skills (mine).  After the first few miles, though, it became basically a county gravel road leading to a reservoir.  Pretty drive but not what we like to ride.

Joe's Valley Reservoir

There was one other trail marked on the map by the USFS guy as having been modified for 66" vehicles.  However, it required a 15 mile run up a mountain on a gravel county road just to get to the trail head.  

We really weren't looking for this trail but when we stumbled on the trail head, we decided to run it.  The first half was routine dirt and rock.  And then we got to the last half.  White-knuckle (for me) in spots, as it was narrow, steep, rough, and at points ran along the edge of a deep canyon as the trail worked it was back down to the flat.  

When we finally got down to the bottom, there was a long stretch through the canyon to get back to the highway.  The canyon bottom is littered with GIANT BOULDERS and you weave your way along.  I found myself looking up at the steep canyon walls, wondering when the next boulder was going to detach and come crashing down.

The surprise was that we came out ten miles south of Ferron, on the highway.  There's a coal-fired power plant north of Ferron at Castle Dale and coal fields south of Ferron.  Enormous double trailer trucks go back and forth delivering the coal to the plant.  There's no ATV trail adjacent to the highway so you ride on the wide shoulder, with the behemoths coming up behind you at 80 mph.  Two long bridges also add a certain level of excitement to the ride. 

There is BLM land with trails to the east of Ferron and we went that way one day, much to our mutual frustration.  There were trails marked on the map which had no trail marker; trails with markers which were not on the map; BLM staging points with maps which were too small and did not show where YOU are.  After a hot, miserable ride, we turned around and came back to the park, swearing at the BLM.  These trails run through the San Rafael Swell and we were looking forward to seeing the sights.  The part we saw was spectacular but we couldn't appreciate it due to our frustration with being lost.

When I mentioned this to the park guy, he said the BLM sent out a team a year or so ago to survey and map the trails and place markers.  The local ranchers who have the leases remove the trail markers and close trails which should remain open.  No wonder we had such a hard time.  

Lost in the San Rafael Swell.

The park in Ferron is a rather strange place.  While our standards for parks are low, this one was pushing the bottom.  It had the minimum requirements for us:  working utilities, a level site, and quiet.  And that was it.  I chatted with the guy who lives here and sort of manages the park.  He said that at one time, Ferron was a prosperous place owing to the coal deposits found around there.  As the coal industry foundered, many of the park's residents left the area.  Now only a handful of trailers are left and several of those are dilapidated, with junk strewn everywhere.

Note to those of you visiting southern Utah:  three times in grocery stores we have encountered something called Champ Chicken. They make three kinds of kebabs, teriyaki, orange, and barbecue, and all three kebabs are excellent.  Look for the kebabs at the deli counter!

We are now at Fillmore, UT, which will be featured in the next post.

Torrey

Torrey, UT, is just west of the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park.  If not for the park, Torrey would not exist.  As it is, it's a few businesses strung along a couple of miles; eating places, atv rentals, guided tours, RV parks, etc.

We are finding, to Mike's immense disappointment, that many/most of the trails in Utah are limited to rigs 50" or less in width.  The trails were originally created for 4-wheelers, not for side-by-sides.  The US Forest Service is reluctant to spend the time and money to remove barriers or widen narrow spots to accommodate anyone with a larger rig.  While I understand why they want to keep trucks and Jeeps off trails (they are too big, too heavy, and they damage the trails), USFS is restricting anyone with a larger rig from the trails.  We see many 50" rigs here in Utah and that's why.



Torrey's trails are part of the Great Western Trail system.


The first full day we were in Torrey, we found a trail which was open to rigs of any size.  In theory, Jeeps and trucks could traverse at least part of the trail but then it narrowed down and 
got STEEP.  The views from near the end of the trail back east were beautiful.

On another run up the mountain, we encountered one of the local tour guides taking clients for a ride.  He quietly told us of a 50" trail that a larger rig could take safely; he also said the locals are lobbying the USFS to make more trails accessible to the bigger rigs.

 Mike did a little test run to see if his Wolverine would fit through the two boulders which limit access.  You can't see the boulder on his right side but it's about the same size as the one on his left.




This is the trail.  It's tight hairpin turns and as you keep going up, it gets steeper and steeper, with no place to turn around if you decide it's too much.  It's roughly 10,000 feet when you top the crest. 

Oddly enough, we encountered cattle up there.  There must be another way up because there's no way anyone could drive a herd up this trail.


Below is a view of the trail from the top.  Just imagine taking your rig out and into what appears to be empty space as you start back down.  (There's only one way back, the way you came up.)

We had "heard" there were good trails across the highway to the south so we ventured out there one day.  The first two trails we tried were obviously 50" trails (although they were not marked) and we wandered around for probably 90 minutes trying to find a trail where we could be legal.  Success at last!  Not very interesting riding, as it was just a really rocky, rutted trail used by the local ranchers to move cattle from one pasture to another on the mountain (more on this later).  We were trying to get to Donkey Reservoir at the top of the mountain but we wasted so much time early that we only got to Round Lake.  The safe decision was to turn around and start back down.

 Round Lake is a beautiful place but the mosquitoes are hungry and numerous.  

When we had started up the trail, another off-roader stopped to tell us that a local rancher was going to be moving cattle on the trail at some point that afternoon.  We fortunately were at a wide spot where we could get out of their way when we encountered them.  The cattle had a perfectly clear, flat trail and they all decided to climb the hill.  The cowboys had to go after them and drive them back to the trail.  

AAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! GNATS!

Twice in the past three weeks, one of Mike's eyes has been seriously swollen thanks to bites by the notorious cedar gnat. These flying nanovampires inflict a bite at least as bad as a mosquito bite and maybe even worse.  I've talked with a lot of locals (including a pharmacist) and no one has a very good repellent.  OFF doesn't do much to repel them.  They seem to like it.

We returned to the park one Friday afternoon and the manager came around to tell us the water was being shut off indefinitely.  The water for Torrey comes from the mountain north of town (where we had been riding) and an old pipe broke.  I scurried around and filled our on board tank immediately, even though the water wasn't supposed to be turned off until 6 p.m.  Guess what...water was turned off at 4:30 p.m. to the entire town, including motels, restaurants, RV parks, everything.  A weekend without water in hot weather in southern Utah.  Splendid.

There is a small town just west of Torrey named Bicknell.  Some enterprising soul bought the old, rundown movie theater, fixed it up, and opened for business.  For Faithful Readers from Coffeyville, it reminds me of the Midland but smaller.  Their snack bar has excellent ice cream and they open at 11:00 am.  

Next stop:  Koosharem to ride trails around Fish Lake.