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.