12-20-12

NOTICE!
Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Yester day we went for our first Jeep ride.
We met at the Arco station on the east side of town.
From there we headed East out I-10 to Highway 60 where we turned off and headed for the town of Salome.  There we toped off our gas tanks and aired down. There were eight Jeeps in the group.

We continued on 60 to the town of Wenden where we headed North toward Alamo Lake. A few miles up the road we turned West on Bonanza Rd.  Bonanza Road was a well maintained dirt road heading toward the mountains.

  

After a few miles we turned off on a side trail that took us to the Bonanza Mine.
 

Unfortunately the tunnel had been collapsed by the state.
After wandering around the mine site for a while we decided to try the trail up the mountain. It looked pretty steep and we weren’t sure if it was a trail or just some mining cuts on the side of the mountain. Junior and white Jeep Dennis went up to check it out and got to the top with no trouble. The rest of us followed.
The trail was steep but in good shape.

There were a few really tight switch backs where many had to back and fill to get around them.

We went over the top of the pass and down the other side. Eventually we came to a locked gate. There we stopped for lunch.

On the way back we noticed a small trail going to our left. This trail was a bit more fun.

 

Eventually we came to the end of the trail at a mine.
 

Some of us climbed the hill to see if we could find the tunnel.
I went only about half way up the mountain.

A few of the guys went all the way to the top where they found a tunnel. They didn’t go in because they didn’t have any lights with them.

We noticed this wash with remnants of the recent rains.

 

After playing around the mine for a while we headed back down the mountain. When we got back to the flats we turned onto the power line road. We drove along the power lines for a while going in and out of steep gullies. Eventually we turned off the power line road and found a good dirt road heading back toward Salome. When we got to the end of the road we noticed this sign.

Oops!!

It was a good ride and we were home by 4:30.