Eye Of The Needle.
For this Wednesday's ride we met at the fire station at around 9:00.Once everyone had gathered there we left, heading north on 95. There were six jeeps leaving the fire station together. Dick left early so they could stop at the bank in Parker.
We always see hawks on the power poles along 95 between Quartzsite and the intersection with Highway 72. We have seen as many as 18 hawks along this section of the highway. Patti has tried several times to get pictures of them but at 60+ mph. it usually doesn't work out . This morning how ever she did get one good picture of a hawk
and a slightly blurred picture of the first nest that we have seen along here.
We stopped at a gas station about 10 miles east of Parker so everyone could top off their fuel tanks. Here Dick and Louise joined us. After gassing up we continued on 95 toward Lake Havasu City enjoying the views along the way.
We crossed the Bill Williams River.
About 5 miles past the Bill Williams River we turned off at a large flat area where a lot of RV'ers dry camp. There are several trails into the back country that start here. We stopped to air down.
Then followed a small trail into a wash at the north end of the flat.
We like taking this trail because it gets pretty narrow with sheer cliffs on each side.
There are also a couple of fun rock challenges along the wash.
Proper tire placement is key to getting through these rocks.
After the rocks, we follow the sandy wash for a while and eventually we can see our destination; a rock formation called the needle.
We followed the winding trail along the steep ridge to the base of the needle.
From there it is necessary to climb the rocks to get to the eye.
This is one of the more interesting rock formations in the area.
Of course, if you make the climb to the top you have to climb through the eye.
In the above picture you can see a "geo cash" in the bucket on the left.
Here is some of the group on the other side of the eye.
The rock is very interesting but I don't know how it was formed. It looks like some of the big boulders that I have seen along the pacific coast.
Eventually we left the needle and headed down into the wash again.
Lake Side Lunch.
Once we were back on the highway we headed south and stopped at a fishing area along side Lake Havasu just upstream from Parker Dam.
The table we are sitting at is actually a fish cleaning table. We didn't put our food on the table.
The Cave.
After lunch we crossed Parker Dam.
Once across the dam we made a right turn following a paved road north to this turn off onto a graded dirt road.
We followed the dirt road.
At a couple of places we could see Lake Havasu City to the north.
Eventually we took a right turn into a wash.
We followed this wash to 'The Cave'.
A lot of people try driving into this cave. Some make it and some don't. Bill decided that he wanted to give it a try.
With some expert guiding by Dennis M, Bill made it into the cave.
The trickiest part of this stunt is getting out of the cave safely. A mistake here could cause the jeep to flip over frontwards.
Bill did a great lob and made it down safely.
Scenic Overlook.
We left the cave and headed out another wash that goes through a beautiful canyon with high rock walls.
After going through the canyon we turned left onto a very narrow rough trail that climbed the ridge.
At a very narrow spot one of the jeeps clipped a large boulder on the right side and spun it into the trail. Here Dick and Louise attempt to move the rock but as they creeped past it, their rear tire clipped it and it spun around. I couldn't get out of our jeep to help because it was a sheer drop on my side and we were only a few inches from the edge.
Next, Dennis K clipped it and almost sent the rear of his jeep off the side of the cliff. We got out and between Patti, Becky and I we rolled the boulder off the side of the mountain. Dennis couldn't help due to his recent back surgery.
We continued along the trail to the overlook.
The view is good but I am not sure it was worth the risk.
The Burro.
We all made it back down the trail with no problems and turned left in the wash.
As we headed down the wash we spotted a wild burrow on the hillside.
Okay, that was the Wednesday ride for this week. It was a fun ride as always.
We stopped at Mya's Mexican restaurant for an early dinner. After dinner Patti and I went to Walmart and then went home.
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