Thursday.
In the morning Patti and I went to Blythe, CA. to take care of some business at the post office. The Post Office in Quartzsite is a mess trying to get anything done with very long lines so it is some times worth it to drive the 20 miles to Blythe. We also wanted to get some stuff at Albertsons.
We got back home round noon.
Sue and Denis.
Around one o'clock Sue and Denis, our French Canadian friends, came by.
Denis said that he had heard that there was a way to get to the Desert Bar from Shea Rd. south of Parker. He wanted to know if we were interested in taking a ride to see if we could find the trail.
Of course I said yes.
We made plans to meet at the fire station at 9:30 Friday morning.
The Fire Station.
When we left home the sky was partly cloudy and the temp was in the high 60’s and the wind was calm.
We got to the fire station around 9:20.
Lise and Frank, our other French Canadian friends, showed up first. Followed a little later by Sue, Denis, Jo Ann and Dave.
Frank had a selfie stick and wanted to get a group photo so here it is.
On the trail.
We left the fire station and drove north on Hwy. 95 toward Parker.
When we got to Shea Rd. we turned west and followed Shea Rd. about 5 miles to a turn off where there was a kiosk at an ATV staging area. Here we stopped to air down.
After airing down we got on a trail heading more or less north from the parking area.
This trail wandered around following a wash that went
west by northwest.
After a mile or so Frank stopped and was looking under his Jeep.
After looking under the jeep for a while he came back and asked me if I saw any gasoline dripping from his jeep as there was a strong smell of gasoline.
I told him that I didn’t see anything leaking from his jeep but the smell might be coming from Dave’s jeep as he had a jerry can on the back and they always leak.
We continued on and the next time we stopped we checked the can on Dave’s jeep and sure enough there was fuel leaking from the bung on top of the can. We tightened the cap on the can and the leak stopped.
Off We Go Again.
We got back on the trail which exited the wash and we traveled through some low hills with a nice view.
The trail turned more northerly as we went along and became a little more rugged.
After a couple miles this trail dumped us onto the graded gravel road that goes to the Desert Bar.
We weren’t interested in going to the actual bar as it is only open Saturday and Sunday. But we at least had found another way to get there.
The Gray Eagle Mine Trail.
We came to the junction where the Gray Eagle Mine Trail goes to the left so we took that left turn and followed this trail toward the mountains in the east.
This trail is mostly fun to drive as it goes through some nice tight canyons.
Unfortunately some of it goes through some soft sandy washes and the ATV’s have made it very washboardy so it is really bumpy.
You can kind of see what I mean in this photo.
There was a mile or so of this washboard and by the end of it we were all shaken up a bit and everyone was complaining about the damned ATV’s tearing up the trail.
We stopped for lunch in a wash that intersected the trail.
From here the trail improved considerably; just rocks no more washboard.
We climbed to the top of a pass…
and stopped to take in the views.
Looking west we could see what we thought was rain coming our way.
Down the Other Side.
We decided that we should move along, if it was rain we didn’t want to get caught in a downpour back here in some narrow canyon.
You can see the trail climbing out of the valley in the distance.
We drove across the valley…
and past some interesting rock formations on the other side.
Past these rocks we dropped down into some tight canyons.
We stopped for a break at the end of the canyon and I noticed this arch at the top of the mountain.
After a short break we continued along the trail. We were nearing the end when we came to this steep rocky area.
You can see it better from the bottom.
It looks worse that it is and we had no problem getting through.
Shortly after this spot, the trail ends at Hwy.95. We aired up in the staging area here and headed west for Parker.
No Rain Just Dust.
As we got on the highway the wind was blowing hard from the southwest and what we thought was rain turned out to be blowing dust.
We stopped at the Walmart in Parker to get some Quacamole and chips for a pot luck we are having on the 21st.
As we left parker the wind had increased and visibility was getting worse.
You can see the sand blowing across the highway in waves in some places.
As we got closer to Quartzsite the dust cleared but the wind was blowing just as hard.
The clouds looked threatening but no rain came down.
Saturday Morning.
It blew hard all night. This morning the clouds had cleared away but it is still very windy and cold.
We went to Times Three Restaurant to have breakfast with Jo Ann, Dave, Jim and Doris.
In a little while Patti is going to go do laundry and I will do some housework.
Parts are Here!
The FedEx truck just came and delivered the new sun visors for the jeep so when Patti comes back from the laundry I’ll install them.
Okay that brings us up to date for a while.
Talk to you later.
No comments:
Post a Comment