The Wednesday Ride.
Background.
Dennis M was gone on Wednesday so we ended up leading the Wednesday ride. I decided to go to an area north east of Vicksburg, that we haven’t been to in a couple of years.
Getting Going.
We met at the Arco Station at the east end of town. There were only three jeeps in the group this time.
We were on the road by about 9:00 heading east on I-10. We took the Highway 60 turnoff and continued east until we got to Vicksburg Road.
Here we turned north and drove a short distance to the intersection with Highway 72. Just across the intersection is the Vicksburg Pit Road. We drove a short distance along the pit road and stopped here to air down.
Desert Queen Mine.
After airing down we drove past the gravel pit and headed northeast into the mountains on a narrow trail.
Our first stop was the Desert Queen Mine. We followed a couple of trails and after a short time we could see the loading shoot for the Desert Queen Mine.
We followed a real skinny track up to the loading shoot.
There wasn’t enough room for all the jeeps so I had the others stay back.
We realized that we had taken the wrong trail and had to climb up this steep slide to get to where the tunnel is.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a camera with me.
It was a tight spot to turn around but after a lot of backing and filling I got turned around and headed back down the hill.
We continued wandering around and eventually came to this spot that was a bit iffy.
We had to go around the right side and it was a bit off camper but we all made it through with no problem.
We continued along the trails. Some were a bit bumpy but not bad.
Old Car Frame.
We came to a large flat with this old car frame.
We decided to have lunch here.
After lunch we continued following the trails. We came to this spot that looked bad but wasn’t any big deal.
Lightning Strike?
We wandered around some more and were driving down a large wash.
We passed a couple of trees that were burned. They were several yards apart and no other trees were affected. Could this possibly be from lightning strike’s.
Here is a Barrel Cactus growing out of the rocks a little further down the wash.
The Yuma Mine.
We followed this wash for a while and came to a trail that went up very steep with a lot of loose rock. We recognized the place as we had been here a few times in the past. It was the Yuma Mine.
We stopped at the large flat on top of the ridge.
There is a pretty good view from here.
After a while we dropped back down the trail and continued our ride.
We followed the wash back the way we came and found a trail going north so we got on it.
Patti took this picture of an old Ironwood skeleton in the wash.
We found a skinny little trail that went back into the mountains so we followed it.
As it turned out the trail ended at a spot above the Yuma Mine.
It was getting late in the day so we drove back down the mountain and got on a good road and came out of the desert at the Jojoba Farm on McVey Road.
Supper.
We stopped at a restaurant in the small town of Bouse for supper. The food was just okay.
On the way home Patti got some sunset pictures.
Okay, that was fun.
A Day in Mexico.
Background.
Denis and Sue had to go to Los Algodones Mexico to get some new eye glasses.
Jo Ann, Dave, Patti and I went along as Patti and Jo Ann waned to do a little shopping.
Patti was particularly interested in getting a new light blanket for the bed in the RV.
While Sue and Denis went to get the new glasses, Jo Ann, Dave, Patti and I hung out at a large Cantina called El Paraiso (The Paradise).
The place was celebrating their 45 Anniversary and were serving free Margarita's and free Draft beer.
I don’t know about the beer but the free Margarita’s had no Tequila in them. Which was a good thing since I had to drive home. I drank at least two large glasses of the Margarita Mix and didn’t even catch a buzz.
There are venders that circulate through the place selling all kinds of stuff.
Dave bought a big hat.
Eventually Sue and Denis joined us and we ordered some food. I don’t remember what everyone ordered but the food was not very good. I had a Beef Chimichonga that was small and had almost no beef in it.
Patti had a Chicken Quesadilla with no chicken. Sue and Denis had a chicken and a carne Asada Fajita. The meat was extremely tough and not very good.
As a whole I would say El Parasio falls quite short of being a Paradise.
Patti and Jo Ann were able to purchase the blankets they wanted however.
Here is a picture of the blanket on our bed. They only had one size and it looks like a Queen. Our bed is a short queen so the blanket hangs down at the foot a bit..
Sue and Denis had to wait another two and a half hours for the eyeglasses to be done so after lunch we left them in Mexico and we went back to Quartzsite.
We probably won’t be back in Mexico again this season.
The Friday Ride.
Picking up Parts in Blythe, CA.
The knob that controls the vents on the HVAC in the jeep broke so I had to get a new one at the jeep place in Blythe, CA.
On Tuesday, Patti and I went to Blythe to do some shopping.
While we were there we stopped at the Jeep dealer and I tried to get a new knob. They didn’t have any in stock so it had to be ordered. That meant I would have to drive the twenty miles back to Blythe in a couple of days and pick it up.
Wednesday and Thursday were out.
We can leave a little later on the Friday ride so I told Sue and Denis that we would meet them at the Arco station at 10:00 on Friday Morning.
Fortunately California is one hour ahead of Arizona so if I leave here at 8:30 AZ time I will get to Blythe at 8:00 California time, just as the Parts department opens.
Ain’t time travel great.
I got the part and was back on the road heading for home by 9:15 AZ and was home by 9:40 AZ.
Plenty of time to get to the Arco, fill the gas tank and get a cup of coffee before Sue and Denis arrive.
The Friday Ride.
Sue and Denis arrived at the Arco, just before 10:00 and we headed out. We got on I-10 and drove to the AZ 60 turnoff.
We took the turnoff and headed for the town of Hope, AZ.
Just beyond Hope…
and not far from the above sign, we took a right off the highway and went through a wire gate onto a very faint trail heading south into the rocky hills.
We stopped here to air down the tires and then headed into the rocks.
We have been in some of this area before but today we are just wandering around with no particular destination in mind.
There are some really large Ocotillo’s in this part of the desert. Here we are parked next to one.
We wandered around the hills for a while.
We even made a loop through one set of hills.
The Power Line Road.
Eventually we got on a power line road and followed it south for a while.
I got tired of following the power line so I took a turnoff to the east heading back toward the mountains.
Back in the Hills.
We followed this trail over a ridge…
around and over some steep rocky hills…
We could see these old Volcano cores to the south west.
We climbed some more steep ridges heading east out of the valley.
A Main Road.
On the other side of these ridges we came to a main graded dirt road. We followed it south for a short distance but soon found a small trail going west back into the hills so we turned on to it.
We passed to the south of one of the volcano cores we saw earlier.
Soon we came to the Power lines again.
We crossed under the power lines and continued heading west.
The Western Side of the Area.
Eventually we came to another wide graded road. This is the Hope to Hovadder Road. It is the road that we will take on the way out of this area but it’s too early to think of that right now.
We still have some more exploring to do.
We drove north on the road for a short distance…
until I found a road going west and turned onto it.
We followed this road for a while but it was heading out of the hills so I turned around and started back the way we had come.
After a short distance we found a trail going north toward some hills.
We turned north and the trail took us into a wash with nice soft sand.
A Shooting Range.
The trail went in and out of the wash. At one spot we found a marker pointing to the left so we turned left and followed the narrow trail. After a short distance we came to the end of the trail. Here someone had set up a nice shooting range.
There was a shooting bench.
and target stands setup for pistol…
and rifle targets at 25 and 50 yards.
Under the trees there was a picnic table.
It looks like someone uses this setup quite a bit.
After hanging out here for a short break we continued our exploring.
A Bird Bath and a Pyramid.
We got back on the trail heading north and after a little while we came to a strange structure at a wide spot on the trail.
After checking it out we couldn’t come up with a reason for it to be here except as maybe a bird bath.
The small rocks around the rim have all been shaped and polished and the rocks in the bowl have been coated with what looks like polyurethane or epoxy.
We left this artifact and continued a short distance and found a Pyramid. The cap on the pyramid was also coated in some kind of resin.
Decorated or Trash Trees.
A short distance further along the trail we came to some trees that people have decorated.
One was covered with stuffed animals.
Here is a closer look.
This is the Bra tree.
There were what looked like a couple of graves at the base of the Teddy Bear tree. I suspect they are the graves of someone’s pets.
I have mixed feelings about places like these trees. On one hand its kind of cool but on the other hand it is just kind of trashy too.
The Back Gate.
I think we found the people who are using the desert around here as their personal backyard.
We followed the rail around and it headed east. After about a mile we came to the back gate of a large RV park with no trespassing signs on it.
We turned around and found another trail that was going south along a fence that bordered the golf course for the RV park.
We followed the fence south for a while and then the rail and fence headed east. We continued to follow the fence until we came to The Hope to Hovadder Road.
Here, we turned north and in a short time we were at the gate that let us back on the highway.
We stopped to air up the tires and then got on Highway 60 and headed for home.
It was a beautiful day and a fun ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment