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Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 11:31 am
by xsproutx
I was looking for options for maybe staging a car around Ripsey Spring, near
33.02762, -110.98004, and saw that there looks to be a road of some sort that goes through Ripsey Wash from the Florence Kelvin highway. USGS map has it as a Jeep trail. Was curious to get any feedback on someone who has been out there on what it may look like; IE, true off road built vehicle, or just higher clearance, etc
Re: Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 11:58 am
by big_load
Is that the one I see marked as "A Diamond Ranch Road" or "N A Diamond Ranch Road"? The latter leads to several clusters of structures in the satellite view, at which many vehicles are parked. That looks like a decent road on the satellite, but you would be parked in or near somebody's yard or adjacent to what looks like old train tracks. Ripsey Wash itself doesn't look promising, although there are tire tracks on it in the imagery.
Re: Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 12:45 pm
by xsproutx
@big_load
Those Diamond Ranch roads go north from Florence/Kelvin and the one I'm talking about goes South just East of those; I don't see a name on any maps which probably tells me everything but figured I'd check
Re: Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 1:37 pm
by big_load
@xsproutx
The route south from there looks interesting, but I wouldn't want to guess conditions. It clearly gets some use.
Re: Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 4:55 pm
by CannondaleKid
@xsproutx
Back in 2018 while recovering from back surgery and unable to backpack I did some water caching for Tracey and drove a number of 'Jeep Trails' in the area south of Florence/Kelvin Hwy as well as both south & north of Freeman Road (covering part of AZT #15 & #14).
Please Note: I drove a "lifted and locked" Cherokee at the time.
* Driving in wide washes wasn't bad, no need for much clearance, just need to avoid soft sandy areas.
* Entering and leaving washes could be a bit tricky if one or both banks are eroded and leave a big 'step'.
* A few other 'roads' outside of the washes could get pretty gnarly, mainly deep ruts along the road or deep washouts across the road.
Re: Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 6:57 pm
by xsproutx
@CannondaleKid
Thanks for the info. I'm mainly looking for a way to add another 10-15 mile day on passage 16/17 trip; planning a SOBO trip on 16/17 with a buddy and looking for options to extend another day possibly. That's why that area looked interesting since it was roughly halfway between the southern part of 16 and 15. If you have any suggestions that would be better suited for staging that are somewhat accessible in the middle of that section based on your experience, I'd be really interested
Re: Ripsey Wash from Florence/Kelvin
Posted: Oct 24 2022 8:20 pm
by CannondaleKid