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| 4x4 Trip | 21.30 Miles |
1,998 AEG |
| | 4x4 Trip | 21.30 Miles | 2 Hrs 55 Mns | | 10.65 mph |
| 1,998 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | We planned this trip before the weekend so with all the rain yesterday, last night and this morning I wasn't sure if the road would be passable. But Tracey and I both had the day off and she didn't really look forward to hiking in the rain so I figured why not give it a shot. With the transfer case of my Samurai out for modifications we'd have to rely on the Pathfinder. Although the M/S tires on it provide good clearance it has no differential or transfer case lockers so getting a wheel or two in the air and we'd be like an up-side-down turtle, spinning our wheels and getting nowhere. But not one to be dissuaded easily I thought let's go for it, we can always turn back... IF we're able to turn around, that is. But being the optimist I was confident we'd make it.
The first thing to chip away at that confidence happened within minutes of turning off the US 60 in Superior. We hadn't gone a quarter mile and already there was a road closed sign and chain blocking our way due to a running wash. Running?? There was barely a trickle across the lowest point but I suppose over night it was probably running pretty high and someone might drive in before seeing how deep it was. Ok, now what? We back-tracked to the 60 and tried the next road south. Within a quarter mile there was a sign saying no through street but right next to it was a School Bus Stop sign and I remembered the High School and Junior High Schools were out that way somewhere so we continued on. At the end the street we could see the road that I knew led to the high school not a few hundred feet across the wash so we turned around and followed a one-way alley until we came out a block from the road to the high school. Great! One right turn and we were on Mary Drive heading toward the high school. Turning left onto Golf Course Road we were back on track albeit after 15 extra minutes of wandering around.
One obstacle out of the way, unbeknownst to us we were already on the way to the next. Barely a mile out we passed by a pickup facing us sitting with the motor running on the other side of the road. At first I wondered what he was doing there but as we came up to the next corner I had a good idea... he was turning back! Although the road appeared reasonably smooth and solid, when I turned the steering wheel for the corner the Pathfinder had enough mass going straight ahead that it wasn't about to make any quick change in direction. Touching the brakes did nothing to slow us either.  Eventually the resistance of the mud slowed us enough to make the corner. Still, that short episode of momentary heart-in-mouth  and Tracey was already doubting my belief we could make the full 20+ mile trip over rough, rocky, muddy, steep and winding terrain without befalling some sort of treacherous calamity.
Enough doubt! No matter that the rain is coming down hard still we ARE going to continue! At that moment I'm keeping silent about the upcoming rough entry into the first wash that I had issues with back in July... and that was back when it was dry! But moments later came our first spot of good luck.  By taking this route although we had to pass through a deep puddle that Tracey didn't think I should drive through, we by-passed the rough patch and had dodged another bullet. From here on I knew that for the most part the ground would be rocky with good traction for the next 6-7 miles.
At 3 miles we came to a high, stepped cattle guard that we took slow and easy. Immediately after that came our first of many awesome photo opportunities of Picketpost on this trip. On our second Picketpost photo stop the sun was working hard at pushing through the clouds, which it did just enough to provide us with a wide, flat rainbow. Although it was more apparent with the naked eye it did show up reasonably well on the photos.
About 3.5 miles out the road descended into a flat section where the water ran along it for a hundred yards or so before pooling in a large puddle before dropping down into a lower wash. When were about to stop for photos I could hear waterfalls just off to the side so we stopped long enough to take the following video:
http://www.changephoenix.com/11/V2011-12-13PicketpostWaterfall.html
At 3.9 miles we are as close as we will get to Picketpost for the whole trip so we took a few close-up shots. From here the road follows a wash with ever-larger rocks that took much more careful tire placement for the lower, longer and wider Pathfinder to negotiate than my Samurai last July, but by being ever-vigilant we made it fine. But the constant challenge of picking our way through washes, around and/or over rocks was well worth the ever-changing beautiful scenery.
At 5.5 miles the road crosses a wash with blood rocks right next to our path. At 6.5 miles as the road climbed along and above the wash we looked down into the wash and Tracey took a photo of a rectangular concrete water tank. At 6.8 miles we passed by where the Arizona Trail crosses the road on its way between Picketpost and the White Canyon/Red Mountain Mine area, where we hiked a short section of it 6 days ago. For the next few miles the road meandered through some rough and rocky terrain along with a few steep, angled climbs. In this area we came upon a few rock slides where we stopped and cleared the road before passing.
Eight miles out we arrived at the highest point of the trip with an elevation of 3773 where we were treated to an awesome view of Picketpost to the north. Within 600' of the height of Picketpost and just 3 miles away we felt like we were at the same height or even higher. From here we caught a glimpse of bright sunlight hitting the pure white snow on Four Peaks. Weaver's Needle was visible off to the left. From here the road got very narrow and with the sharp turns with steep drops just feet from the vehicle it was hang on to the Oh pumpkin! handle for Tracey. Hitting a hole I didn't see and Tracey said shut up and watch the road so I let her do the sight-seeing in this area... not that she actually wanted to look down!
At 8.2 miles we begin the most treacherous part of the ordeal with the predominantly steep descent down to the Ajax Mine. With the last two days of rain this section did not look like anything we wanted to traverse, but we were almost halfway now and once past the mine I knew it would be much easier. In some long washed-out sections we had to straddle the center of the 'berm' that was left on one side or the other of the original road. This is where we came to the one spot on the whole trip that gave the Pathfinder a real challenge. Just before a short but steep uphill there was a tight turn to the left at the same point as a wash-out both across and along the road. Because of such a deep rut I took it slow, a bit too slow... just in the deepest part we ended up teetering between on front tire and a rear tire on the opposite side. In such a precarious position and with no locker on either axle the other two tires were spinning with nowhere to go. Ok, I don't have a winch on this vehicle and with this being one of the softest sections of the trip the traction was almost nothing so now what?! Well let's see... if I pull up on the parking brake maybe I can even out the side-to-side torque demand and gain enough traction to get us out of this predicament. It worked a bit, but only in reverse. But if I backed up too far I'd be farther back down in the hole again. So I got out, took a glance under the car and weighed the options. I figured that if I turned the wheel sharply toward the steep drop and backed up just to the edge of the hole I'd have both rear tires on the ground and no immediate obstacle ahead of the front tires. I did just that, then put it in 1st gear in low-range, got it just barely moving then gunned it and with a few seconds of spinning wheels we were again climbing the steep grade. Whew! At the top of the hill we were able to take a deep breath. That's when Tracey asked is there another way out? Nope! It's continue on west and hope we can make it all the way, or turn around and go back through the what would now be the worst uphill sections. So we continued on. Again in the back of my mind was one more section past the mine similar to what we had just conquered that had given me trouble in the Samurai in July. But I kept silent. (It turned out when we would reach that part that it had washed out much wider and was much easier to traverse than expected.)
At 8.7 miles we stopped when the Ajax Mine popped into our sight for the first time today. About a mile-and-a-half away and 800' below us I got a pretty good shot on full zoom. Looking toward the north we took our last shots of Picketpost, Four Peaks, Weaver's Needle and the rest of the Supes before the final descent of about 600' per mile.
Just over 10 miles and we're at the Ajax Mine. Rather than stopping below it and trudging up the last steep on by-now stiff legs from sitting so long I drove up the last 300' to the lowest concrete pad at the mine. Since I'd spent plenty of time on two occasions exploring the mine last summer, we didn't spend much time there and began the drive out to SR 79.
At 12 miles we passed by a windmill and large water reservoir named Dos Vaqueros Volanta, or Flying Cowboy. On my trips by here in July the well was being drilled and a new concrete pad poured before setting the old windmill on it and putting it back in operation. The windmill wroks pretty good for how shot up the vane and blades are. from here on out the drive was a piece of cake due to the road being graded and filled in back in July to allow the large well-drilling truck out this far. The rest of the drive was completely uneventful, to Tracey's great satisfaction.
Overall, a challenging and mentally taxing drive, but well worth the great scenery! I heartily recommend it and will be back out with the Samurai soon checking out the road to Orphan Boy Mine. |
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