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| Rawhide Canyon - Tonto NF, AZ | | -
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| | Rawhide Canyon - Tonto NF, AZ | | | |
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Rawhide Canyon - Tonto NF, AZ
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| 4x4 Trip | 24.30 Miles |
4,228 AEG |
| | 4x4 Trip | 24.30 Miles | 5 Hrs 17 Mns | | 5.70 mph |
| 4,228 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Initially I set out to do recon along Forest Road 3 (Hutton Peak Rd) for an upcoming climb of Hutton Peak, but barely a half-mile on FR3 and it was blocked by a locked gate marked Private Property and No Trespassing. Having the latest pdf map from the Forest Service which showed the road open to all vehicles and maintained for passenger cars this was quite a surprise. Thankfully with a backup plan ready to go it was just a matter of driving back a few miles west on the 60 to Forest Road 2466 and scout out an approach of Hutton Peak from the west.
But although the backup plan would bring me reasonably close to Hutton Peak, that part would have to wait because this plan entailed taking FR2466 south to BLM land where I'd take an old pack trail east as far as possible. The goal was to reach Dripping Springs Road, which I'd take all the way east to SR77 south of Globe, the 77 up to the 60 and back home through Globe.
The first part of the drive on FR2466 went pretty well as it is maintained quite well, but once I left FR2466 and headed east on BLM land, it quickly deteriorated to near rock-crawling terrain. The last two miles I drove took 80 minutes! Of course that includes the time I was out of the vehicle, walking ahead to plan my route and removing/moving the worst obstacles, at least as I was able to by myself.
Due to the real possibility of encountering an insurmountable obstacle before Dripping Springs Road, I planned a turn-around time that if I hadn't reached a specific waypoint by then I would turn back. As slow as the going was, as soon as it became obvious I was already an hour behind schedule, I just looked for a suitable spot to turn around, at which point I would take a lunch break before heading back.
I found a nice outcropping of boulders well above the road, turned the car around then climbed up to the top for a well-deserved lunch/rest break. Even though it's mainly an upper body workout, driving through this type of terrain takes way more energy than hiking!
Oh yeah, I also brought a book along, so after lunch I found a nice spot with a breeze. I had the choice of shade or breeze, but not both, so I settled for a sweat-wicking breeze. I spent 30 minutes reading before heading home.
On the return route back on FR2466 I took a few side trips to scout the best Hutton Peak route. On the first side trip I encountered two bobcats, a mother and a juvenile. It didn't take a moment and the juvenile turned off but the mother kept bounding along the road ahead of me. Although there was no time to focus or zoom, I was able to snap off two shots freehand before it turned off into the brush.
Although that side trip brought me within a mile of Hutton Peak, I didn't like the approach that much so knowing I still had one more side track to explore, I set this one aside as a possible TH. As it turned out, the next side-trip brought me to within .8 mile with a little nicer approach, so I'll be back soon for the climb.
On the drive home, as I was heading up the 60 past Picketpost toward Gonzales Pass, there was a motor home pulling a ski-boat (on a trailer of course) who pulled out to pass another slower motor home just as I was about to pass him when the right rear trailer tire blew out, throwing chunks of rubber and strips of steel-belt back at me. I tried to avoid as much as I could while trying to stay at full throttle, because, well... a Samurai has only 66 horsepower and if I let up at all, I'd be down to 40 mph by the top of the hill. Once the guy got past the slower motor home, I realized he had no idea the tire was shredded and the wheel was on the pavement so now the effort became one of passing him to let him know before he lost the other tire on that side of the trailer. So I downshifted a gear and ran it up just a bit over the 6500 rpm red-line to be in the power band on the up-shift when I drafted him just long enough I was able to pull up even with him, flashing high-beams and honking until I got his attention, pointing for him to pull over, which he did. I stopped and walked back to see if he had 1. a spare, and 2. a jack/tools to make the change, which he did, so I left him to his chore and headed home.
Thankfully that was the last of the excitement for today.
I posted 30 photos on HAZ, the full set of 41 photos is here:
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/album.php?id=178
I posted a 15-minute video of the roughest section of the drive, the last two minutes being the absolute worst part.
http://changephoenix.com/jpserver/web/public/file.php?id=179 |
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