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| 4x4 Trip | 120.00 Miles |
1 AEG |
| | 4x4 Trip | 120.00 Miles | 4 Days | | |
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| partners | | Personal Thoughts
In general, I’m so glad we undertook this adventure. It’s been on my bucket list for a few years so it was nice to cross it off but then add a bunch of other destinations. This trip was the overview I was expecting. With all the mountains this is a never ending exploration that will take the rest of our lives. It’s no wonder Ed Abbey is buried out here somewhere.
My highlights from the trip:
Beautiful sunrise at our first camp.
Chumley and his silly sermon on top of John the Baptist.
Monument Crater and the Border Hike.
A fabulous potluck of Pork tenderloin and roasted veggies in the Dutch-oven, Couscous, salad, buns, and Bundt cupcakes!
Tule Tank and scrambling up to the ridge.
Trying to get up to the top of the Tinajas Altas pools from the main part of the drainage. Thinking about how in dry times those traveling would try to climb above to get water and sometimes die. They didn’t have the experience and footwear we do today.
Drinking too much wine in Camp especially the last night! The bottles scattered around the next day was kinda funny.
Rain in the Lechuguilla Desert!
Seeing an exploded ordinance - not something you get to see every hike.
Spending time with Mark, Kathy, Karl, Chumley, and John. They were all agreeable except for Chumley once in a while!
Being sick for most of it. I’m still sick which is why I took so long to post and why I’m writing my triplog at 1:30 AM (steroids!).
Jospeh’s sitting on my lap for about 100 miles!
The plan to NEVER drive from Tinaja Altas pass to Fortuna again. The road is so bumpy and I was getting cranky. Poor Jospeh couldn’t rest either.
I had an amazing time and am very glad we had a fun group to explore with!
Now for some political views. This land is in the middle of nowhere and it is so beautiful. Trump’s wall would cause visual disturbances and affect wildlife. Plus the millions of money that would be spent should be spent on something more valuable like education and health care. Thing about the money that would be spent and the numbers of people it would prevent from coming across - not a viable project! I doubt a wall would affect anyone crossing here for long. Those people are desperate and will likely find any means possible to get across a wall. The desert itself is so remote and so harsh that the people who attempt it will struggle and to them it’s a journey that is worth it. Yes, there are deaths but there is water available and emergency buttons to those who give up hope. We really need to rethink our immigration plans and try to help these people. A wall is not the answer. Those who are making decisions should take this journey and understand what they are asking with the knowledge and visuals that I took away from traveling 120 miles along the border of Arizona and Mexico.
Planning Notes
Permits:
When undertaking this journey you need permits. For where we went, we only needed Cabeza Prieta and Barry Goldwater West. However, it makes sense to get all areas when you apply because the permits are good for 6 months.
Each person in your party needs to get permits, please go to this website to do so:
https://luke.isportsman.net
Be sure to watch video, agree to everything, and then put the All Areas permit in your cart and then checkout. Note I had to add areas twice in order to get it to work.
All areas include:
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR)
Barry Goldwater Range -West
Barry Goldwater Range – East (Area B)
Sonoran Desert National Monument – Area A
Checking in before you enter involves logging back into the website so don’t forget to bring your password! You can check in when you buy your final gas before taking off from Ajo. I still am unsure of which areas in Barry Goldwater West we were to have check into but in order to cover our bases I had a least one person check into each area. The scary thing is the report you can view never once incremented for any of the 6 of us!
Quick note about camping:
In the Refuge, wood fires are ONLY allowed at the designated primitive campsites at Papago Well, Tule Well and Christmas Pass. You must bring your own wood as there is no gathering of local wood. You can camp at other locations but only gas stoves are allowed or charcoal IF in a contained pan. Luckily Chumley had brought the pan from his patio fire pit. He also brought a shovel and rake. We had planned to camp at Tule Well but some Jeep Peeps spread out and took up the whole area!!!!
When we are on the Bombing Range they just ask that we put out fires and disperse fire ring and ashes.
References:
Be sure to bring the HAZ description. It’s pretty awesome! I did find one thing that I think was incorrect. The hike into Tule Tank is only one mile round trip (if you don't explore to the ridge line) so I think the author was referring to a hike to Buckhorn tank.
Another useful document that really needs to be printed because of the formatting: https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.si ... 202016.pdf
Then of course the maps and guidelines for the areas you’ll be in which are all downloaded from the website you get the permits on.
I hope this information helps someone plan a successful trip! |
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