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| Hiking | 10.00 Miles |
1,000 AEG |
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| 1,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | 3 day 2 night road trip up to Alamo Lake State Park with Addie to visit our friend Lauren.
I first headed up a couple days earlier solo to Chandler from Safford to spend Christmas with my family.
Met up with Addie in Chandler on the 26th in the early am and together we made the long drive out to Alamo arriving at 4am.
12/26 - 4am arrival at Alamo Lake State Park. We pulled into the first electric campsite we could find in the dark, ran a small heater into the car and got a couple hours of much needed sleep. The park was very dark, quiet & cold!
Morning came and we spent it just checking out the entire park. We drove all the roads up to the dam, down to the lake & through the campgrounds ..... Alamo is a big place!
10am we met with the asst Manager and got checked into our cabin for the night (Largmouth Lodge) then hiked the short Lake View Loop. That afternoon we met up with our friend Lauren and the 3 of us got the VIP tour of the area from her BF Ron who is a Ranger at the park. He took us beyond the locked gate behind the dam for a short hike down the Bill Williams River Gorge that was just Awesome! If ever I come back, this is what I'll come back to see more of. We then left the park for a late evening/sunset drive out across the desert to an upper river view before returning back and calling it an early night.
12/27 - 5am meet up & start of day #2. With Ron as our driver & tour guide, we departed Alamo Lake for a road trip out to and up the Parker Strip. The plan was to hit all of the State Parks along the strip and end back at London Bridge for dinner. Ron assured us we could get it all done in a day ..... and we did!
#1 Buckskin Mountain State Park - Small park with good Colorado River bend views. We hiked up the Lightning Bolt Trail for the excellent overlook views of the park & river.
#2 River Island State Park - 1.5 miles down the road from Buckskin. Very small camping park along the river. We hiked the Wedge Hill Trail up to the overlook.
#3 Parker Dam - Quick stop and drive over the dam into California.
#4 Cattail Cove State Park - Another small park along the river, my favorite of the 4 we visited. Walked the small white sand beach & park before hiking the Whytes Loop Trail. The trail follows the shoreline with great views of the river/lake and I spent a little time following a very cool slot canyon down to the water.
#5 Lake Havasu State Park - Basically just a huge parking lot with lots of beach. We walked it a bit, got our lake pics then head back to London Bridge.
#6 London Bridge - Dinner was first had at Barley Brothers Brewery with a window view of London Bridge. We then spent the rest of the evening with a walk over the bridge and then down and along the Shoreline Trail out to the Colorado River view. It was a very nice ending to the day along the Parker Strip!
We then made the long drive back to Alamo Lake State Park arriving back well after dark. Unpacked into our 2nd home for the trip in one of the parks resident mobile homes. Bed again came early ending a great day #2!
12/28 - 6am rise for an early start to the long drive back home to Safford. Lauren followed us out from Alamo in her car to Yarnell to hike the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Trail with us (separate triplog for this one).
After completing the memorial trail, we said our goodbys, Lauren headed back to Alamo as we headed back to Safford.
Arrived back into Safford at 9pm ending another great time spent with my 2 outdoor adventure girls + 1 new friend!
Thank You Ron for the excellent tour service!
Thank You Addie & Lauren XOXOXO
1000 miles
6 AZ State Parks
2 States
2 Rivers
2 lakes
2 Dams
1 Bridge
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Route Editor
Route Scout
The water was clear enough to see the bottom in most places so we could tell where we needed to be careful of the larger, slippery rocks. There was one water crossing that was up past my waist, but all others were completely doable. Lots of places to camp along the banks, some of the benches are a good 20 feet above the water. Our night temps were above freezing, but I think they dropped below 40. There are a couple of side canyons that we passed that would be fun to explore, and I'd love to make it to the end of the gorge next time I visit. I do have to say that the 4 hour drive to get there seems to take forever.
