My Trails

Of all the dangers I faced while hiking the AT, I was never afraid of meeting a bear. In fact, I was eager to see one. Of course, the bears I encountered along the trail were at a safe distance, and not at all interested in me. Now, as I hiked a portion of the Arizona Trail, precariously close to the boarder, I found myself in that same frame of mind. No, not that I was hoping to see a bear, but wishing instead that I would see some illegal Mexicans trying to cross into the US. Of course, the illegals would not be interested in me, hopefully headed in the opposite direction, definitely not smugglers, and naturally with Boarder Patrol Officers in hot pursuit. I guess the thought of a little bit of dangerous adventure is what keeps me hiking.

Two days before, on December 2, I drove south from Mesa to explore the Coronado National Forest, Coronado National Memorial, and the southern terminus of the Arizona Trail. Instead of driving I10 to Tucson, I chose instead the slower pace of routes 87 and 79 through Coolidge and Oracle Junction. The scenery was nice but not very remarkable. I made one stop at a roadside monument honoring the early cowboy star Tom Mix, who was killed when he drove his car – witnesses say over eighty mph – into a dry wash in a construction zone.

I spent the night in the Coronado NF, south of I10 on route 83. I was able to pick up many TV stations out of Tucson but Internet was very spotty. There were a couple of other RVs camped near by, and the only traffic I saw was a pickup pulling a horse trailer and a couple of hunters on a ATV.

The next day I drove to the Coronado National Memorial. I like scenic roads but not so much dirt roads. If I had known how rough and dusty the highway from Parker Lake to Coronado NM was, I may have gone the other way. My van is getting relatively old now and not as air tight as it once was. By the time I reached the memorial, everything inside and out was covered in a layer of dust. And, the road was very rough, covered with large stones, like a badly cobbled street. Poor gas mileage from driving slow, wear and tear on my van from the rough road, and dust permeating everything would make you believe I would not return the same way, but… you could be wrong.

I crossed Montezuma pass and descended 1500 feet to the visitors center. There is not much to see at the visitors center but I did get information on some trails in the area. I found out about a cave a short hike from the parking lot and decided it would be fun that afternoon. It is called Coronado Cave. There is no tour or guide through the 600 foot passage so you are on your own in the cave. They tell you to take two flashlights just in case.

The entrance requires some rock scrambling but once in the cave the floor is quite smooth. I could see light from the entrance for about halfway back and then it was completely dark. I went almost to the end. The cave narrows until you have to crawl on your belly, which I was not prepared to do. It would have been better if my lights were more powerful. I’m not sure if my headlamp needs new batteries or if my eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, but it was a little scary coming out and not knowing if I had taken a wrong turn. I’m sure none of the side passages go very far but it would be very easy to become disoriented in the dark. It was getting on into the afternoon by the time I got back to my van, so I left the park and headed to Sierra Vista to find a place to stay.

I noticed a campground on my map, still in national forest land, conveniently located a few miles south of Sierra Vista. On the map it didn’t look to be far, but it was on a difficult, steep, winding road, causing me to clench all the way to the top. When I finally found the camp I was sure it would be free but dismayed to read there was a charge. I’m usually pretty honest when I stay at campgrounds, realizing that I sleep better knowing a ranger won’t be knocking on my door wondering why I haven’t paid, but I weighed several variables and decided not to put my money in the slot.

I figured there was little chance I would get caught. I was the only one at the campground, miles above civilization on a terrible road, with bad weather moving in. And besides, they had turned off the water.

The wind picked up in intensity throughout the night and the temperature dropped close to freezing. I broke camp early and hurried down the mountain. It was a relief to reach the bottom of the road and I headed back to Coronado NM for my AZT hike.

There is an area of land north of Phoenix that is frequently written about in blogs by full-time RV travelers. Administered by the BLM and designated multi-use, it is available for many outdoor recreational activities, including hunting, off-road vehicle sports, and camping. Even though it is 40 miles from downtown and actually closer to Wickenburg than Phoenix, it is about as close as you can get to Mesa and camp for free. I wanted to explore the area and review it for future reference, so I set aside a few days and headed north.

My first stop was in the Tonto NF at the Phon D Sutton recreation area. Each year this area is popular as a boondocking location for RV’ers and I was interested to see if there were any changes this season. I found only a few rigs parked in the lot and no one was around to check that I was even registered. It is still early in the season so it may fill up later on. There was definitely a chill to the air and it rained through the night and for most of the next day, so I stayed inside and ate snacks the entire time. The next day I felt so guilty from binge snacking that I hiked five miles out into the hills. On the third day the sun finally broke through the overcast and I packed up and headed northwest to Hwy. 74.

It seems like they named a lot of the places and roads north of town in an attempt to drug your sub conscience into a state of nirvana. I drove by Happy Valley road, turned along Carefree Hwy, and just past Lake Pleasant found the BLM land. Some of the roads out into the desert were muddy from the recent rain. I chose to rule out anything that was remotely challenging, instead selecting a well traveled road with signs telling you where to camp and unload your ATV. I knew it was going to be like spending the night in the middle of a motocross race but figured it wouldn’t be too bad for one night. After a bit of zooming and noise, one by one, all the racers loaded up their toys and left the area, leaving me to enjoy the quiet of the desert.

The next day I drove a few miles back to Lake Pleasant. I asked the girl at the gate if I could go in and look at their campground to see if it was someplace I would like to stay. Most places will let you drive through and look for a site without paying but she was determined to charge me the entranced fee just to look around. I used the excuse that my brother has an extremely big RV and he wanted me to make sure he could fit when we met up next month. She said, “I will still have to charge you the entrance fee to drive through.” I guess they must get people with all kinds of stories that try to sneak in. I told her to forget it and then she relented and gave me a 30-minute pass. I was not impressed with the park. Maybe if I had a boat, or wanted full hookups and didn’t care how much it cost, it would be ok.

I found another dirt road that went back into the desert near Saddleback Mountain. On first examination it looked like a nice, quiet area with good roads and few ATV trails, but as I drove deeper into the terrain, I was disappointed to discover I had entered a shooting range. I parked and set up camp near the main road, and later walked back to explore the wash that is used for target shooting. I was dismayed to see such devastation in the desert. It wouldn’t be so bad if the shooters used the same area for their sport, but instead several acres in all directions were littered with the remnants of their destruction. It was as if a tornado had come through a city dump and scattered the contents for miles.

It is apparent that the shooters love glass bottles as targets, but what was amazing was the amount of trash riddled with holes: washing machines, TVs, computers, tables, lamps, even an old boat shot full of holes. I got the impression that when they replaced an appliance, instead of taking the old ones to the dump, they carted them out to the desert and blew them up. If cartridge casings had a deposit on them like pop cans I could have made a lot of money. I’ll bet I could have picked up 100 pounds of shells in ten square feet.

I’m not ready to give up on Saddleback Mountain just yet. There is still a lot of land I didn’t get to explore. At least I know where not to park on a weekend.

After five wonderful days at my brother Don’s home, I packed up and began my journey to AZ. I plan on going slow at first and then I may ease up a bit. I’m sorry, its just the way I travel.

I had a great time with Don and family, they made me feel like one of the…. well, you know! We went out for breakfast on Saturday, Thai food on Sunday, and Mexican on Monday. I actually liked most of the Thai food which even surprised me. We went to the movie Ender’s Game after breakfast on Saturday, then stopped afterwards to see Betty’s Daughter Jen at her new apartment. All of Betty’s daughters, Ann, Jen, and Michelle, are super cool young ladies and I was glad I got to see and spend time with each of them.

On Sunday Don took me out to where he works. Thinkom is a company that designs and manufacturers leading edge antennas. If you fly somewhere next year, there is a good possibility that the antenna on the roof of the airplane that allows you to connect to Wifi will be one of theirs. It was all pretty fascinating, and although much of the technology involved in antenna design was over my head, I actually learned quite a lot. It was very special day to spend together.

I just want to thank Don and Betty for their gracious hospitality. It was hard to say goodbye but good to realize that they will travel to Phoenix in December where we will see each other again.

On my last night in LA, after almost three years, I saw Julie Widener again. Don and I met Julie at a local yogurt shop and had a wonderful time catching up. I think we spent most of our conversation about our kids and new grandchildren, but in a way, that’s what it’s all about. It was great to see her again.

I remembered a nice campground in the San Bernardino NF, so when I drove by yesterday, I had to stop and see if it was still open. It was. I stopped. It is quite high up, about 8000′, and very cold at night, < 30 deg, so I will most likely pull out tomorrow. I will probably stay a couple of days in Quartzsite and be in Mesa shortly after.

Marshall Statue

It sometimes amazes me how addicted I am to technology. I will pass up a beautiful campsite in the forest for a parking lot where I can charge my battery and get on the internet. Even the bloggers I read, always preaching solitude and enjoying the quiet of nature, are lost without their data signal. I know a lot of them make money through their readers, but I’m sure their interactions with followers are therapeutic on lonely nights.

I guess we all strive for stimulation of some kind. For the adventurer like me it is the anticipation and satisfaction of seeing what’s over the next hill, relishing in the freedom to go where I want and do what I want. But when I’m parked late at night on a dark forest road, deep in the mountains, isolated miles from another human being, it wouldn’t hurt if I could pick up a couple of TV stations.

I have been camping at a beautiful little wilderness campsite, near the Silver Fork River, in the Eldorado National Forest. This is gold country so I have been doing a little gold panning. The water is too cold to keep my hands in for very long so my hobby only lasts about an hour a day. I have found a few flakes to add to my collection.

Last week I went to the James Marshall Gold Discovery State Park to see where it all happened in 1848. It was quite interesting to read and learn about the history of the famous California Gold Rush and see how they lived back then. They will let you pan in the American River where the first nugget was found but I thought that sounded silly – the area has been mined to death.

I need to head south soon. The days are still nice and warm and I have been riding my motorcycle exploring the roads, but the nights are chilly with occasional frost on the ground in the morning. It may be harder to find free camping as I get near the metropolitan areas south of here, but I may know someone that lives near LA where I can park for the night…