Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Cherry Creek to FR 202

We've been wanting to check out a trail off of Cherry Creek Road for quite some time. The trail, FR 202 skirts the Sierra Ancha Wilderness as well as the Apache Nation's Reservation. It runs from above Roosevelt Lake to Young, taking many twists and turns along the way.
Yesterday morning we headed out with Jean & Larry to check it out. Of course we took the Jeep, but since Larry and Jean were taking Buddy, their HUGE dog, they took their Toyota Highlander, Buddy wouldn't fit in their Jeep. We were concerned that the trail would be too much of a hazard for the Highlander but it turns out we worried for nothing. The trail was a bit rocky in places but as we approached the northern end, the road smoothed out into a dirt super highway, dusty, but great traveling. The weather couldn't have been better, cool in the high elevations with the sun shining brightly. We stopped for a picnic lunch in the shade of a tall pine forest just outside of Young.
Growlph did just fine, he's a little trooper. Since he's such a Daddy's boy, he spent most of the trip with his head contentedly resting on Ralph's shoulder. It was a long trip, we left at 8 A.M. and arrived back home at 4 P.M., dusty and tired but very glad to be hitting the trails again. When we arrived back home, Growlph ate his dinner, then went to bed, growling at us when we asked "wanna go in the Jeep?"...smart dog. I seem to recall growling as well last night, when Ralph asked me, "wanna go Jeeping?" ... we can learn a lot from our dogs.






Smoke can be seen in the distance from a fire burning on
the Apache reservation.





The road was dusty!




A rustic corral along the way




Larry, Jean, Ralph & Growlph
(Buddy is in the Highlander)


Some cattle kept a close eye on us


Nice smooth road!