Springtime On A-Cross Road, 2008

4/16/08 

Ralph's been so busy doing projects around the house lately, we decided it was time to get back to basics and make a run to A-Cross Road, one of our favorite trails in the area. Spring has sprung on A-Cross. The wildflowers covered every hillside with a yellow blanket. The scent of them was intoxicating as a mild breeze blew through the canyons. We've never seen the area looking so lush and green. Roosevelt Lake is at history making levels, bathing the valley floor in brilliant, rippling blue.

We saw a pair of Javelinas and a couple of Buzzards along the way, but no rattlers yet. It's plenty warm, so it won't be long before we see them stretched out, sunning themselves in the roadways.

Anyway, it's good to get Ralph away from his projects, I need to keep reminding him that he's supposed to be retired and there's no deadline to get things done. Of course, he reminds me that summer will soon be upon us and working outside in 110º temperatures isn't much fun either.

On the way home we indulged and stopped for breakfast at the Butcher Hook Restaurant...whew, those breakfast burros were HUGE! <groan>

Return visit to the cave on 609

Great Jeeping day! Sunny and clear with a cool breeze. We headed back to the cave this morning with Jean & Larry. This time we were well armed with flashlights and boots so we could delve further into the cave interior. It's quite a bit larger than we first thought, there are several passages leading to fairly large cave rooms. Upon closer inspection, we could tell that Indians, probably ancients, once used the cave either as a dwelling or a cool place to store meats. We could see the remainders of stone walls which had been built using mud mortar to hold them together. There are smoke stains on the ceiling of the cave in an area off to one side, it looked like it would have been a good place to smoke or cook meats.

It's obvious that over the years, lots of people have explored the cave. We could imagine early Indians, settlers, ranchers and miners, all walking over the same rocks that we did today, probably all trying to speculate about events which might have taken place here.

There are so many places to see here in our little corner of Arizona, each with something different to offer, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface. We'll just have to keep on Jeepin'!

Cave Exploring on FR 609

 4/5/08

Finally! We found the cave we'd been told about on FR609. I guess the fifth time was a charm. We went to look again for it this morning, having been given further vague directions on its location. "After the cattle guard, near a big Black Walnut Tree" yeah right, we didn't hold out a lot of hope but since the day was beautiful and the wildflowers are in full bloom, we didn't think the trip would be wasted even if we couldn't find the cave. Fortunately, we met a Warden from Arizona Game & Fish along FR609. He stopped to chat with us for a while, and we asked him if he knew of a cave in the area. "Why sure, as a matter of fact, I just found it today," he told us. He'd seen a vague trail leading through the scrub brush and decided to follow it and just happened upon the cave. Luckily for us, we came across him, because the directions we'd been give were way off (by about 5 miles) He told us to look for his footprints and even showed us the distinctive pattern on the soles of his boots. Sure enough, we were able to spot his prints and they led us directly to the cave.

The cave is fairly big, it eventually narrowed to a tunnel that we didn't follow today. By the time we'd found it, we were rather short on time so we explored it briefly on this trip, but we're planning to return and check it out a bit more to see how far it goes.

There weren't any critters in the cave, if there are bats present, they're probably deeper into the cave's tunnel. Along FR609, we spotted two huge flocks of wild turkeys, at least forty of them crossing the road in front of the Jeep. Other than the turkeys and a couple of deer, no other critters were spotted today. It's just as well, now that the temperatures are warming up, the rattlers are soon to follow.  

The trails off of Cherry Creek Road

3/30/08 

Finally we got out for some Jeeping! Duty has been calling us to stay home and get some projects done that we'd been putting off for quite some time but after a hectic couple of weeks, we all decided we deserved some time on the backroads.

We've been running Cherry Creek Road ever since we got the Jeep but we haven't explored very many of the trails leading off of it. We tried a few of them today. The first was a nice one, heading toward the Sierra Anchas, the road went back for a couple of miles before it stopped on top of a bluff. Wildflowers are in full bloom here, so we spent some time checking them out while admiring the beautiful views in every direction. The second road wasn't so good. (that's an understatement) Actually, it probably wasn't a road, just a track running up a sandy dry wash. It was a bit touchy to maneuver, lots of tippy places, one of which Larry experienced first hand, scaring the daylights out of Jean as she thought they were going to tip over for sure. From now on, it'll forever be called "Crybaby Wash" in honor of Jean's response to their near miss.  

The third road was the best. We didn't know it would go as far as it did, nor that it would be in such good condition. We ran it for a few miles, enjoying the scenery before it was time to head back home. We've all got dogs waiting for us, so we couldn't dally as long as we would have liked. We'll return again in the near future to see where the road leads. Wherever it goes, the views are breathtaking, so it'll be a fun run to look forward to.

Looking for a steer skull on FR 225

3/15/08

Just a short jaunt today. We've been playing catch-up here at home trying to get some household chores done before the hot weather sets in again but we were going through Jeeping withdrawal, so we took a break. We wanted to pick up a steer skull to add some western flavor to our cactus garden, so we headed back to FR 225, a place we'd seen some dead steers last year. The now bleached bones had been scattered by animals, but we were able to find a skull in the bushes. Hey, this is the Southwest, and skulls are considered treasures out here. Some people even decorate them with silver, turquoise and other semiprecious stones, but we like ours sans bling bling.

We drove around long enough to see some pretty wildflowers, the hillsides here are loaded with Mexican Poppies this time of year, creating a colorful backdrop for the stately Saguaros. 

Anyway, it was good to get out again, it's beginning to get a bit cloudy and cooler, rain is on the way.

Hopefully, there will be some more backroad exploring in our near future.

 

Glug Glug Splash! Cherry Creek Road

3/6/08

Another glorious day, our dusty house will just have to wait, we can't rationalize staying home and cleaning when the great outdoors beckons us. We headed for Cherry Creek Road, it's been a while since we made the trip.

The road was in super condition, we even passed the road grader as he made another pass over the dirt road making it even smoother. The desert is very green and lush right now. We've had unusual amounts of rainfall this year, so everything that could turn green is wearing a full coat of emerald coloring.

Cherry Creek is usually not much more than a gently flowing stream, but with the snow melting in the mountains of the high country, Cherry Creek is a raging river in places.

We stopped along the way to take pictures of an old homestead. It's slowly being reclaimed by the desert. The mud bricks are melting away with each rain and soon, all will be returned to the sand and dirt of the desert floor. We haven't been able to find any history about the place, but we'll keep asking some of the old timers here about it.

When we came to the crossing at Ellison Ranch, we found the crossing had been moved a few yards downstream. We hadn't intended to run Cherry Creek Road in its entirety, but Ralph wanted to check out the water crossing. Holy smoke! It was much deeper than it looked. It begain easy enough but then the front end of the Jeep dropped into a hole which had probably been created by the last four-wheeler to cross here. Glug, glug, splash and hold on tight...he made it through all in one piece! Ralph turned the Jeep around on the other side of the crossing and headed back. Wheee! Another glug and a splash, he made it! I don't think we'll try that stunt again any time soon. We were lucky this time.

Anyway, it was another beautiful jaunt with fabulous scenery and I guess the Jeep has a clean underbelly now. 

Metering Station at Tonto Gorge

  3/4/08

72º, clear and sunny, not conducive to staying home and cleaning, anyway, the dust will wait. We found a fairly good sized scorpion in the house this morning, after we promptly dispatched him, we decide to take off.

We headed for Tonto Creek Gorge today. There's a US Geological Survey water metering station located where the canyons narrow as Tonto Creek flows past the towering cliffs, we wanted to get a close up view of it. Tonto Creek is flowing fast, we've had a lot of snow up in the high country and the runoff is flowing into Tonto Creek from the Mollogon Rim and down into Roosevelt Lake. The lake is near capacity (91% today) and looking extraordinarily beautiful. We parked the Jeep at the edge of a sandy wash and hiked for about a mile to the metering station. To our surprise there was a man wearing waders standing in the water at the metering station. He told us that he works for the US Geological Survey and he's there measuring water flow and water levels. He's the person in charge of doing hydrographs to help the government and SRP (the electric & water company) updated on current conditions. We weren't expecting to see anyone in such a remote location, but it was a plus getting to chat with him. It was a very peaceful spot, the sound of Tonto Creek rushing over the rocks was soothing as we paused for a rest before heading back. Yet another perfect day in Roosevelt, Arizona.

One of these days, we'll stay home long enough to clean....but, then again, it'll wait.  

The red dot on the map marks the location of the US Geological Survey Metering Station.