Where Have You Off-Roaded Today? 3rd Gen

My Tacoma filed for divorce on the grounds of "intolerable cruelty". Drove from BumbleBee AZ to Prescott AZ along the "green / easy" S Senator Road. 57 miles all the way. At one of the longer water/rock crossings I heard some scraping, so when I clean the RCI skid plate I will post another picture.

The cutbacks at the edge of the cliffs (angled, 280-ish degree changes in direction, big ditch to the left) taught me how to execute them successfully. Too bad there were so many. Between the bad water crossing with too many rocks and possible (no evidence yet, but I will see in the light!) scraping of parts on those rocks ... and the cliff edges that last for 20 miles ... the the dipping 280-ish degree changes ... at least I reached Prescott (flat, pavement, etc) before dark.

Was looking for snow to play in. I had to drive 40 miles of the trip and reach 7000ft to find some snow to play in.

I was running on adrenaline after a few miles because there was no helicopter scheduled to lift me out and sunlight was going away ... in short, I had to just knuckle through what was scaring me. I at least have experience enough to decide how far to take off-roading.

Maybe I have earned my own personal "man card".

Cleator / Crown King photos.



Snow



Muddy truck ... after I clean the skid-plate/underbelly I will report on scraping at the long/bad rock/water crossing.

 

Rowher Flats OHV, lots of fun and carnage.

 

Welcome to Prescott, sounds like you had a great time. I hope you were able to stop at Palace Station, the old 1870's Stagecoach relay station off Senator Hwy.

 

Saw it, but did not have time to stop. Took longer than I expected to drive (new enough to off-roading) and started later than I wanted. Maye next time, but would start from Prescott end for that so planning would be different that trip.

 

Lunch with my nephews at Foresthill again today, red clay mud is always fun to play in

 

Ran the Bradshaw Trail over the weekend, Palo Verde, CA to the Salton Sea. Easy trip, 2WD could do it.

These 4 shots were taken at the Rosevelt Mine. Abandoned but blocked off.


Scenery is pretty dramatic.


Lunch time!


This boat just proves that this area was once underwater! Two boats out there, actually


Camp for the night. We ended up with a 5th vehicle in our group.


Not a bad sight to wake up to.


End of the tail (almost). Good times.

 

Great pics!

I’m just curious, I thought the Salton Sea was toxic? Or was that an urban myth?

 

Thanks for sharing. We've been camping/wandering in that part of the world for the last 40+ years and love it.

A month ago when driving back from AZ, we spent the night on the Bradshaw, then drove west the next morning, bailing out on the Gas Line Rd.

 

Don't know myself. I didn't see any boats or any one out in the water. There is a small community there and lots of folks with quads, etc. running around. Lake is quite large actually.

 

I really like Palace Station, cool piece of history. I kinda wish they would move it into town.

Just about every other year they wrap it in tin foil to protect it from a wildfire, only a matter of time before they dont get lucky

 

I may return I think, after dry weather comes closer. The white-knuckle (for me) trip from Crown King to Prescott has melded into ... well ... "an experience" that I cannot dissect right now. There were rocky-ish climbs that 4WD can manage but want to go mid-week to limit reverse-direction traffic to reach Palace Station. At least for now meeting cars opposite direction on muddy-narrow makes me nervous, despite the success at passing 4 times in the cliff-edge portion of Senator (if you have driven it, you know the section).

Thanks for the information.

 

Today. Snow melting really fast up high. However the higher elevation trails are frozen over so no issues with getting stuck.

The forest floor up here is not even walkable now. Step anywhere off the snow, or try to hike a trail and with every step you sink 4 inches into the mud and just about end up on your ass. It will be like that for another 6 weeks before the forest floor dries out. Then fire season.

Lots of elk and moose tracks sunk almost a foot into the soil. They have a struggle in this condition.

 

I swear, every time I see your posts

 

I recall this TV advertisement from my days living in Seattle ... "Let's go to Victoria on Princess Marguerite" (a shorter cruise offered by people with big ships).

 

Love the cat picture!

 

For those of you looking to play in the snow- if you can get to Idaho Springs, we’ve got you covered. Literally!



At least two feet and still dumping! I’m going to try to dig out today- fingers crossed!

 

Went for a quick clam dig and photo shoot…

 

Update- close to 3’ now. Got dug out with some help from friends. Still dumping.

 

Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. I recall one winter weekend in Ohio ... 3 ft fell over 3 days ... just waited for ti to stop so I do not have to start all over again immediately. Then it was painful needing 3 or 4 shovels each section because of how heavy it was.

Phoenix Valley is just fine with me, now ... and I do NOT apologize for that ...

 

Hold that thought. Summer's around the corner.