Friday April 29, 2005
Night Ride to 4 Peaks
This is Brian's (Goose's) run to 4 peaks and of course only Brian and Myself showed up. We waited until after 6 PM but it was just us.
Now it's getting real dark,,,,,and cold ! But what a view !
This is the top. In the back is Roosevelt Lake. Brian is freezing it's 44 degrees up here. ??????,,,,,,,, I got my jacket ! Hee-he !
It was so dark I couldn't even edit the photos, they are just black. I forgot how much fun it was to ride under the stars. I'll do this again !
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May 6th 2005 Payson West, S-W
This was an exploratory trip to see what's in the area west of Payson. I covered basically from Rye to the south and north near Crackerjack Mine.
The views were super with many high vantage points to take pictures and just look out and chill.
As you can suspect I'm here alone again. Sometimes this is better, it gives me more of a chance to study the little things. To the left is this cattle loading shoot. How old is it? Who built it? It doesn't seem very high? What would they be loading into? (Wandering minds want to know !) I hate signs, signs only take privileges away. In this case you actually cross the pasture from fence to fence, and they failed to tell you they have BIG animals in the pasture. Near the end of the road the Forest Service closed it off . I couldn't get to the exact spot on the E.Verde River that I planned to. More of those darn sign things!
Nothing makes an ATV rider happier than an excuse to cross a river,,, so I did and felt much better.
I started my assault on Crackerjack Mine. The road looks passable, I haven't seen anyone all day even on the main dirt roads, the road to the mine is un-maintained, I am out here alone !,,,, MMMmmmmm. I had to use better judgment and pass on this one. I'll leave it for another day. To make up for it I splashed across the river,,,, and felt better.
My oh my ,,,,did I ever find a bitchin camping spot ! The river is real wide like a small lake. The area is fairly clear of brush and the trees are huge.
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Going down to Rye there is an area of burn out. In it's own way the burn out area has a beauty of it's own.
After you get over the initial shock you can see the forest rebuilding. The roads in this area are narrow (1 car) and perfect for an ATV. I'll be back!
