2023: Change of Plans

During our morning pack up, we noticed the rear bumper was pushing into the tail gate when it was down.  Another trail mishap.  Tools came out, body weight was utilized and the bumper was secured.  After a tiring day prior, we were planning to tourist in Ouray, but discovered the truck seemed unhappy climbing.  So we pushed through Ouray, me with altitude sickness, to Montrose for parts.  Mike replaced the idler pulley and fan pulley.  But we think the fan clutch is toast.  That repair will have to wait.  At this point, we were in between Ouray and Grand Mesa.  So we, of course, altered plans and continued north to Grand Mesa for the night.  We found a camp spot in the pines, along a lake.  

Relaxed and enjoyed the night.  The next day we drove through the remainder of the park, along a beautiful yellow canyon where we saw a mountain goat walking along the road.  

Mike broke one of our camp chairs so we had to pit stop in Grand Junction for a new set from REI before heading back south. Instead of heading back to Silverton, we turned off at Ridgeway and camped off the Last Dollar Highway.  This was our highest campsite of the trip at 10,500 ft.  Tucked in the pines, barely breathing.  

Jeepin' in Butcher Jones

It's been entirely too long since we used the Jeep as it was intended.  Our bud Lance invited us out to Jeep, and after other plans fell through, we scrambled out of bed, made sandwiches to go, loaded up the girls, and headed north.

The plan, meet up with Lance and other random Jeepers at Butcher Jones in my beloved Tonto National Forest.  13 Jeeps (yes entirely too many), headed out on the trail that circled Saguaro Lake.

We took several breaks in between obstacles, which gave the girls a chance to stretch their legs.

We spent several hours, flexing, stretching and smacking the skid plates around.

By this point, there were two casualties.  One JK broke it's aftermarket sway bar, and another JK broke it's Dana 30.  OUCH!  He called a 4x4 tow.  The remainder of us split up and our group made our way back out.

We finished our day at pavement, aired up, had some good laughs, and said our goodbyes to old friends and new Jeep pals.  It felt damn good to get out today, get in 4 low and go.  

Roosevelt Lake and AZBDR

You can't abandon a plan if there wasn't one in the first place.

Mike was away for work last week.  I made the executive decision that we'd go camping when he got back.  Where?  Somewhere north of where we live.

Saturday rolled around and we loaded into the Jeep and made our way to Globe.  Just south of Roosevelt Lake, we turned down our trusty 288 and made our way up.  A few miles up, Mike said "wonder where that goes".  The map showed a dirt road heading straight down to the lake on the north side.  The plan, lunch at the water before heading into the pines.

Surprisingly, the road actually did go right to the water.  

After lunch we donned our suits (because ALWAYS travel with bathing suits) and went for a dip.  The water temperature was perfect.

The breeze turned into wind and the water became choppy.  Everyone but Rommel decided to get out of the water.  He lounged in the surf for quite some time.  The temperature was livable and we decided to stay for the night.  

We had dinner during a killer sunset.  But the second the sun set, the wind died.  And then the bugs.  We aren't sure what they were, some sort of tiny grasshopper type thing.  Not bitey, but they came in the millions.  We hurried into the trailer and suffered all night.  There was not amount of swatting, they got into the trailer and kept us up all night.

We "woke" early to a swarm of biblical proportions.  I didn't think to take video but....wow.  Millions of them decided the Foxwing was the place to be.  We packed in a hurry to a still and silent lake.  Exhausted and without coffee, we scurried off the beach.

Mike wasn't ready to head home yet so we decided to continue up 288 towards Young and hit the top loop of Cherry Creek Road.  AZBDR reported the lower loop was closed and rerouted due to last seasons fire damage, but we checked that off the list a few years back anyway.

A few miles in, the "Expert Rating" became apparent.  

I'm going to gush over our teardrop for a second.... This baby will GO ANYWHERE we point it.  While this technical section wasn't very long, it had some decent rock work and drops and made it through like a CHAMP.  /endgushing.

This part of Cherry Creek road was pretty rocky throughout. We noticed (especially in the above shown section) that there wasn't much tire sign, and it was only UTV tire sign.  

At a wide point in the trail, we stopped at a natural spring and Mike made us coffee and oatmeal.  Coffee was long over due.

During each stop, we kept finding more of the plague bugs.  Lesson learned, don't camp AT the lake.  Enjoy it and flee before the sun sets.

We pushed on towards Young.  The road progressively improved.  Even still, we only saw two UTVs the whole day.  It was pretty rad.

Our impromptu and unplanned trips are usually the ones we remember fondly.  We had a day on the water and a day on the trail.  Can't beat that.

No Motor? No Problem.

We're in the midst of a standard southern Arizona Summer.  Blazing temperatures in the mid teens.  You know, like 112*.  It has been quite a while since we dusted off the canoe and went to the lake.  Luckily our adventures friends invested in a canoe recently and drug us out to Bartlett Lake.

To avoid the worst of the heat, we left home at 4PM and made it to the lake by 6PM.  Sound late?  It's not; the sun doesn't set until 8PM here.

We piled in our respective canoes and began to meander around the lake.  We lucked out with minimal motorized traffic on the lake this evening.

We found a small cove perfect for swimming.  The water was surprisingly warm and we spent a good chunk of time just floating along with the assistance of our life vests.  Yes we can swim, but when you have a piece of safety equipment willing to do the work for you, why do it the hard way?

Mark the day on the calendar, Pete is smiling.  ON FILM!

We put foam mats down the canoe floor for comfort for the dogs.  Mike made an impromptu floaty for Elly.  

Once out of the water, Elly ran and ran and ran.  Unfortunately for her, there were bees imbibing at the lakes edge.  We think she stepped on one, because she refused to put weight on her left foot the rest of the night.  And oh was she dramatic.  In my mind her dialogue would've gone like this: "I hate this. The lake sucks.  I want to go home.  I'm going to lose the foot. Three legged dog, here I come".

Cooled off, we got back in and paddled up the lake a bit more while the sun began to sink below the mountains.

We found another cove to explore before heading back across the lake.  You don't want to be canoes on a dark lake with drunk idiots manning speed boats zooming around after dark.  

The sun was sufficiently below the mountains before we made it back.

Mopey McMopey Dog cuddled with my legs on the way back.  

We rounded the small bend back to our landing spot as it was getting dark.  Pete taught his daughter the fine art of righting a flipped over canoe and Mike swam with Rommel a bit more.  We loaded up and headed out to Five Guys for a very late dinner.  It was only a few hours out, but it was a very welcomed escape.