A Cat's Birthday

Archie turned 16 years old this week.

He started off the day by taking a nap.


When he finally got out of bed, he sniffed around a little bit.


Then, he rubbed up against the fireplace.


And rubbed against the coffee table.


Finally, he laid down for another nap.

Monument Valley Jeep Expeditions

In March we found out about Jeep Expeditions and the Monument Valley trip that was planned. Dave and Kathy signed up and we soon decided we wanted to go too. A September 8/9 off-road tour was organized through Harold Simpson with Trailhandler Tours. After months of waiting, the weekend arrived.

Marcia and I both were able to get off work early on Friday and left our house around 2:30pm. We stopped in Flagstaff for supper and made it to the Goulding's Campground across the highway from Monument Valley around 9pm. We set up our tent and went to bed. Here you can see a photo of our camp site the next morning.



The next morning we broke camp and headed for the visitor's center at Monument Valley to meet up with the rest of the group. From there you can see the mittens.



Once all 14 Jeeps arrived, we headed out. The first day, the planned route was through Mystery Valley to the west of Monument Valley. We started out by heading through some sandy washes that hadn't been traveled on for some time. Not too far in, we came upon a big washout. The guide Jeep and Dave made it through in front of me, but I didn't have as much luck. I was soon spinning tires in the soft sand. Dave got out to help spot for me, but got a dirt shower as I made an attempt to get out.



A quick hookup of the tow strap yanked me out of the hole and the group was on their way again. Here are some photos of a few stops along the way.













Here is an arch that is cut out of the rock. Standing at the bottom, you can look right up and see the sky through it.





The next stop along the way had some ruins at the base. This location was named many hands as you could see from the petroglyphs on the walls.









Here is Marcia and her Jeep.













Towards the end of the route, we climbed a hill to a viewpoint looking north over Mystery Valley.





After exiting Mystery Valley we circled back around and entered Monument Valley. The guides took us to the campground under Rain God Mesa. Everyone setup their tents and prepared supper. As it got dark, Harold played the flute, told stories, and played the drum while singing. Jamie dressed in traditional attire and danced for the group. He also included the group and everyone got up and danced with him. I didn't get any photos of this, but I'll provide links to others who did.

The next series of photos are from our campground Saturday night in the heart of Monument Valley. We could see many of the monuments including Three Sisters.





















Saturday morning we had to get up really early. That wasn't a problem for everyone because at 5am, Harold started banging on his drum and sang a Navajo song. He followed this 3-4 minute alarm clock, by two simple English words, "Good Morning".

Everyone followed Harold and Bah-hi out of Monument Valley and towards Kayenta 20 miles to approach Hunt's Mesa from the south. Here is a photo as we turned off the pavement and began heading back north.



After a few miles of easily graded road, we dropped off onto a harder trail that started as a 1/2 mile of sandy river bottom. Everyone was rolling right along and the end was fast approaching as the guide Jeep hit a really deep spot of sand and got stuck. Dave, following them, had to slam on his brakes to stop. He then tried to pull around them to pull them out, but was soon buried himself. George was able to get around and pull the guide Jeep out forwards. We hooked our Jeep up to Dave and pulled him out backwards.





Once everyone was out, we were able to make a run for it and get to harder ground. Immediatly after, there was a steep climb up a rock hill. Here you can see Dave speeding away and everyone else soon following.







The road contined from there on narrow mountain roads that varied in difficulty.













We finally arrived at the Hunt's Mesa overlook and stopped for lunch.









After lunch, we contined on to another magnificent overlook. We spent some time there and then backtracked the same way we came in. After following the same path out approximately 1/2 of the way, we took a different fork in the road to exit by another trail.





On this route off of Hunt's Mesa, we decended into a narrow canyon to view Spider Arch.





Where's Marcia? Can you spot her in this photo?



Bah-hi, the driver of the guide Jeep, encouraged me to climb up into the arch. This was very steep with poor footing, but he helped me climb all the way up approximately 100 feet to look straight up and see the openings. After a few photos, we slid down on our butts.







The rest of the trail out was very sandy, just as it had begun. We drove in a wash for some time and then climbed a sandy hill. On the back side of this hill was a huge descent down into another wash. You can see one of the photos Marcia took as we went down and then the rest of the group following. Harold mentioned that this is a one way hill and it is impossible to drive up. Many people have tried, but it has never been conquered.









Soon after, we came back to where we entered the trail and after one last stop, everyone headed on their way.

I'll add more to this later as more people post their photos, but here are George and Diane's Photos

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend, we decided to go camping up on the rim north of Payson. Dave and Kathy went up on Friday night and Marcia and I pulled our camper up Saturday morning. They found a really nice spot right on the rim. We didn't really do much all weekend besides hang out at our campsite and relax.





Paul really wanted to come with us, but couldn't because he was on-call for work. Dave called him and rubbed it in. Here's where Paul could have set up his tent.



Later in the afternoon, I lit up some of that Iowa oak that my dad brought me last winter. It sure does burn well for a campfire.



Here Marcia poses near the edge. Not 30 feet from where we setup our campers was a 500 foot cliff where you could see for miles.







Camping on the Rim.

Wickenburg Mountains

See all of the photos here.

The August 4x4 Meetup was taking the Wickenburg Mountain trail from the Charles Wells book. Marcia had lasik surgery on her eyes the day before and didn't go along since she was supposed to avoid sunlight and dust for a couple weeks. The group started by meeting at the McDonalds in Wickenburg.





From there, Rob and Sharon took the lead and headed northeast on Constellation Road to the turnoff to the Wickenburg Mountains road. The road immediatly became more difficult than the simple graded road up to this point. Our first stop was Constellation City. Not much left anymore.



We drove on some shelf roads and down through a few washes before coming to a nice shady spot for lunch.



A few more miles and we arrived at the Isaac Bradshaw grave site.







We kept going and soon came to the end of the trail at Copperopolis Mine and Townsite. We did a little bit of exploring here and then turned around and headed back out the way we came in.









Steve led the group on the way back. At one point, we got stuck behind a cow that was walking in the road and would not move to the side. Finally, we got past him.



We reached the end of the trail along Constellation Road around 5pm. A handful of the members were driving up a washout as a challenging obstacle. Don "Jeepmasher" proved true to his name and broke his Jeep. His axle broke with the right rear tire flying off.





Ken and Amanda took Don back to his home in the valley to get a trailer. The rest of the group discussed the best way to get his jeep out. It was decided that we should get the Jeep out of the wash before it got dark. Kevin hooked up the winch and we pulled the vehicle up the hill to the main road. Everyone then headed back into town to wait for Don's return at McDonalds.



Dave hooks up a towstrap and helps Kevin and his Bronco pull.



Back with the trailer, we got it loaded onto the trailer and headed home. I made it home by midnight, so after all, it was a good trip.

Lake Pleasant to Crown King

Every year the Arizona Virtual Jeep Club has their annual run from Lake Pleasant to Crown King. This road is also known as the back way to Crown King and is a very challenging trail. When the club was originally formed, this was the first trail they did together, so they have been repeating the trip every August.

Dave was planning on going, but Kathy didn't want to, so I rode shotgun with him. Paul also went in our group with Steve riding along. Kathy and Marcia stayed in Phoenix and did a little shopping and took naps while they waited for us.

In total, there were over 100 Jeeps signed up for the trip. Groups began leaving the trailhead at 5am and were spaced every hour for most of the morning. We were on the 8am run and met up with the approximately 30 Jeeps in our group.

Here is a picture looking back on the second half of our group. There were about 8 Jeeps in front of these that I didn't get a good picture of.



Near the beginning of the trail, the scenery was desert mountains and you could see for miles back over Lake Pleasant and towards the city. You can't see Lake Pleasant in the second picture here, but it's off in that direction.





The trail progressively gets harder the further you go. Here is Paul and Steve climbing the first obstacle.



Here is another guy in our group climbing up the same obstacle. I wasn't surprised he started having engine problems not much further along. That Cherokee wasn't abused in the slightest. Nope.





Here is a pretty picture looking back towards where we had just come from.



The next obstacle was one of the harder ones. It had two spots that made for a challenging climb. Dave and I were the 5th Jeep back at this point and watched the guys in front of us go up.



Here’s a photo of Paul and Steve on their way up with the others waiting behind.



Dave kicked me out of the Jeep to help spot for him as he came up. Here’s a photo of him climbing the hardest part of this obstacle.



Paul then came along and got hung up on the rock in the middle.



He backed off and came to the right more and made it up.



Paul and Steve climbing on out back to the main road.



Here is another shot towards the south as we waited for the rest of the group to catch up.



Our 8am group stopped for lunch and a smaller group from the 9am run caught up to us there. Dave and Steve knew Randy from our Meetup group, so after lunch we joined up with Mike in the yellow Jeep, Randy in the silver Jeep, David in the 2nd silver Jeep, and Paul and Steve bringing up the tail.

The vegetation at this level started getting quite a bit larger as we rose out of the desert and got into the higher mountain elevations. The trail was narrower and consisted of some fairly tight switchbacks climbing into the Bradshaw Mountains.







Along the way we passed the site of the Oro Belle Mine. Just before there we had to go through the wash area known as the rock garden. At one point I had to get out and stack up some rocks so Dave could get clearance to make it over a large boulder. Just after the mine was a challenging climb over some large boulders that we made it through fairly easy. Here's a photo of Mike going through one of those rougher spots.



About 2 miles south of Crown King, we started catching up to the 7am group. They had over 40 Jeeps in their group and were delayed for a long time by a breakdown that blocked the whole trail so nobody could make it past. Here's the last guy in their group taking the climb over a huge boulder. Our group of 5 simpley drove the left of this boulder.



A little bit further along, we stopped for a break in the shade of the pine trees.



After arriving in Crown King, we walked around and went into the General Store to buy t-shirts, fudge, and ice cream. Here is a photo of the saloon and another shop in front of it.



Just to the south of those is the fire station with all the vehicles lined up in front.



Then, there is the General Store.





Now, for the lesson of the day. For any of you looking at these pictures and thinking "I'd like to try to go on the back way to Crown King." -- Do not attempt this trail in a stock vehicle. -- Well, go ahead if you want to destroy it. One of the guys in the 8am group brought his stock Ford Explorer. After our surprise wore off that he actually made it all the way up, we stopped and tooke some pictures.

Busted out back window.



Bent running boards.



Mangled front bumper.



Cut in tire sidewall.



Matching bent running boards.



Dented and scratched front quarter panel.



Bent frame under front axle.



Concaved skid plate under gas tank.



Another shot of gas tank skid plate where you can also see the dented in muffler.

Camping North of Payson

This weekend we went camping on the rim, north of Payson, in one of our favorite areas. We left Friday night and drove up there with Marcia's parents, Paul and Barb, and Terry from Paul's work. We found a spot to camp just after dark and got our gear setup for the weekend.

Saturday morning we took off and headed east on forest service road 300. (Rim Road) Along the way, we came up to a turn off to the General Springs Cabin. It's was a smaller road that headed north from the main road. About 1/4 mile north we came to the cabin and stopped to explore.









From the cabin, the road continued north. We didn't know how far it went, but it looked like a fun trail. Dave lead the way as it went up over the hill along a large pipeline.







The road went northwest for about a mile before connecting to another road that we took south to reconnect to FR300. We continued east and by this time we could see some rain clouds moving in.







Approximatly half way on the 45-50 mile rim road is a turn off to Knoll Lake 4 miles north of FR300. We stopped and looked around for awhile. From there, we decided to turn around and head back to camp.



It had started to rain on us a little bit as we headed back. We pulled over at one spot to take pictures and watch the lighting to the south.







The first picture here is of our Jeep and camper setup before it started raining Saturday night. The rain hadn't made it that far west yet, but we knew it was coming. We put the awning out and began to cook supper. Paul started a fire and we worked on keeping warm and dry the rest of the night.



That area got a pretty good rain Saturday night. In the morning it had let up and I walked around and took a few more pictures.

Monsoon

It's monsoon time in Arizona. We turn on the news while eating supper and watch the radar. Then, the wind starts blowing and soon it rains. Here's a really cool storm that rolled in.

It's Raining!

Marcia got home before me today. I called her when I left work and she told me to hurry since it was going to start raining soon. I made it home dry and tooks some pictures of the clouds rolling in.





Then it poured.



The rain only lasted for 15-20 minutes. But the destruction was done. Look what it did to the street in front of our house. Puddled water.



Then, I walked out to get the mail and found some more destruction. Oh the horror. It will take them years to rebuild.

Bottling Beer

It's bottling day. The beer was actually ready for bottling last Wednesday, but I have been busy and today was the first chance to get it done. I started out by sanitizing the bottles I had already cleaned. This was actually the most time consuming task since I rinsed each one with sanitizer and brushed them out.

After that, I moved my fermenting bucket to the kitchen countertop. I placed my bottling bucket on the floor and started the siphon to transfer the beer. At this time, I had also added my priming sugar. During this process, you siphon everything out, but leave the bottom inch or so with all the sediment that has settled. This gives you all the clear beer off the top. Here I am watching the siphon about half way through. Boy does it smell good.



From this angle, you can look down and see the fermenting bucket draining into the bottling bucket. There is a ring around the top from the fermenting process.



Here is the bottling bucket after the transfer is done. I managed to get about 4.5 gallons. I probably could have got a little more, but didn't want to risk sucking up some of the crud from the fermenter. I'd rather waste a little beer than get too much sediment in all of the bottles.



Here is the sediment (crud) that was left over that I've been referring to. It mostly consists of the yeast, but also has some other hops and barley particles that got into the first transfer after the boil.



And the bottle filling begins. I had my empty bottles behind the bucket by the sink. I would fill a bottle and put them on the counter in the left of the picture. You can see I've already completed a few of them. Marcia helped me as I filled the bottles, she would place a cap on the top.



After I got all the bottles filled, I began capping them. I do this with a hand tool that puts a crimp on.



Here's the first fully complete bottle. It's capped and ready for 2 more weeks of rest before drinking time.



I managed to fill 42 bottles. That's 7 six packs of beer. During the process, I poured some into a glass for sampling. At this point, the beer is still flat, but you can get an idea whether the batch is going to be good or not. Great news, it tasted pretty darn good. It should get even better with two more weeks of aging in the bottles.

Bulldog Canyon

Next weekend is the night run through Bulldog Canyon with the Phoenix 4x4 group. Never having been through that area and with it on the upper end of difficulty for trails we like to run, we decided we wanted to try it during the daylight before going with a big group after dark.

Marcia's parents went along with us. We ate lunch first and as we were pulling out of the parking lot, we noticed our Jeep was turning over 50,000 miles. Here's the proof.



We took US60 east to Ellsworth road and then went north. This goes past the Usery Mountain Park. About a mile north of the park entrance is the locked gate to the Bulldog Canyon OHV area. To enter here, you have to get a permit from the Tonto National Forest first. It's free; you just have to go there in person and get it first.

The road is fairly easy at first, but a few miles in, we turned to the south to go through Bulldog Canyon. From here, the trail is more difficult with quite a few obstacles.

Here is the first climb we came to that was a little bit of a challenge.



Dave went down and came back up a more difficult path the 2nd time.



Here we are at the top of the hill with the gorgeous views in the background.



Dave and Kathy climb another steep, rutted hill.



A few more miles in, we came to quite a few hills that were covered in 6"-8" boulders. Marcia got out and walked up ahead of me following her in the Jeep.











Looking east at the Superstition Mountains.



The narrow trail meandering through the desert.



On the way home, the monsoon rains were blowing in. Here are 2 photos from the 101 looking towards the McDowell Mountains getting some showers and lightning.