Sheep Bridge Meetup Trip
After getting the lift spacers and new shocks installed, we had new tires put on the Jeep also. They had to order the size I wanted, but we were able to get them installed by Wednesday night. Here is a picture of Marcia standing next to her Jeep with lift kit, new shocks, and new tires.
I'm not going to post any photos for this trip since I posted 30 photos HERE. Just open that link and click on "See all photos" on the right side. Not only can you see my photos, but the other member's photos also.
We met up with the group at a QuikTrip on Cave Creek Road north of the 101 in the morning. Eight vehicles headed out at 8am north on Cave Creek Road. The drive takes us through the towns of Cave Creek and Carefree and then past the turn off for Barlett Resevoir. Another few miles and we pass the turnout for the Sears Kay Ruins and soon the paved road turns to gravel. This is FR24 which enters the Tonto National Forest. This road passes a couple hiking trailheads and a turnoff that takes you up to the top of Humbolt Mountain. (The one that has the radar station at the top that looks like a huge golf ball.) The Seven Springs campground is closed for the last couple years, but there is still camping available in the area at some other nearby spots.
We kept heading north and passed the turnoff for the Table Mesa road that heads back to I-17. For the most part, the road has been really smooth with just a few washboard spots along the way. As the trail continues, we came to C.P. Butte where some of the members climbed up and back down the hill there. Another few miles and the road comes to a T. At this point you can go left on the Bloody Basin road which connects back to I-17 or go right 12 miles to the Sheep Bridge.
The sheep bridge road is narrower and a one lane road for the most part with wider spots for passing oncoming vehicles. There were a few water crossings where the water was approximatly a foot deep. Also, the road is no longer nice and graded, but has quite a few small boulders to drive over and around. The group made it to the sheep bridge around noon and ate lunch on the sand bars down by the Verde River.
After lunch, Brian and Pat decided to challenge their vehicles. As you can see from the pictures, Pat made it through the swift and deep river crossing, but Brian flooded out. Luckily, there was another large truck there with a winch that pulled Brian's Bronco backwards out of the river. Then, Pat attempted to come back across the river and also got stuck and needed pulled out. You can see that as Pat got about half way across, the current actually started taking his rear end downstream.
A few members decided to camp out overnight, but the rest of the group headed back at 2pm after checking out the sheep bridge. On the way back, we took a detour up Humbolt Mountain to see the views from the top. In some of the pictures, you can see Horseshoe Resevoir. We made it back home by 6pm.
I'm not going to post any photos for this trip since I posted 30 photos HERE. Just open that link and click on "See all photos" on the right side. Not only can you see my photos, but the other member's photos also.
We met up with the group at a QuikTrip on Cave Creek Road north of the 101 in the morning. Eight vehicles headed out at 8am north on Cave Creek Road. The drive takes us through the towns of Cave Creek and Carefree and then past the turn off for Barlett Resevoir. Another few miles and we pass the turnout for the Sears Kay Ruins and soon the paved road turns to gravel. This is FR24 which enters the Tonto National Forest. This road passes a couple hiking trailheads and a turnoff that takes you up to the top of Humbolt Mountain. (The one that has the radar station at the top that looks like a huge golf ball.) The Seven Springs campground is closed for the last couple years, but there is still camping available in the area at some other nearby spots.
We kept heading north and passed the turnoff for the Table Mesa road that heads back to I-17. For the most part, the road has been really smooth with just a few washboard spots along the way. As the trail continues, we came to C.P. Butte where some of the members climbed up and back down the hill there. Another few miles and the road comes to a T. At this point you can go left on the Bloody Basin road which connects back to I-17 or go right 12 miles to the Sheep Bridge.
The sheep bridge road is narrower and a one lane road for the most part with wider spots for passing oncoming vehicles. There were a few water crossings where the water was approximatly a foot deep. Also, the road is no longer nice and graded, but has quite a few small boulders to drive over and around. The group made it to the sheep bridge around noon and ate lunch on the sand bars down by the Verde River.
After lunch, Brian and Pat decided to challenge their vehicles. As you can see from the pictures, Pat made it through the swift and deep river crossing, but Brian flooded out. Luckily, there was another large truck there with a winch that pulled Brian's Bronco backwards out of the river. Then, Pat attempted to come back across the river and also got stuck and needed pulled out. You can see that as Pat got about half way across, the current actually started taking his rear end downstream.
A few members decided to camp out overnight, but the rest of the group headed back at 2pm after checking out the sheep bridge. On the way back, we took a detour up Humbolt Mountain to see the views from the top. In some of the pictures, you can see Horseshoe Resevoir. We made it back home by 6pm.
posted by Virgil | 4/21/2007
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