So, we were kinda bored this weekend and wanted to keep it semi-local. Montana Mtn here we come!

I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before that was long, fun and secenic. Its not far from Phx at all. East on the 60, just a few miles past Florance Juncition.



I have no idea what this is/was, but it was interesting either way:



Finally, I get to show off my new rims - I picked these up from a guy on TTORA for $50!





I'm a poser








Some cabin a good 3 hrs away from anything







I can only assume this means August 9th 1886 cuz I don't think people build with stacked stone and corregrated steel roofing in 1986





For those who are interested, the rest are here: http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...=all#imgAnch57

 

Hos hard is the trail? I can't wait to list my Jeep and head down there and wheel. Looks like a cool place to go.

 

The first few miles was just a super wide dirt road, very well maintained with alot of side trails - the the next 25 or so miles were pretty narrow and very rocky at times. It wasn't too bad, I mean, I took my fairly stock 4Runner through it no prob. I did bash on a rock, but thats from having an inexperienced spotter on a side trail when we were just messing around. The new gf needs some more practice. The toughest part was the 1/4 mile trail to the cabin cuz it was very rocky and narrow and rutty.

with all the side runs we did, stopping for lunch, taking poser pics, and commuting it was about 7 hrs round trip from my house in Chandler.

RedRunner, if you ever wanna come down to the Phx area for a weekend and do some wheelin, let me know I have a huge trail book and I'm down to go anytime.

 

Yeah Im lifting the Jeep in March/April. After that Im ready to hit the trails down there. Most of the trials up here are fire roads which get boring. I will for sure hit you up. Right not it is so hard with work, school and the holidays. haha I'm slowly teaching my GF how to spot and go offroad...fun experience.

 

my gf wants to drive, but she can't even grasp the concept of a manual transmission even though I give her a lesson everytime she is in the truck

So the chances of her ever driving my rig, especially off-road, is slim to none at this point.

Redrunner, do you snowboard? If Snowbowl opens this year I'll be heading up there as often as possible for some boarding. There was a Snowbowl rep down there the past couple weekends giving away lift tickets and other propaganda. I can't wait for some boarding!!

 

Nope but the couple friends I have in phoenix want to take me. If you want to stay the night my apartment is always open. I want to snowboard it just has to freakin snow!

 

Hey is that the trail out by queen valley? and if you guys are planning on going wheelin any time soon let me know I'll probably be down to go if you guys want one more to tag along

 

Cool...I probably won't be wheeling down there till the summer. Every weekend I will be down there I will be working on the Jeep. No time to go out.

 

you really think that cabing was built in 1886?? stacked stone and corrugated steel? (which is more than likely tin, actually)

 

I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. We have several old buildings around here that look very similar to that. Most are in various states of disrepair, but regardless, I think it's possible. I suppose someone could have reconstructed a "period" cabin in 1986, but I would wonder why.

 

Thats cool!!

 

Yeah, it is pretty cool when you're out on some trail and you come around the corner and see something like that. Reminds you that you're not the first, or the toughest, to be out there. The people that lived out here back then were some tough hombres!

 

I guess that just seems really old to me, here on the east coast, we dont have stuff that old. EVERYTHING has been torn down and had some stupid shopping mall built over it, out there you guys have more space for there to still be stuff like that, we dont have that luxury around here.

 

Brian - It is the trail out off of Queen Valley Road....

Chris - I can only assume it is that old because it is noted so in my trail book. The book that has info on over 200 trails. Each trail has a topo map, GPS coordinates and notations of landmarks along the trail in each direction so you don't get lost. There is a synopsis of each trail including its historical signficance if any; a 1-10 difficulty raiting; length in miles;length in hrs to complete; elevation; best time of year to go and a 1-10 of scenery.

I took theses pics of an old Indian Cliff Dwelling that is well over 2,000 years old not too far north of where I took the above pics:







There are hundreds of old buildings in the deserts around here. The remains of Indian villages, mines and mining towns, abandonded rail road and stage coach depo's, old farms and so on..........If you'd like to check out pics of a few other 100+ year old buildings in Az:

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/az.html

I recently got a book of ghost towns and I'm hoping to hit them all within the next 2 years.

Hey Brian, a few of us on here are heading out to The Verde River Sheep Bridge on Sunday if your interested. The trail to the bridge is off Bloody Basin trail just off the 17 north. The more people we get to go the better. PM me if you're interested, I assume we will be meeting up somewhere in the Mesa/Chandler/Tempe area cuz I live in Chandler, and the other guys live in Gilbert, Tempe and Ahwatukee areas so............Let me know if you're interested.

 

This looks like a great trip, I wanna do this trip when I get my new rig done. Thanks for sharing.

 

Amazing Stuff. If I ever make it to AZ, I think I'll look you up...I'll need a wheelin guide out there.