Sycamore to Log Corral... almost.
 

After hours on Google Earth plotting possible routes, I was convinced I had finally found the way. Unfortunately, I was denied about 1.5 miles from the end. Still had a good day. Did a 60 mile uninterrupted dirt route. Intermixed old forgotten roads and creek beds.

Warning: Lot's of GREEN plant and FLOWER footage. Us AZ desert dwellers get excited about that sort of stuff. :hillbill:

Once the dog and I found our way in from Hwy 87 and Shea... we came across a windmill that was actually pumping when the wind blew. Most of the time, those things are all shot up and stuck. Was kinda cool to see one operational:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...8/Windmill.jpg

First GREEN pic:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Green01.jpg

Then it was on to try and find our way across Lower Sycamore. It was mostly dry, but very wide and hard to navigate:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Sycamore01.jpg

Thought I found the trail, but was wrong. Came across an interesting ruin of an adobe wall though. Completely random. No evidence of a foundation, roof or other walls. Very curious:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Adobe02.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Adobe01.jpg

Mousse enjoying the water:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...8/Mousse01.jpg

We hiked around a bit with GPS in hand to try and find my Google Earth route. Came across this little guy in the process (no idea what kind though):

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Snake01.jpg

Finally found the road. This gate is key... for anyone else looking for this route in the future (very doubtful I know :hillbill:)

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...308/Gate01.jpg

Now we were off. Sycamore navigated and crossed, route found. Just had to get through all this GREEN stuff:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Green03.jpg

Cool shots! This is a great time of the year. All the green and flowers starting to pop up, but still nice and cool outside.

The next section of trail looked like it hadn't been visited for years. Still, was easy to navigate. Lot's of steep ups and downs:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Trail01.jpg

Came across these two at one of the creek crossings. Far to remote to have been planted. Just luck that both had grown so close and at such a similar pace:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Twins01.jpg

Climbing now, you could look back and see the Fountain Hills namesake shooting into the sky. Can you make it out?

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Fountain01.jpg

How about now? :hillbill:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ountain01a.jpg

After driving for some time, I got to a section that I had done before. Was rewarding to know I wasn't too lost. GREEN doubletrack:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Trail02.jpg

Superdeep FLOWERS and GREEN plus dog plus 4Runner. Perhaps the greatest photo I have ever taken :great: :

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...eenBest01a.jpg

Those are some nice pictures, i wish i had some desert to explore around here

nice! Its Ireland. The 4runner looks at home. right on.

This section was really sweet. All the trees bent over at just the right height:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ostcard01a.jpg

Trail started to get a bit more technical from there. Up a wash with some interesting side walls:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...reekWall02.jpg

What was left of a tree. Looked like it was just stuck in the sand.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...RandomTree.jpg

Erosion had gotten the better part of this section. If it doesn't fit... well, you can always make it fit. :D :

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Trail04.jpg

Section after. Was really starting to hope this route was going to go through. I was way back there by now:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/Trail03.jpg

Came across a gila monster around the next bend. he was a stubborn SOB. Hissed and puffed up when I got close for his pic, and wouldn't move for nothing. Even hissed at the 4Runner when I fired it back up. He finally moved away so I could continue:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...308/Gila02.jpg

Trail was rapidly reducing is use and width by this point. Was hopeful I'd be able to keep going. Did make it to Cottonwood Tank though. Very exciting :great::

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...woodTank01.jpg

After that, the trail went total singletrack. I made an effort, but ultimately dealt the final blow. End of the line... dog didn't seem to care though:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...08/DeadEnd.jpg

We hiked a ways further, but it just kept getting skinnier. So close, so close... but had to turn back. :bang:

Here come the FLOWER pics... brace yourselves...

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...werBest02a.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...werBest05a.jpg

You can see the trail off in the background in the next one. Very happy with how that one turned out.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...werBest03a.jpg

And my final "artsy" shot:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...tusBest02a.jpg

Almost forgot... one big, brave rabbit just hanging out:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...8/Rabbit01.jpg

I have exhausted every possible route I can see from Sycamore to Log Corral and just can't make it work. :bang:

Oh well, still a good day and have found a ton of singletrack that looks epic. Maybe I'll have to get a motorbike to solve the rest of this puzzle.

Thanks. The desert is just so amazing right now with all the rain we have had. Crazy how lush things are. It was a great day for both weather and scenery. :great:

Being from BC, at least you have plenty of GREEN all year round... except when it's covered in white of course.

My bet is if I had asked YT to guess the location, AZ desert would have been last picked... that's for sure.

Awesome post and pics. This is one of my favorite things about YotaTech: posts of folks doing stuff with/in their Toyotas that I would like to do.

Bravo!

Okay, thats pretty cool. Don't tell anyone I looked at pictures of flowers....:think:

Artys-Fartsy?

Nah, not really. Take it from a guy who despises artsy; those are just examples of good photography at work. My wife is a camera wielder, I bought her a nice Nikon D50 a couple years ago & a macro lens. I'm hoping to take her out there to the South West (AZ. in particular) in a year or two if gas doesn't go up to $6 a gallon before that so she can see it in person.

Thanks for the pics, I enjoyed them.

Wow...great report! Thanks for checking it out too....I have been wondering about that area for years now and you finally made it there. It looks like it would make for a cool place to camp and hang out for a weekend.

Looks like you should have brought that fishing pole you found at Log Corral!

I figured since you were the one that showed me the location of the tank, you'd interested to see what it actually looks like.

I forgot to post, but there is a corral out there as well:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...odCorral01.jpg

Might not have been a bad idea. Although after the tenacity of that Gila monster... I am not sure I'd want to know what could have been pulled out of that pond. :eeek:

A little OT but it IS amazing what a little moisture does to the desert isn't it? Here is one of my fave "that's Arizona?" pics from a few years ago.

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/5448/dsc00280lm6.jpg

Very nice pictures!
Makes me want to get out and do some wheeling.

How big is the gila monster?
Those are cool looking.

Always good to see snow on the 4Peaks. Was that taken just past Cottonwood Wash by any chance? I was just out on that road a few months back.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1...aks/View03.jpg

What do you think... taken from about the same place? :hillbill:

Thanks. I think the Gila was around 14" or so long from nose to tail. I have only seen a few, but this one was of good size. They usually just scurry off, but this one stood his ground and got even bigger.

Wow. That's a hoot! IIRC it was between 4Peaks Road and Cottonwood. Good chance it was past the wash though as my pic is 5 yr old so the memory is a bit sketchy.

Not many places like that around Yuma. :bang:

Awesome photo's. :bigok:


Makes me want to take my trip sooner to Utah/Colorado.:hillbill:

Maybe a banded sand snake?
http://www.pitt.edu/~mcs2/herp/snake...us_cinctus.jpg