Hackberry Creek 04-20-08
This time we were heading out on a Sunday. The trail we were going to ride was just south of Superior. Since it was Sunday Roy thought he should park in front of a church to get the day off on the right tone. Riders for this adventure are Roy D, Jeff (azgolfer) Tim (tip over Tim) and me don (aazquadrider).
We rode through the streets south of town to the trails. Our plan was to try to connect trails of about 8 miles so we didn't have to ride on the highway 177. We came out of the trails to 177 on the west side of the hyw with out any luck. The trail did not go through. When we got to the hyw there was a trail on the other side of the hyw. It was trail #317. It looked very promising so off we went. If this would only wind around the mountain and come out the trail we really wanted it would be a bonus.
Along the trail we came across a Gila Monster, Jeff rode right past it and didn't see it. I stopped to take his picture but he was on a mission to get into the tall grass. We needed to have Griz along because he would have picked it up for some good photos but we just leave it alone. About 1/4 of a mile down the trail we came along another Gila Monster. Again Jeff passed right by this one as well? This one was very Grumpy. He would hiss and open it's mouth whenever I came close to take a photo. At least this one was in the open. It even went under Tim's quad trying to hide. We made sure he could pull forward without harming the monster and we took off to continue our adventure.
Unfortunately all the trails came to dead ends. We even tried all the side trails. We could see the power lines that we wanted to get to but no luck. That means we had to ride about 1 & 1/2 miles on hyw 177. This part of the road doesn't have any shoulder so it does make you keep an eye on your mirror for traffic.
Ok we finally made it the trail we were looking for. This trail ties into the Hackberry Creek trail that comes out of Oak Flat Campground area. Roy and Jeff did this from that area last weekend. The views were outstanding as we climbed to the top of the mountains that over looked Picket Post Mountain. I hadn't seen it from this angle before.
We were going to drop over to a canyon trying to find a road to the bottom. We had seen it before on the other side on the Devil Canyon ride. There was a cool camp area right at the top just before we dropped over. Someone even brought in some chairs out of an aircraft.
Once again all the side trails lead to dead ends but the view were spectacular. Since we were here and the trails ended we thought why not go over and do the Hackberry Creek trail. From where we were we could make a loop out of it with plenty of time to spare.
The first part of the trail is easy with great views of balancing rocks. It was getting lunch time so before hitting the nasty parts we stopped under some shade trees. I went over to play with some horses in the coral. The one mother horse came right up to me but she would not let her young one get close.
Ok now on to the good stuff. The trail now turned to nothing but boulders and ledges with a few switchbacks thrown in for fun. There was no doubt the trail had your full attention even though there was great scenery. Everybody did fine and had a blast. Tim got to see how well his Visco-loc worked. It just takes a little getting used to before you master it like Roy D. What I am referring to is there is a large boulder step up at one spot. Everyone else snaked around it but Tim couldn't get his front to engage at first. When it did engage he leapt up on top of the boulder. Well I guess that is one way to get over it. What fun.
Roy D and Jeff took turns riding side car fashion on each other machines and seeing who could pick up the front of Jeff's quad the highest just to have a contest. It was very entertaining to say the least.
We made it around the loop without and incidents but decided to take hyw 177 back to the trucks. It is about an 8 mile ride on the road. Jeff and I went first. About 1 mile in there were 3 cars coming up on us so we pulled over to let them pass then got back on the road to the finish line.
Another successful Adventure for the record books.
Read MoreWe rode through the streets south of town to the trails. Our plan was to try to connect trails of about 8 miles so we didn't have to ride on the highway 177. We came out of the trails to 177 on the west side of the hyw with out any luck. The trail did not go through. When we got to the hyw there was a trail on the other side of the hyw. It was trail #317. It looked very promising so off we went. If this would only wind around the mountain and come out the trail we really wanted it would be a bonus.
Along the trail we came across a Gila Monster, Jeff rode right past it and didn't see it. I stopped to take his picture but he was on a mission to get into the tall grass. We needed to have Griz along because he would have picked it up for some good photos but we just leave it alone. About 1/4 of a mile down the trail we came along another Gila Monster. Again Jeff passed right by this one as well? This one was very Grumpy. He would hiss and open it's mouth whenever I came close to take a photo. At least this one was in the open. It even went under Tim's quad trying to hide. We made sure he could pull forward without harming the monster and we took off to continue our adventure.
Unfortunately all the trails came to dead ends. We even tried all the side trails. We could see the power lines that we wanted to get to but no luck. That means we had to ride about 1 & 1/2 miles on hyw 177. This part of the road doesn't have any shoulder so it does make you keep an eye on your mirror for traffic.
Ok we finally made it the trail we were looking for. This trail ties into the Hackberry Creek trail that comes out of Oak Flat Campground area. Roy and Jeff did this from that area last weekend. The views were outstanding as we climbed to the top of the mountains that over looked Picket Post Mountain. I hadn't seen it from this angle before.
We were going to drop over to a canyon trying to find a road to the bottom. We had seen it before on the other side on the Devil Canyon ride. There was a cool camp area right at the top just before we dropped over. Someone even brought in some chairs out of an aircraft.
Once again all the side trails lead to dead ends but the view were spectacular. Since we were here and the trails ended we thought why not go over and do the Hackberry Creek trail. From where we were we could make a loop out of it with plenty of time to spare.
The first part of the trail is easy with great views of balancing rocks. It was getting lunch time so before hitting the nasty parts we stopped under some shade trees. I went over to play with some horses in the coral. The one mother horse came right up to me but she would not let her young one get close.
Ok now on to the good stuff. The trail now turned to nothing but boulders and ledges with a few switchbacks thrown in for fun. There was no doubt the trail had your full attention even though there was great scenery. Everybody did fine and had a blast. Tim got to see how well his Visco-loc worked. It just takes a little getting used to before you master it like Roy D. What I am referring to is there is a large boulder step up at one spot. Everyone else snaked around it but Tim couldn't get his front to engage at first. When it did engage he leapt up on top of the boulder. Well I guess that is one way to get over it. What fun.
Roy D and Jeff took turns riding side car fashion on each other machines and seeing who could pick up the front of Jeff's quad the highest just to have a contest. It was very entertaining to say the least.
We made it around the loop without and incidents but decided to take hyw 177 back to the trucks. It is about an 8 mile ride on the road. Jeff and I went first. About 1 mile in there were 3 cars coming up on us so we pulled over to let them pass then got back on the road to the finish line.
Another successful Adventure for the record books.
