Tale of Desoto Mine Trail 09-24-06
Another successful day of riding. This time it was just Greg and me. This may be my last ride with my good friend in Arizona as he has retired from the Air Force and is moving back to Kentucky the 1st part of next month. Greg, thanks for all the help on the trail, now who am I going to get to replace you for the photos? Anyone that has ridden with Greg over the years knows all you have to do is aim your camera at Greg for all the action shots you need. Hope to see you on the trail someplace. Stay safe.
This trail has changed quite a bit with all the rain we had this past Monsoon season. It changed the trail from difficult to very challenging. This trail is one of Greg's favorites so I thought it was fitting to go there one last time epically since the weather decided to give us a break. This trail is not for the faint of heart as it will pump up your Adeline on some of the obstacles. This trail has a bit of everything, off camber, ruts, and steep hill climb and steep descents. It is not very long but it will keep your attention. On one of the steep descents you have to drop over a large boulder ledge that will test your skid plates. There must have been some jeeps on this trail because there was lots of oil on this ledge and on the trail past the ledge.
We took a couple of side trails and ended up on a trail that kept crossing the creek. It got very rough W/ boulders and didn't look like it continued much further so we turned around and were heading back to the trucks the back way from Cleator. I tore about a 3 inch hole in my rear inside sidewall. It took about 10 plugs to fill the hole. We weren’t sure it would hold for the approx 12 miles along the creek so we turned around and headed back to Cleator. At least if we made it to the main road we could go get a truck if the plugs didn't hold. We made it to Cleator and the tire held up with no problem. Unbelievable!! We stopped and had lunch on the steps of the Cleator bar before heading back on the main road. There was a very cool sand rail that made a stop at the bar and I couldn’t help taking a couple of photos.
Read MoreThis trail has changed quite a bit with all the rain we had this past Monsoon season. It changed the trail from difficult to very challenging. This trail is one of Greg's favorites so I thought it was fitting to go there one last time epically since the weather decided to give us a break. This trail is not for the faint of heart as it will pump up your Adeline on some of the obstacles. This trail has a bit of everything, off camber, ruts, and steep hill climb and steep descents. It is not very long but it will keep your attention. On one of the steep descents you have to drop over a large boulder ledge that will test your skid plates. There must have been some jeeps on this trail because there was lots of oil on this ledge and on the trail past the ledge.
We took a couple of side trails and ended up on a trail that kept crossing the creek. It got very rough W/ boulders and didn't look like it continued much further so we turned around and were heading back to the trucks the back way from Cleator. I tore about a 3 inch hole in my rear inside sidewall. It took about 10 plugs to fill the hole. We weren’t sure it would hold for the approx 12 miles along the creek so we turned around and headed back to Cleator. At least if we made it to the main road we could go get a truck if the plugs didn't hold. We made it to Cleator and the tire held up with no problem. Unbelievable!! We stopped and had lunch on the steps of the Cleator bar before heading back on the main road. There was a very cool sand rail that made a stop at the bar and I couldn’t help taking a couple of photos.
