Tale of the Bradshaw Mountains 05-12-07
This adventure started out at 4:15 Am @ Denny's in Anthem for breakfast. We met early because it was supposed to be a little over 100 in the desert which is where we were staging off Bumble Bee Rd. We took off right on schedule for our ride @ 6:00 AM which made Roy very happy. This days riders are Roy, Mike (MD700), Zane (ZZZ) a new addition Tom (Sportsman 4x4) and me (Don - azquadrider) Plan A was to buzz along the main road past Cleator about 5 miles to FS89 a cut off over to the Desoto Mine trail. This trail intersects past the good stuff on Desoto but we had a long day planned and needed to make up some time.
We stopped near the top of the 1st mountain to look at a mine and spring, then headed over to the boulder section for a little fun before hitting the easy road to Palace Station. As we were stopped at Palace Station Zane went behind Tom's Sportsman and noticed he was missing a bolt from his rear a-arm. That is not good. Tom was just talking about checking his a-arm bolts at the staging area. I guess he jinxed himself. I suggested we go to a shady spot and try to see if we could fix the problem. Another darn Polaris breakdown. It appeared that the bolt sheared off. We decided to take the wheel for a better look. I grabbed a log to put under the quad and Zane just picked up the back end of the Polaris like it weighed nothing. What an animal. Then Roy tried to get the lugs off. They were so tight he left the ratchet and went looking for an extension. Zane to the rescue. He spun all 4 lugs like they were butter. After much inspection there was no way to get the broken bolt out on the trail. I had new bolts with me but that only works if they fall out. Tom had a ratchet strap so we put that on the upper and lower control arms to hold it in place and laid out the route for Tom to take the Senator Hyw (which we were on at the time) back through Crown King and down the main road back to the trucks. The trail would have just been to rough to chance the other bolt breaking for him to continue. If we had not been on the main road we would have all gone back but the a-arm was secure and the road was smooth so Tom headed back to the truck and we continued.
We went over the Bradshaw Mountains and headed down some different roads we had seen before and wondered where they went. We found 2 mines. The 2nd one was very interesting. There was an old truck with a home made boom on it. Of course Roy had to get in and drive it while Zane climbed on the boom. After all Zane is a Lineman troubleshooter. There was also a D8 Caterpillar over by the mine shaft. It is unbelievable that they would just leave a big D8 out there but they did. The mine shaft had a tall header that they would Pull the mine cars up and dump them. Of course Zane went to the top and Roy was trying to release the brake for the cable. What fun. We even found a basket that they used to put people in and lower them down into the mine shaft. This area was not all shot up like most places so it must not be to well traveled.
WE were at a lower elevation so it was warm although it was around 4500 foot. We stopped for lunch under a shade tree and headed over near Griz's hill. We were going to take the road to the left of it this time. It looked like it might be interesting as well but proved to be nothing. I told Roy to delete this trail and stick with Griz Hill because it is way more fun.
After getting back in the pines where the weather was nice we found another new road. There was supposed to be a house and apple orchard at the bottom but we could not find it. Now this was a real fun trail. It was very narrow, (at times you were hitting trees or rocks on both sides of your
quad) steep, loose, off camber, (azgolfer would have loved it) with switchbacks. Plus it was heave with trees and vegetation. It was so fun going down we had to go back up. Waaaa Whoooooo!!!!!!
Just after this spot there are 2 more steep loose hill climbs to keep your attention before coming out on a mild trail near the top. Our plan was to go
to which is the highest spot on the mountain but when we got
to within a couple of miles of the top the road was gated. On to plan B. It was now after 4 and we were a long way from the trucks. We headed back down the Senator Hyw to FS 89 back towards Desoto. After some more fun through the boulders we stopped at the intersection of 89 and Desoto to see if we had the energy to go through the tough part in the near dark. We opted out for the easy road because we were all tired.
Heading down the main road Zane almost ran over a rattlesnake. He and I stopped to look at it as it made it's way off the road. That little guy went up the bank and then thought he was part cobra as I got a little closer to see if he would smile for the camera. He didn't rattle but he was standing his ground. We left him to his hunting and headed off to the trucks.
Wow 127 miles in 13 hours of riding time. That was a full day of riding. I think we all kicked that trails butt today except for Tom. The trail won this round but he will be back. We were all beat for sure.
Read MoreWe stopped near the top of the 1st mountain to look at a mine and spring, then headed over to the boulder section for a little fun before hitting the easy road to Palace Station. As we were stopped at Palace Station Zane went behind Tom's Sportsman and noticed he was missing a bolt from his rear a-arm. That is not good. Tom was just talking about checking his a-arm bolts at the staging area. I guess he jinxed himself. I suggested we go to a shady spot and try to see if we could fix the problem. Another darn Polaris breakdown. It appeared that the bolt sheared off. We decided to take the wheel for a better look. I grabbed a log to put under the quad and Zane just picked up the back end of the Polaris like it weighed nothing. What an animal. Then Roy tried to get the lugs off. They were so tight he left the ratchet and went looking for an extension. Zane to the rescue. He spun all 4 lugs like they were butter. After much inspection there was no way to get the broken bolt out on the trail. I had new bolts with me but that only works if they fall out. Tom had a ratchet strap so we put that on the upper and lower control arms to hold it in place and laid out the route for Tom to take the Senator Hyw (which we were on at the time) back through Crown King and down the main road back to the trucks. The trail would have just been to rough to chance the other bolt breaking for him to continue. If we had not been on the main road we would have all gone back but the a-arm was secure and the road was smooth so Tom headed back to the truck and we continued.
We went over the Bradshaw Mountains and headed down some different roads we had seen before and wondered where they went. We found 2 mines. The 2nd one was very interesting. There was an old truck with a home made boom on it. Of course Roy had to get in and drive it while Zane climbed on the boom. After all Zane is a Lineman troubleshooter. There was also a D8 Caterpillar over by the mine shaft. It is unbelievable that they would just leave a big D8 out there but they did. The mine shaft had a tall header that they would Pull the mine cars up and dump them. Of course Zane went to the top and Roy was trying to release the brake for the cable. What fun. We even found a basket that they used to put people in and lower them down into the mine shaft. This area was not all shot up like most places so it must not be to well traveled.
WE were at a lower elevation so it was warm although it was around 4500 foot. We stopped for lunch under a shade tree and headed over near Griz's hill. We were going to take the road to the left of it this time. It looked like it might be interesting as well but proved to be nothing. I told Roy to delete this trail and stick with Griz Hill because it is way more fun.
After getting back in the pines where the weather was nice we found another new road. There was supposed to be a house and apple orchard at the bottom but we could not find it. Now this was a real fun trail. It was very narrow, (at times you were hitting trees or rocks on both sides of your
quad) steep, loose, off camber, (azgolfer would have loved it) with switchbacks. Plus it was heave with trees and vegetation. It was so fun going down we had to go back up. Waaaa Whoooooo!!!!!!
Just after this spot there are 2 more steep loose hill climbs to keep your attention before coming out on a mild trail near the top. Our plan was to go
to which is the highest spot on the mountain but when we got
to within a couple of miles of the top the road was gated. On to plan B. It was now after 4 and we were a long way from the trucks. We headed back down the Senator Hyw to FS 89 back towards Desoto. After some more fun through the boulders we stopped at the intersection of 89 and Desoto to see if we had the energy to go through the tough part in the near dark. We opted out for the easy road because we were all tired.
Heading down the main road Zane almost ran over a rattlesnake. He and I stopped to look at it as it made it's way off the road. That little guy went up the bank and then thought he was part cobra as I got a little closer to see if he would smile for the camera. He didn't rattle but he was standing his ground. We left him to his hunting and headed off to the trucks.
Wow 127 miles in 13 hours of riding time. That was a full day of riding. I think we all kicked that trails butt today except for Tom. The trail won this round but he will be back. We were all beat for sure.
