Monday, February 5, 2018 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Monday was another gorgeous day...the weather this year has more than made up for the cool, wet winter we had last season.

Steve is leading a ride to Preacher's Pass today. You'll see later why it has earned that name. I've done it twice before and swore I'd never do it again.

Jim and Cec on the left, Cindi is solo today without Roger who is working, and Bill and Janet behind,  Art on the yellow quad and Gerry somewhere in behind on the red quad...

 And they're off!

My plan for the day is to go geocaching with Pam. Getting kisses from Cody, or a face wash :)

Found one!

Our last find was hidden in a flashlight that looked like it had been caught up in a bunch of debris in a wash...

Pam and I...along with Cody...had a wonderful three hours out in their Rhino! Once back, it was shower time for me.

Steve will take over the ride part of this blog. His flock is somewhere back there in the dust. A major bonus of being the leader is you come back relatively clean :)

Another awesome day for a ride...

Enjoy the views...

We had to go down into a wash and cross under the I-10 through a tunnel (camera was accidentally left off)

 Once on the north side of the I-10 we continued on to...

...one of Patton's training camps, D-124 from WWII. The rocks still outline walkways etc. Some areas still show old tank tracks, amazing after all these years!

There does seem to be less detail of the camp compared to previous visits...

Onto the next stop. Dust ahead of another group that passed us while at the camp...

Onto the hilltop for lunch...

Not much of a hill from this side looking back...

But it drops off at the top. Cec and Janet checking out Preachers Pass in the distance...

Overlooking the valley below, and Preachers Pass in the distance, just behind the small hill in the foreground...

Lunch is done. Art, Cindi, Bill, Cec, Janet, Jim and Gerry...

Our tail gunner Art...

Coming down off the hill...

You can just see the start of the Preacher's Pass road ahead at the base of the mountains...

And up we go!

Not at the top yet...

 Is this the top?

Nope!

 Maybe this one?

The others down below...

Just when you think you finally made it to the top you see this!

 Up we go again...

Still going up...

 ...and up...

 ...and up...

...and still more up...

 There's the top...I think...

Success!

Now to see if everyone else is going to make it. Here comes Gerry...

 Bill and Janet...

Cindi...

Jim and Cec...

 And tail gunner Art...

The valley we just came from...

And the valley ahead...

Just up a ways on a foot path there is a Pack Rat midden. They often cover it with Teddy Bear Cholla for protection from predators, and how they never get stuck is unbelievable...as these things are very nasty!
Nifty Fact. Ancient packrat middens have been discovered that date back 50,000 years into the Pleistocene Era (also known as the Ice Age). Because the urine resin perfectly preserves collected material, scientists can study the early flora and fauna from that landscape.                                  

Time to head down into the valley...

Steve named these the "3 Amigos"...

Stopped for a rest break where Art discovered his handlebars were loose. Jim and Bill looking for tools to help out...

Art suggested taking another way back instead of the track Steve had on his GPS, however he's normally the tail gunner and wasn't sure on the route. So we decided to give it a try. Jim and Cec had some tracks on their GPS that were given to them so they took the lead. Finally I get to film somebody in front of me with my GoPro! I prefer to be the tail gunner but have always been the leader this season...

Not being able to find our way to one of those tracks we unintentionally explored some beautiful country finding dead end trails...

Going this way...

 And that way...

Eventually a group decision was made to go back to Steve's original GPS track which took them past the small town of Brenda and along a trail that shadowed the I-10 for a few miles. Time to cross under the I-10...

West bound overpass, flag whips down!

East bound overpass...

Now on the south side of the I-10, with Guadalupe Mountain we've ridden up before on the left. This was a really neat trail that I forgot about...                                  
Hard to see but there are two riders bringing up the rear in the centre of the picture...

Again hard to see, but there are a couple of machines back there...

Most of the Ocotillo still look dead around here but this one was full of leaves...

Almost home now and everyone is some wheres back there in the dust. That was an awesome ride, almost 7 hours and around 62 miles.

Pam, Red, Harry,Vicki and I were sitting outside behind the trailer seeking out shade, when we heard the familiar roar of a group of quads returning...finally! It was shortly after 5:00...about an our later than I expected them home. Sounds like a great day was had by all!