With the government shutdown, there is concern about the water taps being turned off so Earl and Steve want to keep the water barrel full. Steve headed over just after 7:00 to fill it before it got busy there.
Steve is heading out on a ride to Cinnabar Mine with Earl, Allison, Jim, Cec and Vince...I decided not to go on this one.
Earl/Allison leading the way with Jim and Cec behind...
Vince and tail gunner and Go Pro photographer Steve...
After they left, I cleaned up inside and then headed out for my 3 mile walk...and then tried doing some work on the laptop. Unfortunately that was short lived as the internet was so slow! I finally gave up and sat outside with my crocheting.
I will pass this over to Steve now to tell you about his ride...
First stop is a geocache of course...
With that one logged in for all we're off...
I noticed movement on the distant hill and wondered if the others did as well...
They had and stopped...
Just left of the Saguaro are some
Desert Big Horn Sheep...
Sorry, but my phone pictures are very poor on telephoto...
Two butt shots, they could care less that we were there, even with Jim and Cec's dog Bosco barking..
Passing others as we near the ancient footprint area...
On top of the rock in the centre of the photo is the area with the ancient human foot print...
Can you see it?
How about now? 5 toes and a heel...pretty cool!
Now we're headed to the Cinnabar Mine...wonder what this guy is up to way out here?
Long way up...
...and a long way down...
The road continues up and over the mountain but we're turning left just ahead of the lead quad...
The Cinnabar Mine is very interesting, but this section of the trail to it is my least favourite of all the rides, as it's rough for a long ways and that gets old very quickly...
As part of the
Arizona Peace Trail some of it has been improved...
I think the pucker factor must have kicked in here for Vince as he accidentally got one side up high on a rock and appeared to nearly roll over. As a side note, it's amazing how many people we see on the trails here that are not wearing helmets. One guy we met on a previous ride said we only go slow...so I guess that means it would only be a slow head injury if the unthinkable should happen:) Last year we had a novice rider with us with no helmet that flipped a borrowed ATV backwards. Luckily it was mostly just his pride that got hurt...he was very lucky!
You have to lean hard to the opposite side to stop from rolling over...
You can see from the position of my mirror and handle bars how much I'm being bounced around...
Finally we're through the rough stuff and near a wildlife watering station...
They call these
Guzzlers...
Time to find a spot for lunch...
Lunch time. Vince and another couple we met on the trail a ways back that didn't know the area so Earl invited them to tag along...can't remember their names though...
Cec and Jim...
Okay...off to the Cinnabar Mine...
This bunkhouse is not far from the mine...
A little bit of a fixer upper!
The centre area was full of pieces of Teddy Bear Cactus most likely from a
Pak Rat...
Approaching the
Cinnabar Mine. Click the link to find out more about this old mercury mine...
Lets check out below...
Down I go...
As we head off we run into a large group of side by sides...
Our last stop is another mine site...
Time to head home...
A quick break...the pictures don't do justice to the Kofa Mountains coming into view...
The wash still has water in it from the previous rain storm...
Once we reached the Road Runner BLM area we turned onto Old Yuma Rd...
It's been a few years since I've done that ride to the mine...nice to see it again. We've since heard that the military has put a stop to parts of this trail because you cross into part of the Yuma Proving Grounds.
Back to me now...
It was after 4:00 when the ATV'ers got home...looks like they had a great ride! Although I have done it before, it's a little too rough and technical in some areas for me!
Red and Pam came over and we enjoyed a late afternoon bevie with them until the sun went down behind the mountains.
After dinner, we joined the group around the campfire at Steve and Debbie's and met friends of theirs that had just arrived today...Curt and Glenda. (Oops no pics!)
A great end to the day!
You guys certainly are getting a lot of riding in this year, good for you. We miss those rides!
ReplyDeleteAnd we miss you on those rides!
DeleteGlad to see that you were able to Enjoy the cooler weather back in January. Still planning on stopping by.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
It certainly hasn't been a particularly nice winter here this year! Still better than the snow back home, though!
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