Friday, March 1, 2019 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Today was a ride day for Steve...he is going with Earl, Bob and Sue and their friend Vince...at least we think that's his name. After being so far behind in the blog it's hard to remember everyone and everything :) Today they're doing the Hogsback trail, one that I don't care to do anymore but is one of Steve's favourites that he hasn't done in years. They headed off at about 9:30.

I'll pass this over to Steve to tell you about his quad ride...

Bob was in the lead for today's ride...but that's Earl in front of me...

Our first stop was to check out the Livingston Mine...

Bob and Vince...

Bob checking out the mine...

It doesn't go in all that far...

Sue and Earl...

Off we go...

Arriving at another area... it's peppered with quartz...

Vince and Sue explored the top while Bob and I stayed below...

After all the rain we've had the Ocotillo are in full leaf and some are in bloom...

Almost looks like a major hailstorm came through here...

Earl had spotted another mine that we passed by and wanted to check it out...

Vince checking it out...it didn't go in that far...

Mine exploration is over...time to tackle Hogsback!

I enjoy going uphill more than downhill, however I prefer doing this trail downhill for the views...

There is an area further up the trail that can be dangerous coming from the other direction if you're not careful, so this is the safest way to go...

Hogsback climbs for miles...

When you think you've reached the top...

...you haven't...not even close!

The sun is in our eyes so the photos are darker...

Off camber here so leaning hard to the right...

Almost at the top...

Or are we? Below the American flag is a...

...memorial to a guy that probably loved to ride this trail too...

Looking back from where we came...

Time to head off again...

And no...we are not at the top yet!

We aren't aware of anyone still riding that trail left of centre...heard it's extremely rough and dangerous but there's always an Evil Knievel somewhere...

Doesn't look like it from here but that hill coming up is very, very steep...

This is the steepest part of the trail on Hogsback...

I like it!

Earl in the distance...

Made it to the top...

Looking back...we came up the trail on the left...

We still aren't at the top, that's our trail on the right...

More hills ahead...

This is pretty much the top...

What a view! You can see the trail we rode up on the mountain ridges...

Next stop will be Apache Chief Cabin for lunch...

We are approaching that dangerous area I mentioned earlier...

Pictures don't do it justice but it's steep and that grey rocky area just in front of my quad has an undercut...

I just dropped over it. When you're coming from the other direction climbing steeply and get to this spot it lifts your front end up and feels almost vertical and could easily flip you backwards if you're not careful and doing the right speedu! I've done it a couple of times before in years past and let me tell you, the pucker factor kicks in if you know what I mean :)

This rock formation is interesting...

Our first time here years ago coming from the other direction we stopped and were looking for a geocache and saw our first Tarantula...

Lunch time at Apache Chief Cabin...

Just like Deer Run Resort there's always different stuff here...

Earl had some old geocaches on the other side of I-10 towards Lazarus Tanks that he wanted to retrieve...

Earl heading off to retrieve his geocache...apparently not many people are visiting the geocaches this far out...

If I remember correctly this old structure was called Lazarus Mansion...

That was an awesome ride that I have been wanting to do for a few years. Thanks for leading Bob! Another one I want to do again that Dianne isn't big on is Preachers Pass but that's going to have to wait for next season...

Back to me...looks like they had a great ride! The pictures really don't show the steepness...that one off-camber spot is one I remember well! Yikes!

At about 10:45, I went out to say my final goodbyes to Harry...he's off to North Phoenix for the next month. Vicki is flying back to join him this weekend...it's baseball training season and they always enjoy watching the games. I also said goodbye to Pam...but she'll be back in a few days. She is grabbing a ride with Harry so she can visit her folks who live just outside of Phoenix.

I sat at the table with the laptop and managed to get a blog written...now I just need pictures. After that, I did a little of this and a little of that...and the next thing I knew, it was after noon! I did a quick vacuum and then took my knitting outside. Oh, I also got a chance to take my little buddy Margaret out for a walk...Dave and Leslie had gone into town. Funny...all she wanted to do was go to our place. No interest whatsoever in going or a walk LOL!

Just before 4:00...everyone got home! Dave and Leslie came over basically at the same time Steve pulled in on his quad. He got cleaned up and then joined Dave, Leslie and me for happy hour...Red and Earl also came over. So nice having some blue sky and sunshine to sit outside in!