Monday, January 27, 2020 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Monday morning we got a text from Sherry and Andrew…they had to move down to King Road, about a half hour south, where they could get better cell service. Sherry is still working and had been hopeful that the signal they had would be sufficient but it wasn’t. So, they were packing up at 6:30…she was supposed to be working at 7:30!

Earl/Allison, Jim/Cec, and Dino are all trailering their side-by-sides to Bouse, offloading and riding part of the Arizona Peace Trail to Lake Havasu. Andrew was going to go as well, with Steve but since they had to leave, Steve asked Dino if he could join him. ATV's use a thumb throttle so Steve had decided that a 203/km, 127 mile ride would be just too hard on his thumb.... plus he could be a relief driver. It was just before 8:00 when they all headed off.

I cleaned up the kitchen and baked some muffins and then managed to get on-line long enough to do a little banking. After that, I decided to get my blog notes up to date. With the internet so slow, we are getting behind on our blog. Oh well…we’ll get it up to date eventually.

With that done, I decided it was time to go outside and sit with my crocheting…ahhhhhh...

The group got home just before 6:30…after a long dusty day. I’ll let Steve tell you about his day...

Just outside of Bouse we offloaded the 4 wheelers at a staging area...
It was a major mistake riding this route right after the Blue Water Parker 425  Best In The Desert Race There are different classes of vehicles and have they ever torn up the trails with very deep ruts in places. We had to try to keep our wheels on the high side of the ruts without falling into them. The following Go Pro pictures taken from video clips don't show much of the trail damage as my chest harness wouldn't adjust high enough....should have used the suction cup on the windshield. The beginning of the trail was road riding before actually turning into a trail.

Not much to look at in the beginning...Dino has already done a shift of rough driving so it's now my turn...


Then we rode through some very bumpy washes through beautiful canyons...




We came across whats left of the Planet Ranch ruins.

From an article in 2010...
It’s been used by the U.S. Defense Department to simulate low-yield nuclear weapons. It’s been purchased by the City of Scottsdale for its rich water rights from the Bill Williams River. Some of its 171,000 acres have been used for farming alfalfa. It’s been eyed by various business interests for various reasons. It lies within remote La Paz and Mohave Counties.

As is the case with many other patches of non-government land across western Arizona, Planet, AZ was mining land. The Planet copper mine, the mainstay of Planet and the second copper mine in Arizona to be worked by Americans, was discovered in 1863. Slowly a town grew around the mine and finally got a post office in 1902. When the mines played out in 1921, Planet succumbed to financial ruin as miners went elsewhere for work.


 Closer look a ruins in the distance...

Looking for a geocache...
Just beyond here we passed by a huge area of the Planet Ranch that was being cleared. I thought it was for farming but it's being developed for the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program
I'm back in the passenger seat...

We pulled over to let another group pass by...



Time for a rest stop...Earl and Allison...
Here comes Jim and Cec...
I'm back to driving and into the next canyon...

We passed by another group...
We pulled over when we spotted...
...this! Jim later posted his picture of this on Facebook with the caption "Getting hot in Arizona... spiders are out!" LOL! There was a pull cord on the horse's head that would make a winnie sound when pulled.














Our destination...Lake Havasu finally comes into view...
We reached the outskirts of Havasu City and drove several blocks to...
...Short Stop...
...for fuel...
Time for the long bumpy ride back...
Oops...wrong trail!
We passed by a young couple in a jeep packed with all their camping gear...






Earl and Allison are just a dot in the distance...























Lucky for you all that the sun was in our eyes for the remainder of the ride once we cleared this canyon or there would have been more pictures...LOL! What a day...that was the longest and roughest trail ride I've ever done! Note to ourselves...next time do the ride before race day :) Thanks for letting me ride along Dino...you cracked me up when on the drive home you said..."That was a long way to go for gas!


6 comments:

  1. Nice you got to see another trail you had not been on but boy that seemed like a very long ride. Thanks for sharing the pics. I bet you don't do that one again. lol

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  2. That was still a fun ride and glad you invited me.

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    1. Anytime Dino! Glad you got to finally experience most of the trails in the area.

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  3. Wow that’s a long ride! No lunch stop in town? Love the spider and horse!

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    1. If it wasn’t such a long ride we might have continued on to Hanger 24 for lunch but that was on the other side of town. As it was we left at 8am and returned at 6:30 pm.

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