Scarlett, She's a Hauler - Now Boondocking near Safford, AZ

Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol sidecar rig, reminded me of her usefulness over this past weekend.

Not only did she haul two full bags of trash to the dumpsters near the Shell station by Picacho Peak Road; she also:

Hauled discarded concreted tiles which I used to fill in a couple of big holes/ruts on the trail into the camping area.  Sorry, no pics, it was hard work.

She also enabled me to make a big haul of crap to the dumpsters on Sunday.  Some moron had left shot up pieces of ceiling tile and furniture which lay in pieces at one campsite:

At another campsite, and to a lesser extent on a neighboring one, there was firewood to be had:

On Sunday, Scarlett hauled my butt along with the garbage collection, to the town of Eloy, AZ where there's an Amazon Locker.  I got my stuff and headed back using frontage roads along the I-10 super slab, since one thing Scarlett can't do, is haul ass!

As I was nearing the camp site turnoff from the Adelante Road frontage road, I saw where was an accident on the I-10, with cars in the median between north and south bound lanes.  Glad I stuck to frontage roads.

Before I drove Scarlett to the campsite, I detoured onto Nona Road and paralleled a portion of the CAP or Central Arizona Project.  It's a water management project to move water in the water, and it provided this nice reflection on a bend of the road:

Picacho Peak from Nona Road

Sunset was OK, the highlight was I noticed parachute jumpers descending while the sunset occurred:

Monday, February 17

Just a rest day, relaxing.  Here's the sunset I saw for President's Day.

Tuesday, February 18

I displaced to BLM land accessed via Tanque Road which lies roughly halfway from the I-10 Super Slab and the city of Safford, AZ along US 191 highway.

Tanque (Tank, as in water tank in Spanish) Road is a dirt road which bisects the valley which has Mount Graham on the west and the Hot Well Dunes Rec Area on the east side.

There are several camping spots and I picked one that suited me just fine.  Empty spots .5 and .8 miles on either side of my site, and no one in line of sight!

Hot Well Dunes is located at the base

of Javelina Peak in the background.

Closer view of Javelina Peak on the left

So far, am very pleased with this BLM area.  I hope to do some exploring of nearby Fort Grant Historic Area, Mount Graham itself and just the area around me.

Hiking the Northern End of Picacho Peak SP

I continue to basically have this area to myself, the odd camper showing up not staying very long.  The ones who've shown are either overnighters only or keep well away from my campsite.  

Here's what Picacho Peak looks like in the morning light before the haze sets in:

Friday, February 14

I rode towards the Picacho Peak State Park, dumping two bags of trash along the way in a dumpster area thoughtfully provided by someone.

Paid the $7 daily fee and rode into the State Park.  I thought the trail to the north of the mountain would be a short one, it wasn't.  The afternoon sun beat down fiercely on me and I'd forgotten my boonie hat.  I used my coat to cover my head when the sun shone, removed it when clouds moved in.  It worked out with the winds of the day.

I was making for Sunset Vista Point but when I went past the 1.75 mile marker and still no Sunset Vista Point, I turned around.  The terrain wasn't too bad but going up and down rocky terrain isn't conducive to relaxed walking!

Turn around point.

Yep, the wind was causing small dust storms

Picacho Mountains and Picacho Pass through which

the I-10 Interstate runs....

The view as one ascends/descends from 

the trailhead parking lot

Riding Scarlett, I checked out all the loops and public roads within the park.  Here you get a view of the peak, which can be climbed/hiked, if you've the stamina and will.

In a loop near the entrance to the park, I found a memorial I'd missed during previous visits.  It's part of the series dedicated to the Mormon Battalion:

I think I knew that there'd been some fighting during the Civil War but here's the detail.  Folks rapidly driving on the I-10 surely don't realize they're speeding through a mildly historic pass area.

A short ride to the Dollar General in Red Rock for snacks, resulted in this view of Picacho Peak from near its Post Office:

Valentine's Day sunset wasn't too shabby:

The Prelude

The Main Event

Checking out Picacho Peak

Yesterday's plan was to explore views of Picacho Peak from angles other than those visible from my campsite on AZ Trust Land near Red Rock, AZ.

But first, here's last night's sunset:

I rode out on Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol, to check out the south and west sides of Picacho Peak.  The weather was overcast at first, then mostly cloudy with occasional strong wind gusts.  The rest of the country is going through another cold snap so no complaints here.

I found the single road that allowed western face views of the peak, you go through the Village of Red Rock, which looked to me to be a bedroom/retirement community.

The western side proved unremarkable in the day's lighting.  It is the side on which one hikes/climbs up to the very top of Picacho Peak if I recall correctly

I then rode back through the Red Rock Village, stopping at the community park where I asked the attendant and was granted access to a water spigot.  I filled out two of my spare water cans, so I'm good to go for more than 4 days now.

Crossing back over the busy I-10 Superslab, I positioned Scarlett near the junction of the Park Link Road and Adelante Road which is a frontage road along the superslab.

Returning to the campsite, I saw one of the two rigs which had moved in last night was gone.  It's nice having a site almost to one's self.  I also did some scouting and found another camping area nearby which is more secluded as well.  For the next time.

Last night's sunset:

Note the profile of Picacho Peak, it has always reminded me, ever since I first saw it, of something else:

I used to be a bit of a WWII Militaria Buff back in my teen years.  The Japanese battleship Yamato was, I thought, one of the more beautiful ships.

I trust you can see the resemblance between Picacho Peak and the Yamato.

Warmer day forecasted for today.

Now Boondocking near Red Rock, AZ

After a few more restful days at the AZ State Trust site near Catalina, AZ, it was time this morning to move to different scenery.

I displaced less than 30 miles.  First, parking the VRRV in the way-too-crowded BLM dispersed camping area near Cattle Tanks Road!  Holy Cow.  (pun intended).

I unloaded Yagi, my TW200, and set out to find a less crowded site.  I found one closer to this displacement's main objective: Picacho Peak.  It's also on AZ Trust Land but I've got the permit so am good to go.

I got Scarlett, my Ural Patrol sidecar rig, off the trailer and posed her a little closer to Picacho Peak:

The site where Scarlett is was considered briefly for a campsite but its close to Park Link Road.

View of distant hazy peaks

Telephoto closeup of Picacho Peak.

I actually hiked to the very top of Picacho Peak back in 2020, a bit over 5 years ago.  LINK  I'm pretty sure I won't be doing a repeat of that!

I'm planning on camping here until I run short of fresh water.  I should have enough to get me through the weekend, if not, there's a water point near the Picacho Peak State Park I think.

As a bonus, the single Class C that had been in the site before me, left at 1PM, leaving the entire site to myself.  Let's see how long that lasts.

Note, sunny and warm but WINDY!