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!

Boondocking again near Catalina, AZ

Back on AZ State Trust Land near Catalina, AZ. since Wednesday this week.

I got here after displacing from Gila Bend and finished the repairs to the slideout system on the VRRV and power issue for the control board in the VRRV's Norcold N811LT Refrigerator.

Got the replacement slideout controller via Amazon yesterday and it works!  All is well now with the slideout.  No more rigging bypass wires, manual overrides but both are now viable options in case of failures in the future.

I will be ordering a spare control board for the fridge as its quite Norcold is no longer supporting it and components thereto.

Here's a shot of the connector to the old slideout controller.  Note the damaged pins due to extreme heat and apparently some corrosion.  A new connector has been ordered but this one works fine for now as well.

The 12 volt bypass wire, coming up from below the fridge where the fuse panel is located.

Refrigerator Control Board.

P/N 621991001

The new slideout controller in place.

p/n: Lippert 10566, Power Gear 135666

A shot or two to celebrate everything fixed for now:

Last night's sunset after finishing the repairs on the VRRV:

Lots of resting and relaxing the last couple of days, very much the preferred mode of boondocking for me.

I returned the rather expensive $69 multimeter that I got from NAPA back at Gila Bend to aid in troubleshooting procedures.  (my old multimeter was giving bad readings).  While it worked fine, the volume on its continuity tester sucked!  I could barely hear it and that's with hearing aids in and turned up to max gain.

I went to the NAPA in Tucson and tried a different one, same weak signal, so back it went for a refund.  It was the TrueBlue Jr. Multimeter.  I can't recommend it.

I got a replacement multimeter via Amazon today, a Klein MM325, a better reputation brand and much nicer, for almost half the price!  $34.

Nice and loud beeps when needed!

I went walking about the area for almost two miles to get some exercise, some pics along the way:

The Catalina Mountains during today's Golden Hour:

Mount Lemmon