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Not every overland adventure crosses a continent or even a county. Busy schedules often conspire to postpone extended travels, but that only opens the door for shorter excursions which can be no less challenging and fun. For the coming year, the Expedition Portal team will set out to prove that all you need is 36 hours to have a great escape. We encourage you to embark on your own 36 hours of adventure and share those experiences with us. How much fun can you fit in a day and a half?
36 Hours of Adventure: The Apache Trail
This trip begins in Tucson 2 hours south of Maricopa County and Apache Junction, where my partner and I packed our ice chest, tent, tarps and chairs into the Rav4 on a breezy Saturday morning. The winds were picking up as Southern Arizona has just entered its windiest season, springtime. With the weather just beginning to touch 90F during the day, the breeze was a welcome change, one we were hoping to lose 100 miles north in the canyons and valleys of the Tonto NF.
Hopping on the I-10 westbound, we inform our freeloading friend (AKA travel companion) that we will pick them up in under 1.5 hours. But then, just as sudden as the wind had been changing speeds in town, the dark clouds fill the northern horizon, and these thunderclouds were rapidly headed south along the arid I-10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson with a purpose. We exchange knowing looks and figure it should pass before we get to our campsite east of Phoenix. As we fly by Picacho Peak, daylight turns to overcast as dark clouds cover the sky, this moment was inevitable, we were bound to cross paths. As the droplets begin coating the windshield, we pass a sign warning of dust storms and I activate our intermittent wipers. My co-driver indicates that there is a wreck just before Casa Grande, most likely due to the rains that just swept the area north of us. As we proceed, the rain gets harder and it begins to feel like a baptism of sorts, a cleansing of the Rav4, allowing us to arrive to our next adventure fresh and unhindered by previous layers of dust that had collected on the savanna metallic paint. Passing careful drivers on the I-10, we make good time during the rainfall, it seems most people are afraid of the wet pavement and oil slicks, but our watchful eyes are constantly scanning the road surface.
We make it to Casa Grande as the weather dies down, dark grey clouds open up to blue skies. Entering Phoenix metro, our friend rings us anxious to get to the Superstition Mountains. Using the rains as an excuse, we find our way to retrieve our third companion, deciding on Chick-Fil-A for lunch on the way east to Apache Junction. Apache Junction is where we make our last stop in civilization (read: pavement), stopping to pick up some local firewood is smart and healthy, plus we don't potentially bring any contaminants or pests from outside the Tonto NF region. Buy it where you burn it.
Hitting the Apache Trail, the first 10 miles are paved into the Canyon Lake basin, the road is popular with Sunday drivers and tourists seeking their fill of the arid southwest. We can quickly see why.
Passing the Canyon Lake Marina over a one-lane bridge, we get our first glimpse of the true purpose Arizona locals flock to this Salt River area. We see boats and wave runners parked waiting for their masters to swing a leg over, fire up the jets and skim the smooth waters of the local drinking water reservoirs.
As we creep forward stuck behind the slow moving vehicles of the Saturday sightseeing rush hour, we pass by the town of Tortilla Flat which marks where the pavement ends. The pavement at Tortilla Flat enters a wash reinforced by concrete as it transitions to a sloping dirt hill. We have encountered the true Apache Trail. The dirt road which swoops through the Superstition Mountains as it approaches the Roosevelt Dam at its northern terminus AZ SR188. Suggested Speed 25 MPH.
The road is graded and passable by passenger vehicles, but as it follows the mountains, the elevation gains and this road flirts with being a shelf road with sheer drop offs on the lake side. Hugging the wall we progress along until we reach the "Bolivian Death Road" a portion of SR88 so aptly named by the occupants of our Rav4 because as it crawls and squiggles down into the canyon, we ride winding, single lane shelf roads flirting with certain death as boards of wood provide the guardrail, giving you the allure of safety with the strength of 2x4s.
Part 2 is up next. There should be a save drafts option...
36 Hours of Adventure: The Apache Trail
This trip begins in Tucson 2 hours south of Maricopa County and Apache Junction, where my partner and I packed our ice chest, tent, tarps and chairs into the Rav4 on a breezy Saturday morning. The winds were picking up as Southern Arizona has just entered its windiest season, springtime. With the weather just beginning to touch 90F during the day, the breeze was a welcome change, one we were hoping to lose 100 miles north in the canyons and valleys of the Tonto NF.
Hopping on the I-10 westbound, we inform our freeloading friend (AKA travel companion) that we will pick them up in under 1.5 hours. But then, just as sudden as the wind had been changing speeds in town, the dark clouds fill the northern horizon, and these thunderclouds were rapidly headed south along the arid I-10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson with a purpose. We exchange knowing looks and figure it should pass before we get to our campsite east of Phoenix. As we fly by Picacho Peak, daylight turns to overcast as dark clouds cover the sky, this moment was inevitable, we were bound to cross paths. As the droplets begin coating the windshield, we pass a sign warning of dust storms and I activate our intermittent wipers. My co-driver indicates that there is a wreck just before Casa Grande, most likely due to the rains that just swept the area north of us. As we proceed, the rain gets harder and it begins to feel like a baptism of sorts, a cleansing of the Rav4, allowing us to arrive to our next adventure fresh and unhindered by previous layers of dust that had collected on the savanna metallic paint. Passing careful drivers on the I-10, we make good time during the rainfall, it seems most people are afraid of the wet pavement and oil slicks, but our watchful eyes are constantly scanning the road surface.
We make it to Casa Grande as the weather dies down, dark grey clouds open up to blue skies. Entering Phoenix metro, our friend rings us anxious to get to the Superstition Mountains. Using the rains as an excuse, we find our way to retrieve our third companion, deciding on Chick-Fil-A for lunch on the way east to Apache Junction. Apache Junction is where we make our last stop in civilization (read: pavement), stopping to pick up some local firewood is smart and healthy, plus we don't potentially bring any contaminants or pests from outside the Tonto NF region. Buy it where you burn it.
Hitting the Apache Trail, the first 10 miles are paved into the Canyon Lake basin, the road is popular with Sunday drivers and tourists seeking their fill of the arid southwest. We can quickly see why.
Passing the Canyon Lake Marina over a one-lane bridge, we get our first glimpse of the true purpose Arizona locals flock to this Salt River area. We see boats and wave runners parked waiting for their masters to swing a leg over, fire up the jets and skim the smooth waters of the local drinking water reservoirs.
As we creep forward stuck behind the slow moving vehicles of the Saturday sightseeing rush hour, we pass by the town of Tortilla Flat which marks where the pavement ends. The pavement at Tortilla Flat enters a wash reinforced by concrete as it transitions to a sloping dirt hill. We have encountered the true Apache Trail. The dirt road which swoops through the Superstition Mountains as it approaches the Roosevelt Dam at its northern terminus AZ SR188. Suggested Speed 25 MPH.
The road is graded and passable by passenger vehicles, but as it follows the mountains, the elevation gains and this road flirts with being a shelf road with sheer drop offs on the lake side. Hugging the wall we progress along until we reach the "Bolivian Death Road" a portion of SR88 so aptly named by the occupants of our Rav4 because as it crawls and squiggles down into the canyon, we ride winding, single lane shelf roads flirting with certain death as boards of wood provide the guardrail, giving you the allure of safety with the strength of 2x4s.
Part 2 is up next. There should be a save drafts option...
