My Journey

[Mekcanix]

AS others have already said, I eagerly open "My Journey" every morning and then check on it when I have time through out my day. As they have also said I have a bit of concern when opening for fear of crying at my desk. I will say for me though that your posts and your pictures of the areas you travel and the dogs and the folks you meet along the way are more than worth it. I am so impressed by your words and your eye for the pictures, would I have a small piece of that natural talent to take those types of pictures. You seem to have a way conveying what you see that I can almost see it the same. For that I thank you Sir.

 

[tgil]

Pic of Yukon walking on the beach, appears she is smiling. The one of Tanner coming by he after finding the sunken frisbee, I think she is saying, "how in the hell did you do that?" Great, great memories being made!

 

[subarubobby]

I haven't seen any recent updates, but a section of The Apache Trail was severely washed out back in October and is closed indefinitely.
ADOT link: https://azdot.gov/adot-news/use-caution-sr-88-between-apache-junction-and-tortilla-flat

JYM, I have kept up on your journey and always await the next installment! Great detail in writing, and also the pictures make me feel as if I'm there. Thank you for this thread! Enjoy your travels and pooches!

 

[GregSplett]

Daylight and dusk are your best times to find a lion. Around here the spring is when the two-year-olds get sent packing by mom and they wander tirelessly looking for a territory they can call there own. I have sen a few darting off the forest roads early in the mornings in the springtime. Best time to see one here. They are very good at sneaking up on deer,,, That's why they are not seen in the wild much. Our mountains are full of them and I have A LOT of time off trail deep in lion country and have only seen one, and it was my black lab that chased that one up. I will say that watching that cat make its escape across a snow-covered river bar was one of the biggest experiences of my outdoor life.. I had one growling at my family and I deep in the Buckhorn wilderness once that left me and my gun shaking. I had both the Lab and a Blue healer then and I do not think it liked them.Scary.

 

[longhorn1]

What a great story. There still are caring people. Glad you got to spend a beautiful day at such a spectacular spot. I'm sure the cold water was very soothing for Yukon. Tanner's diving reminded me of Sarah at Sleepy Bear Dunes National Lakeshore diving in Lake Michigan and coming up with large round stones and then depositing them on the beach and looking at me with a wag of her tail.❤❤ jd

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....let it be known that I had nothing to do with that dog diving. That's 100 % his thing.....

Grenadiers.....thanks for tip but we are long gone from the area. We are back out on the road.....

Ace.....nice looking pup.....

Arjan.....everyday all day.....

mekanix.....writing and blogging about our travels & the dogs has become a special part of my life. To be able to share with others and then get positive feedback such as yours inspires me to continue and to attempt to step up my game. I'm grateful for your comments.....

tgil.....I saw that smile too.....and I loved it.....

subarubobby.....my comment to mekanix would apply to your post as well. I am truly grateful.....

Greg.....my partial sightings were both in Washington (your home state as I recall). One sighting was when I was watching a group of moving Elk pass by in dense forest. Maybe 200' behind them I caught just a glimpse of the tail end of the lion. I wished so much that I could have seen more.....

JD.....your story on Sarah brought back memories of Montana. He too was a stone collector and I swear I never once was bored watching him put together his little collection of stones.....

Ghostdancer.....you are in our thoughts.....




I am once again way behind on telling our story. Travel seems to often get in my way. But here we go.....slowly, slowly.....

I had met a man near the last mountain that we had climbed and I told him that we were headed for Theodore Roosevelt Lake and he responded that you have to see the nearby cliff dwellings if you are in that area.....



Now I never knew much about Theodore Roosevelt but I as I've learned more about this man (from the book I recently read & this), I am now a huge admirer of the man.....



We left 3 Three Mile Wash and maybe six or ten miles to the south we began our hike up the steep paved trail to the cliff dwellings.....



On the way up we passed a couple that I assumed was on their way down. The gentleman overheard me saying how much I loved cliff dwellings.....



So he says to me "if you like cliff dwellings you've got to go to Montezuma Castle.....it's this on steroids".....





Well, I can tell you that at this point in our travels I had run out of planned destinations.....





So I says to this guy "OK".....



We parted ways, they were headed up and we were headed down, and when I looked back I realized that they hadn't even seen these cliff dwellings yet. The last words I heard were from the wife and she was saying to herself "come on Alice, you can do this.....come on Alice". It really wasn't all that steep.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Now we're back in the truck.....driving north..... headed for Montezuma Castle.....the "cliff dwellings on steroids". I don't recall how long that drive was but I do recall that we did not make it there that day. That in no way implies that it was a long drive but more of a comment on how slowly we travel. I saw a sign for Pine Trailhead.....trailheads are often a fine source for a free nights sleep.....



Once again we had crossed paths with the Arizona Trail. It amost seems to be calling our names.....



It was nice here and we were able to head out into the forest and stretch our legs on the once again finely groomed trails.....



Tanner hams it up for the photographer.....or maybe not.....



It was cold that night.....really, really cold.....



The following day we continued north and crossed a mountain pass.....





As you can see, it was really, really cold here as well.....





Soon we would arrive at the "cliff dwellings on steroids".....sometimes known as Montezuma Castle.....

 

[Riversdad]

Great pictures of the dogs, keep them coming.

 

[Ace Brown]

That last picture of Yukon it looks like she is saying snow is ok but I prefer swimming.


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[Arjan]

She seems past "snow is my thing" now...

Love the pics !

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Riversdad.....there's no shortage of dog pics here.....I'll try to refrain from anymore Tanner "hamming it up" pictures ! Thanks.....

Ace.....that was not one of her good days....

Arjan.....yea, she is changing so fast now. I think more than anything she enjoys just laying outside the camper and taking it all in. Tonight is not a good night.....we've been outside since 3 a.m. It's as if she's saying we need to look at the stars and the moon more often.....and I just love her for reminding me of that.....






When I first descended down into the canyon and saw this massive cliff dwelling high up in the cliffs I was pretty damn excited and was thinking that this is just going to be amazing.....but quickly I realized that was it ! It may as well have been a picture on a wall.....





There was a very flat, short trail (less than 1/4 mile) to walk along the base of the cliffs.....the trail was crowded.....





There was a beautiful river lined with tall trees that flowed through the valley.....





.....but we were here for less than 15 minutes. Montezuma Castle is beautiful.....there's no debating that fact. But here there is no interaction with the cliff dwellings.....there is no ability to connect with the past.....





I prefer long challenging hikes, less people and to have the feeling of some connection with past cultures. Maybe I should have realized that Alice and her husband, struggling to walk up to the last dwellings, are more fitted to this type of environment.....than me.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

From here we drove north.....we were now in need of supplies. So our next stop was in Flagstaff, Arizona where we purchased food and diesel, and of course lots more dog treats. By now it was late afternoon.....we departed Flagstaff by way of Interstate 40 and began driving east. ioverlander showed a free campsite not too far down the highway which turned out to be right next to Walnut Canyon National Monument.....



With a few hours left before dark we decided to check out the national monument and it turned out to be more cliff dwellings.....a ton of small cliff dwellings.....this I would call "cliff dwellings on steroids".....





There was a one mile loop trail down a steep canyon.....it was beautiful here.....





I loved it here as most of the cliff dwellings were accessible and you really could get a feel for the past culture.....





It's absolutely incredible how difficult life must have been there.....



I could have spent hours here exploring these cliff dwellings.....and if allowed off trail.....days.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And since I enjoyed it so much, I'll share just a few more pictures with you.....

















That evening we spent a quite.....yet very cold.....night in the nearby national forest.....



Yukon's dream campsite actually.....

 

[GregSplett]

Those photos of the cliff dwellings bring me back to my childhood where I dreamed of living hundreds of years before and lived as they did. I still have forty-year-old postcards an uncle used to send me of the dwellings and such. It was a powerful dream. Reality is that I satisfied all my customers and get to go spend three days in my van watching the SF Hoh drop from a month of rain. lol.

edit Seeing a lion stalking elk is once in a lifetime. I have a friend who follows several herds on the coast and says that he sees quite a few cats when the cows drop their calves. Mother nature is brutal as those cliff dwellers new all to well.

 

[Ace Brown]

A friend and I stopped at Walnut Canyon a while back. There’s a good mountain bike trail nearby. By the time we finished the ride it was too late to hike into the canyon. Another time.

The trail had some really cool natural features like this point jutting way out into a canyon. Can’t find the photo. Use your imagination.


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