My Journey

[ITTOG]

You made me curious about the Clifton population given there were so many boarded up buildings. I thought there may have been a big drop but nothing too extreme.


Clifton is a town in and the county seat of Greenlee County, Arizona, United States,[4] along the San Francisco River. The population of the town was 3,311 at the 2010 census,[2] with a 2018 population estimate of 3,700.[3] It was a site of the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983.

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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....what I found interesting from your post is that there is a second river in the area.....somehow I had missed that. I looked at Google Maps and the San Francisco River connects with the Gila River and then continues to flow west. It's remarkable that the Gila River eventually is pumped dry for irrigation and disappears (I believe this to be fact).....



Short Stories.....

One day we were hiking along the Black Hills National Back Country Byway when I noticed the bones from a steer down in the valley.....we had to check it out.....





My hope was to find a skull.....maybe even a skull with horns but I had no such luck.....I'm a collector. As a matter of fact the javelina skull that I posted a few weeks ago now travels in the Jeep.....



Typically our hiking here was along the roadways but one day I noticed a clear path down into a valley.....we took it. It led us to a "cowboy camp" (is that what it should be called ?).....



I thought the box springs hanging from the tree was a pretty slick set up. I could just imagine the cowboy throwing his bed roll on there after a long day in the saddle.....



This rain gauge on the fence post, which was not too far from the "cowboy camp", caught my eye as we walked by.....



As I got closer I noticed that a lizard had fallen into it. Now I of course assumed it to be dead as there was no way it could climb out due to the plastic being so smooth. I decided to dump the poor guy out and I could barely believe it when it took off. What were the chances of someone walking by, way out here in the desert, and then actually dumping the poor guy out.....that's one stroke of good luck I'd say.....



And then on the other side of the coin there's bad luck.....



I just don't get it why these guys end up as road kill in a place that has 2 or 3 vehicles per day coming by.....



Sometimes in life we make good decisions or bad decisions that affect our lives.....but more often than not.....it's simply good luck or bad luck. Just after walking past this rattlesnake that had had bad luck along the byway we encountered a non venomous snake that slithered by and Tanner nearly grabbed it by the tail. That was good luck for us and for the non venomous snake as well. I couldn't help but think how different life would be if it was the non venomous snake that had been run over and it was the rattlesnake that Tanner almost caught by the tail.....life is mostly about luck I'd dare say.....

 

[Foy]

Gravel road surfaces are compacted and are thus more dense than nearby desert soils. The sun heats up the road surface more than the soil and the road surface retains the heat longer. Cold-blooded critters are attracted to the warmth. I expect they zone out, napping, until one of those 2-3 vehicles per day comes along.
Warm blooded critters behave similarly. For some time, North Carolina led the nation in incidents where people were struck and injured or killed due to having been laid out asleep on paved roads at night. Most were drunk and walking home late at night. Fatigue set in, the pavement was warm and smooth, and natural selection took over.

Foy

 

[BigDawwg]

ITTOG.....what I found interesting from your post is that there is a second river in the area.....somehow I had missed that. I looked at Google Maps and the San Francisco River connects with the Gila River and then continues to flow west. It's remarkable that the Gila River eventually is pumped dry for irrigation and disappears (I believe this to be fact).....



Short Stories.....

One day we were hiking along the Black Hills National Back Country Byway when I noticed the bones from a steer down in the valley.....we had to check it out.....

View attachment 581888

View attachment 581895

My hope was to find a skull.....maybe even a skull with horns but I had no such luck.....I'm a collector. As a matter of fact the javelina skull that I posted a few weeks ago now travels in the Jeep.....

View attachment 581915

Typically our hiking here was along the roadways but one day I noticed a clear path down into a valley.....we took it. It led us to a "cowboy camp" (is that what it should be called ?).....

View attachment 581896

I thought the box springs hanging from the tree was a pretty slick set up. I could just imagine the cowboy throwing his bed roll on there after a long day in the saddle.....

View attachment 581909

This rain gauge on the fence post, which was not too far from the "cowboy camp", caught my eye as we walked by.....

View attachment 581910

As I got closer I noticed that a lizard had fallen into it. Now I of course assumed it to be dead as there was no way it could climb out due to the plastic being so smooth. I decided to dump the poor guy out and I could barely believe it when it took off. What were the chances of someone walking by, way out here in the desert, and then actually dumping the poor guy out.....that's one stroke of good luck I'd say.....

View attachment 581911

And then on the other side of the coin there's bad luck.....

View attachment 581912

I just don't get it why these guys end up as road kill in a place that has 2 or 3 vehicles per day coming by.....

View attachment 581913

Sometimes in life we make good decisions or bad decisions that affect our lives.....but more often than not.....it's simply good luck or bad luck. Just after walking past this rattlesnake that had had bad luck along the byway we encountered a non venomous snake that slithered by and Tanner nearly grabbed it by the tail. That was good luck for us and for the non venomous snake as well. I couldn't help but think how different life would be if it was the non venomous snake that had been run over and it was the rattlesnake that Tanner almost caught by the tail.....life is mostly about luck I'd dare say.....

View attachment 581914

Jerry, as per my Previous Post about Dead Rattle Snakes and Yellow-Jackets,,,,, if this Dead Snake is in your immediate camping area, I would suggest that you take a shovel and cut-off its head and bury it as-soon as possible,,,,, if and when the Yellow-Jackets find it, and start feeding on it, you or Tanner could get Stung,,,,, that may have the Rattle Snake Venom in it, and they don't lose their Stinger like a Honey-Bee,,,,,, so that means 1-Yellow-Jacket can Sting you Multiple Times,,,,, ask me how I know this.......
BD in Alaska

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Foy.....good point.....second point sure is interesting.....

BigDawwg.....we are long gone and that rattlesnake is miles from any man.....




Finally it was time to leave Black Hills National Back Country Byway.....the upcoming weather forecast was brutal with temperatures in the low 100's coming in a few days. I couldn't imagine staying in the desert with that sun bearing down on us. We headed back to Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area but just for a few nights.....



.....where I finished my third book during the pandemic.....another used book I picked up somewhere during the travels. I thought I had purchased a non fiction book as that's what I typically enjoy but turns out this was fiction.....I loved it anyhow.....



On Thursday morning at 5:00 a.m. we headed into Safford, Arizona for our last time. With my surgical facemask covering my face, I shopped at Safeway for supplies, then filled the propane tanks and dumped the grey and black tanks.....hand sanitizer applied when required.....



.....and then we drove northwest on Highway 70 making our first stop for lunch in the airport parking lot of the lands of the San Carlos Apaches.....



For me, having been quarantined for nearly 2 months, it was really interesting to get out again and to see how the world is dealing with the coronavirus.....



So here I show you plane wrecks from the airport as the entire reservation was on lockdown.....





Every road departing the main highway was blocked with either concrete blockades or police checkpoints. In one town we passed through I saw a line of people getting free food handouts.....I've read that Native Americans have been hit especially hard by the virus. As a matter of fact, I saw that the Navajo Nation has the third highest rate of infection in the nation.....



After lunch we continued northwest and being careful would be an understatement. The plan is to stay in the National Forests and make no contact with man for the next few weeks. That evening we spent our first night at a trailhead just south of Pine, Arizona. We arrived early enough to get in a 6 mile hike.....



The following morning we repeated the hike and then drove north.....it felt good to be amongst the trees once again.....

 

[Foy]

Surely an avid reader of nonfiction and longtime Montana guy like yourself has read Norman Maclean's "Young Men and Fire", the story of Maclean and others' lengthy investigation of the facts and circumstances behind the August 1949 Mann Gulch fire near Gates of the Mountains. A crew of the early Smokejumpers were deployed from Missoula to the fire in a DC-3. Of the 15 crew members who jumped on the fire, 11 died of burns that afternoon and two more died from their burns the next day, all caused by a "blow up" caused by shifting wind direction on the windy, nearly 100 degree day. If you haven't read it, I'd rate it "a must".

Maclean's book was published shortly after his death in 1990. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non Fiction in 1992.

Foy

 

[ghostdancer]

Surely an avid reader of nonfiction and longtime Montana guy like yourself has read Norman Maclean's "Young Men and Fire", the story of Maclean and others' lengthy investigation of the facts and circumstances behind the August 1949 Mann Gulch fire near Gates of the Mountains. A crew of the early Smokejumpers were deployed from Missoula to the fire in a DC-3. Of the 15 crew members who jumped on the fire, 11 died of burns that afternoon and two more died from their burns the next day, all caused by a "blow up" caused by shifting wind direction on the windy, nearly 100 degree day. If you haven't read it, I'd rate it "a must".

Maclean's book was published shortly after his death in 1990. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non Fiction in 1992.

Foy

Read it when it first came out. I agree, great read!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Foy / Ghostdancer.....actually I've not read the book but it's interesting that this story is mentioned in The Smoke Jumper. The author has quite a bit of local knowledge and the story is based mostly in Missoula, Montana and also parts of Africa. For the most part I enjoy reading books about adventures starting with mountaineering, then rock & ice climbing, kayaking, ocean sailing.....you probably get the idea. I'll keep an eye out for that book as I wander through the Goodwill stores.....hopefully that activity will come back to my life sooner than later.....




We continued north, veered east onto Highway 87 and headed high up into the mountains.....



After so many months of desert life without the trees I was much like a kid in the candy store.....



We took a random turn onto a national forest road and found us a camp at 7,000 feet above sea level amongst the towering pine trees....





It was still rather early when we arrived, and it was so quiet here.....Tanner and I took a very long walk along the forest service road and then cut into the forest where we began to see the signs of elk everywhere.....



.....and eventually we startled a herd of elk (a wildlife photographer I am not.....so sorry).....



Everything here was so beautiful, green and pristine.....





Such a dramatic change from what we've seen these past months.....I can't wait to go further north and climb the mountains.....

 

[Mekcanix]

Wow that is a beautiful place. I am a deep forest kinda guy. My wife says you can literally watch the stress leave me and relax when I get into the forest areas.
you are a very good photographer, not sure about stealth but your pics are still amazing

hope you and Tanner Stay well

 

[longhorn1]

Mountains and forests are what I like. Not much of a desert person. Before I head to Montana, I consult with Foy to get input on the area we will be. He never disappoints?

 

[Foy]

Mountains and forests are what I like. Not much of a desert person. Before I head to Montana, I consult with Foy to get input on the area we will be. He never disappoints?

You might not be so quick to do that if you'd ever followed my suggestion to wrestle that Superduty up Comet Mountain in the Pioneer Mountains. I thought you might dump me as a guide for getting you into Rock Creek canyon at the two Hogback creek switchbacks!
Foy

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

mekcanix.....stealth we certainly are not and that really is the issue.....good point. You know, Tanner & I just can't seem to sit still. I also believe that wildlife has become more & more difficult to observe as it seems as though the backcountry life has continued to change with time.....and not in a good way. Read on.....you'll see what I'm getting at.....

JD.....I'm much like you but I will say that the desert has become a special place for me as well. The desert for me was a place that I learned to love over time.



We came to this spot on a Friday.....it was just before lunch when we arrived. I was not sure if it would be a short lunch break spent here or multiple nights. It's difficult to travel right now with the coronavirus around and it seems as though everything must be well planned out in advance in my mind. I don't want to get it.....and I don't want to give it. It turned out that we would spend 5 nights here and for the most part it was all that we wanted.....

Saturday turned out to be a day of living hell, Sunday got better, Monday & Tuesday were amazing.....we left Wednesday morning. It started late Friday.....a steady stream of RVs and most everyone brought either an ATV or a Razor along. Saturday morning it started early and it turned into 12 hours of people racing along the roads and driving through the forests. There was the constant sound of automatic gunfire from all directions from sunrise well past sunset. I come to the forest to be a part of the forest life.....



Several miles from our camp was this special place.....







I could easily post triple the pictures of this place cause I just loved this work camp so much I had trouble picking only 10 photos.....







Tanner & I would walk here often to dream and to explore.....





A spring fed stream ran nearby.....



.....I could only imagine how amazing it must have been to have lived here decades ago.....

 

[Sierra Valley]

Glad to see you back in the forest! I love the desert but the mountains and pines are my home

 

[ghostdancer]

I absolutely dread the ATV, Razor crowds. Here in the Keys it’s the PWCs (personal water craft). All they want to do is zip around at high speeds and raise hell. I have a friend with a camp in the Big Cypress National Preserve. On the weekends the trails are crazy with ORVs and Razor types, no wildlife to be seen. During the week, nice and peaceful.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Sierra Valley.....it felt good but we've left the trees behind once again.....but not the mountains.....

ghostdancer.....yea I try to be careful with posting my disdain for them on this blog but sometimes it just becomes overwhelming and that's when I tend to speak out. Truly I have not seen such a display of disrespect for our forests as I I did this past weekend.....I think about the effects that the ATVs & automatic gunfire had on me and I can't help but wonder how much terror it brings to the wildlife.....






We continued east on Highway 87 but just for a few miles.....we then took Lake Mary Road (Highway 209) north and our next camp was maybe 30 miles to the north of our last. The plan now was to hike the summit of Hutch Mountain (8,535').....



There was nothing special about this mountain.....we hiked it cause "it was there".....



We arrived early enough to hike to what I thought was the summit prior to having lunch.....it was only 4 miles roundtrip and the entire hike was on a forest service road.....





Later that evening we decided to hike it again before heading to bed.....I had read that this mountain had great views yet I didn't recall any views whatsoever.....nor did I recall any mention of cell towers on the summit.....



It wasn't until the following morning that I realized that we had actually hiked to a sub summit so we hiked it for a third time. This time we found the lookout tower but access was closed due to the pandemic.....



Tanner was loving the feel of the cold snow which lingered on on the north side of the well sheltered mountaiside.....



We encountered one herd of elk near the summit which I was unable to photograph....you know me.....so I give you a dog.....



We only stayed one night here.....there was yet another mountain to climb.....