Sierra Anchas-Deserts and Forests

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Spent four days in the Sierra Ancha area, exploring the deserts, the forests, the canyons, and the ruins. One of my favorite places yet in Arizona.

Race out of Chandler at 9:00am to escape this over populated sea of humanity and stop at the Upper Salt for lunch.

Promptly get dirty to piss mom off.

Then head for higher ground and cooler temps.

Then to our campsite for the night. There was a 4wheel camper on a white 2500 that left after lunch, then a nice sportsmobile overnight. But we never saw them, they were hiding in lower terrain.

Hard to beat where you can camp in a TC! Looke closely.Large version clicky here

Hedgehog over the canyon.

The desert has been blooming for weeks, at various elevations. What a spring.

Grrr......

 

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Day 2 we headed for higher ground up in the pines. The great thing about AZ is you can stay low if you want to be warm, or go high for cooler temps, all within 20 miles.

Best attempt at butterfly image. Too fast.

Anyone know the species?

Found our swimming hole.

More later..........

 

[trackhead]

Up on the plateau and in the pines.

Share the road?

We drove over to Young, just to check it out, then came back to our campsite for the night.

Twisty roads, tight corners, rolling mountains........perfect.

Creek behind camp.

Scene of the coming mornings bathing pool. Not so warm, but refreshing.

 

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No pics, but rode up McFadden Peak in the morning. The road was closed, but if you have a bike, or don't mind a nice 1 mile walk, it's pretty awesome up there. Great views of Browns Peak and beyond.

Morning pine cone throwing before heading down into the desert again.

24 miles on dirt to our next destination. Lucked out and found the road was just graded, no washboard, just nice gravel.

Lunch site.

Last two miles were quite bumpy, slow, and narrow.

Devil's Chasm.

Hmmm......need to shimmy in.

Made it work.

 

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Evening bouldering session.

Camp for the night.

Evening hike as far as the little guy could go to a nice creek spot. The following morning I went up to the ruins.

Pics from the morning hike up to the Salado Ruins. A stiff hike that took me an hour. So you drive 24 miles, then hike a couple thousand feet over a couple miles through brush, and you get to the ruins. Because of this, this place seems more special than the typical over-crowded ruins in parks, etc.

 

[trackhead]

More pics along the trail to the ruins.

One of the best parts.

First view of the ruins. Bottom left of cliff. What you can't see is the 40+ degree slope to get to them, the thick brush, and impenetrable terrain that makes it a perfect hide out for the Salado.

 

[trackhead]

Walls of Salado Ruins.

7:00am view from above the ruins.

Room with a view.

Back in time for breakfast.

What are these?

I was never a big ruins aficiando until this trip. I was pretty much in awe. To be up there, alone, in silence, not in a park was pretty unreal.

 

[mph]

Wowzer...those ruins looks awesome! Love the photos. Especially the one with your boy and all the race cars behind him. Great!

 

[PowerWagner]

Great photos. Looks like a nice slice of paradise. Thanks for sharing.

 

[roverrocks]

Great stuff!! Marvelous pictures especially the wildflower pictures. I really felt like I was there as well. Thanks.

 

[SmoothLC]

Spectacular!

 

[mkitchen]

Wow!

With pictures like that, I would expect Arizona Highways to be calling on you.
Very nice indeed.
Mikey

 

[LocoCoyote]

Very nice and well done. Wonderful area.

 

[Wallache]

Great pics! That truly is a special area.

 

[matthewp]

Awesome pictures and a great trip report!