Took my first trip to El Camino Del Diablo in February this year. Honestly, had it not been a featured route in Overland Journal I would never have known about it... I am thankful for OJ putting these new trip reports in, also, big thanks to member DVD for responding to me about a few questions I had regarding the trip, it gave me some much needed information.
Feb 17 in my typical fashion I was running late to finish vehicle prep for the trip... Didn't pull out of the garage till 10:00 that night...
Feb 18 - I had a meeting in Albuquerque on my way to Phoenix to get my BLM permit for the Goldwater Range. (Pro tip, when you go to get your permit, ask for a Goldwater Range permit, not one for ECDD, you seem like a rookie, I was, I just didn't want to seem quite as wet behind the ears) I ended up finding a great campsite in "The Box" on BLM land just outside of Magdalena, NM.
Feb 19 - Took HWY 60 to get to AZ, stopped at the Very Large Array, it was neat to see but since it was a weekday the visitor center was closed...
HWY 60 is a gorgeous drive from New Meixco to Arizona
Made it to the BLM office on Friday to get my permit, made it with just an hour to spare...
Finally made it to Ajo to start the trail, in the dark, of course...
Feb 20 - First morning on the trail, it's so quiet out here that you can hear birds flapping their wings mid flight. So neat!
I love the Sonoran Desert, the Cabeza Prieta reserve has some of the best desert I've ever seen, while different than the Chihuahuan desert of Big Bend, it reminds me of it, if not a softer looking version.
Passing through the ancient lava flows provided a nice contrast to the plant life
The moon dust on the back of the truck started to grow...
Had to get a shot with one of these yardsticks in it
Made the mandatory stop at Atlas Tinajas, camped there night 2, I did climb up quite a bit higher, the view was great and all the old (1920's) graffiti (don't know what else to call it) was cool to see, I can't imagine what this road seemed like almost 100 years ago, talk about guts!
Sunsets were awesome!
I did drive up to the mine, however I did it at night so no pictures, not a bad drive and you get to spend quite a bit of time in dry creek beds.
The final night was in the parking area just inside the Goldwater range in Welton, great trip and the truck had 0 issues!
Feb 17 in my typical fashion I was running late to finish vehicle prep for the trip... Didn't pull out of the garage till 10:00 that night...
Feb 18 - I had a meeting in Albuquerque on my way to Phoenix to get my BLM permit for the Goldwater Range. (Pro tip, when you go to get your permit, ask for a Goldwater Range permit, not one for ECDD, you seem like a rookie, I was, I just didn't want to seem quite as wet behind the ears) I ended up finding a great campsite in "The Box" on BLM land just outside of Magdalena, NM.
Feb 19 - Took HWY 60 to get to AZ, stopped at the Very Large Array, it was neat to see but since it was a weekday the visitor center was closed...
HWY 60 is a gorgeous drive from New Meixco to Arizona
Made it to the BLM office on Friday to get my permit, made it with just an hour to spare...
Finally made it to Ajo to start the trail, in the dark, of course...
Feb 20 - First morning on the trail, it's so quiet out here that you can hear birds flapping their wings mid flight. So neat!
I love the Sonoran Desert, the Cabeza Prieta reserve has some of the best desert I've ever seen, while different than the Chihuahuan desert of Big Bend, it reminds me of it, if not a softer looking version.
Passing through the ancient lava flows provided a nice contrast to the plant life
The moon dust on the back of the truck started to grow...
Had to get a shot with one of these yardsticks in it
Made the mandatory stop at Atlas Tinajas, camped there night 2, I did climb up quite a bit higher, the view was great and all the old (1920's) graffiti (don't know what else to call it) was cool to see, I can't imagine what this road seemed like almost 100 years ago, talk about guts!
Sunsets were awesome!
I did drive up to the mine, however I did it at night so no pictures, not a bad drive and you get to spend quite a bit of time in dry creek beds.
The final night was in the parking area just inside the Goldwater range in Welton, great trip and the truck had 0 issues!
