The Rat and Quail earned their keep this week!

I really did it this time....that is, me, the navigator, directed Dan, the driver, to turn right on a very innocent looking road.   It was labeled on the Coronado National Forest map as a “well maintained dirt road.” 

In reality it was somewhere between a Class III SUV Trail (“high wheel clearance and four wheel drive are a necessity, perhaps low range gears and limited slip differential, too,”) and a Class IV (“ the going gets rougher still. To avoid damage, drivers of SUVs should attempt these area with extremely caution.”)

We were trying to reach a remote spot to camp where the Arizona Trail traipsed through the Santa Catalina Mountains.  Within a few hundred feet of our right turn onto this NOT well maintained dirt road, we realized that we were on a road that could be out of our league.  

One problem was that the one lane dirt and rock road was traveling up and down on the top of a ridge and there were no good turn-around options.  Another issue was tight curves with a drop off on one side and rock walls on the other.  In addition to that, several of the hills we had to climb and descend were 45% inclines.  Remember this the next time you are driving on a mountain pass and you are told “warning” and “check your brakes” due to a 6 % incline!

But my Superman, Superdriver, kept his cool and drove this very technical road superbly!  My job in these tight situations is to look ahead and around corners to check for oncoming vehicles.  So I kept my nervousness in check by being VERY quiet, except to say “clear” on the tight curves.

And the Rat (our Toyota 4-Runner TRD) and Quail (8’ TC Teardrop) did their jobs too.  The Rat scurried up and down the rocky mountain road and the little quail just bounced happily along behind!

We found a very sweet spot to camp on the top of a hill. We had spectacular views in every direction.  It was remote and we were all alone, so we were happy.

The nights were beautifully quiet except for the occasional coyote singing in the distance.  There was a full moon and the stars were amazingly bright.  We went to bed with the sunset.

And rose with the sunrise so we could hike in the early morning when the birds and wild animal are more active and the air is cooler.

I rose before dawn.  Dan doesn’t really like to see me climb out of our little Quail to fix coffee and breakfast.  I think that’s because he wouldn’t find that fun, but I love it!  I have the cool, dark night surrounding me and the little galley is my world where I get to make a gift of a warm breakfast for my love, my Dan.

We were very excited to hike on the Arizona Trail, but we had no idea that these hikes would allow us to discover some of the most beautiful and wild areas in Arizona.

Several days while hiking we spotted white tailed deer grazing on the grassy hillsides.  They were more abundant here than any area we have recently hiked.  We even saw a baby deer staring curiously at us for the longest time.  

The Arizona Trail travels 800 miles from Mexico to Utah, and the small part we were able to hike was surprisingly well-maintained!  The bushes with stickers/thorns were cut back in some areas and the trail had numerous railroad ties to prevent erosion.  One tree that had been cut down in the middle of an incline on the trail had even been notched to prevent someone from slipping if they stepped on the old stump!

Here is something we’ve never seen before, a “walking” cattle guard on the AZ Trail!

We give Arizona and the keepers of the AZ Trail a big shout out and thank you! Arizona really takes care of all of us outdoor enthusiasts.  This is just one more thing that we love about Arizona and living here.

  

Last spring Candice hiked/ran 300 miles on the Arizona Trail, starting at the Mexican border to Theodore Roosevelt Lake.  Here she is running at Mica Mountain, just south of the area where we were hiking.  She looks less tired 145 miles into the AZ Trail than we did on our 5 miles hikes!

In the afternoons we relaxed in the shade and gazed out at all the beauty surrounding us.  I finished knitting our little granddaughter’s sweater.  

Dan put together the undercarriage and engines on several of his model cars.  He also started painting the “people” that will sit in the 1924 Bus Parisien that he is building.

Here I am happily cooking our dinner just before the sun goes down behind the mountains.

We have camped in 132 different dispersed sites.  Of course Dan and I have a list of our Top Ten Campsites (which has to include more than ten since so many of them have been so spectacular).  We have added this campsite to our Top Ten list.  Not only was the view from the site amazing, but the hiking was some of our most wild and beautiful.

See our Rat and Quail on the hill in the center of the picture?

 

We have looked longingly at campsites deep in the mountains like where we camped this week, but have been unable to safely maneuver the more difficult 4wheel drive roads with our Turtle (F350 and slide-in camper).  We could have never camped and hiked here without the Rat and Quail doing their jobs. 

Thank you Rat and Quail for our experience and the memories you have given us!