Chloride, AZ
July 26th, 2010, 20:39 hoursWith the Discovery in the shop getting the damage from our Vegas trip repaired, I’ve been left with an all-wheel drive Ford Escape we’ve come to know as the Loanerlander. It has a truly awesome air conditioner, half-decent stereo, and the cutest little street tires that have ever mated with a “utility” vehicle. Playing it safe, we planned to do some hiking for a change and spent a hopeful Friday evening watching this:
Saturday morning looked good, dark clouds filled the sky and it was just barely into the 80s by the time we headed out. I was hoping for a good rain on our hike, since there is no shade to be found in the local hills. I’d never checked out Camp Beale before so we headed up to the loop trail.
We only made it about 20 minutes in before we realized we’d been had. A gang of bandits had stolen our rain! We retreated to the air conditioned safety of the Loanerlander, grateful to have escaped the 115° heat and 90% humidity with our lives, and watched in horror as our beloved storm headed south… 
Plan B
My favorite type of exploration starts something like this: “Well, we have a full tank of gas… let’s go that way!”
Armed with ice cold mango smoothies we headed northeast, determined to stop at every single historical marker along the side of Highway 93 (there are lots of ‘em). On arrival at the third one we decided to check out the tiny community of Chloride, AZ. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon looking at all the old buildings, interesting yard art, odd fences, and learning a bit about the history of the town from the general store’s owner over a cold root beer.
We took an easy track the long way home for a dinner of uberthin seared steak and a bottle of red vino.
Happy Birthday America
July 6th, 2010, 14:26 hoursWe took a little trip over the Hualapais to pre-run a short segment of Moss Wash, with plans to include a visit to the Gold King Mansion in an upcoming tour of the mountains. I’m glad we checked out the area ahead of time, there’s no way we’re getting a stock vehicle up here…
The mansion itself was quite impressive for it’s age – it is hard to imagine the amount of work involved getting this much concrete up here back in the ’20s. Thankfully, the hornets I was warned about have long-since moved on, so we were free to explore the ruin in peace.
After a brief search we found an easy route down the mountain, so we’ll only have a short hike to reach the mansion on the upcoming trip. Wildflowers are still out in many parts of the Hualapais.
After returning from the mountains, we spent the weekend relaxing and test-driving a different sort of “overlander” we’re thinking about picking up in lieu of dual-sport bikes: a Yamaha Rhino.
Here are the pros and cons we came up with…
Pros: it’ll fit down most (if not all) of the trails we’ve been waiting on bikes to explore, it carries a little more gear (and fuel) than the bikes we were considering (and is more comfortable), driven responsibly it has very little impact on the trails or the surrounding environment despite moving more quickly through them, the open air feeling reminds us of the topless/doorless Jeep I used to have, it is street legal in the states we were planning to use bikes, low maintenance, it’ll fit in the bed of a pickup truck.
Cons: it eats gas almost as bad as a Discovery, it tops out at about 35-mph (so we’d have to haul it to the trailhead on some trips), it is not 50-state street legal (though we both agreed we wouldn’t want to use it those unfriendly states anyhow).
On the advice of a friend, we also took a trip up into the Black Mountains to watch Laughlin’s fireworks show for the 4th.
Protesting Americans?
May 10th, 2010, 20:29 hoursArizona has been on a roll lately. Actually, scratch that… the state seems to have gone quite mad (in a good way). What I can only call “pro-American” bills have been flying through the state senate and off the governors desk (with her signature on them) on everything from firearms to healthcare, so many of them that I’ve lost track.
Only somewhat surprisingly, the media has more or less overlooked even the “anti-Obama” bill, and their focus seems stuck on the Arizona Immigration Bill (SB1070). As usual, they are doing their “un-biased” best to stir up protests, boycotts, and drama amongst the sheeple over the matter. A friend of mine sent me this picture of some of these fine, hard-working, American citizens out on the streets protesting the bill…
Now I’m not assuming they are illegals, I really don’t know either way. The lack of responsibility for their own lives portrayed in their message doesn’t bother me too much. Even the blatant threat of violence against us if we don’t feed, cloth and shelter them isn’t all that shocking, we’ve certainly seen that and much worse from their camp before.
…but what is that flag they are carrying?
In the past when this sort of protest has broken out they’ve carried the Mexican flag around called us names, or flown ours upside down underneath theirs while passing out rhetoric about the big bad American oppressors that need to be overthrown. This time they march the streets with the American flag as if to say that they are the Americans here, and those of us who work for a living and pay our own way are somehow being un-American by not wanting to give the whole world a free ride on our dime?
If they feel things have progressed far enough in their favor that it is time for this message, doesn’t that make it blatantly obvious just how far our society has fallen? If you cannot see this, and the threat it represents, you truly are blind.
The OAUSA 2010 Navajo Expedition
May 7th, 2010, 18:36 hoursThe OAUSA 2010 Navajo Expedition – 1,294.3 miles of driving, hiking, climbing, photographing and exploration over 239 hours, 43 minutes and 4 seconds (about 11 days). We encountered just about every sort of weather possible (short of a tornado or a hurricane), but somehow it always seemed like just the right weather for the moment (or the picture).
Many thanks to Dave of OAUSA for setting this up, the Navajo and our guides for their hospitality, and everyone else who participated in making this a wonderful trip. I would have to say the highlights for me were a 3-way tie between the Poncho House ruins on day 6, the snow/rain in Monument Valley on day 8, and Tom’s peach cobbler… all of these would be hard to beat.
All of the pictures from this trip can be found in the Flickr set.
Note: the geo-locations for many of the pictured sites have been changed to the local jail, since that is where you will be staying if you try to go out on your own and find these places without a local guide and permission from the Navajo Nation. If you would like to visit some of these places for yourself I suggest heading over to OAUSA to find out when the next trip will be.
Navajo Expedition: Headed Home
May 2nd, 2010, 13:23 hours
We opted to skip breakfast at camp, not so much for the light snow that was coming down, but the fact that the rest of the group had to make it all the way back to Los Angeles today. It was warmer this morning than yesterday… at least it felt that way, maybe because there was no wind? Either way, a little snow was a great way to end the trip. I’m also very glad it was cold enough for snow, as it would have been much harder to pack up in rain.
Mc Donald’s has changed their pancake recipe – it’s actually pretty good. Their “Mc Cafe” coffee is total crap though.
I finally got my crumb doughnuts… 
Navajo Expedition: May 1st
May 1st, 2010, 17:07 hours
Betatakin was an easy hike down over a typical NPS-style trail with a restroom at each end. The ruins are fairly large, and in good shape at each end (a rock shelf gave way in the center taking much of the village with it). Unfortunately, you can only walk into a small portion of the collapsed area. The hike back up is a 750-foot elevation gain, but easy terrain. This is a great place to stop if you are unable to hire a guide, or lack a vehicle capable of reaching the more remote ruins. Both this guided hike and the adjacent Sunset View Campground we stayed in are free of charge.
Navajo Expedition: April 30th
April 30th, 2010, 19:30 hours
Lazy morning, felt good after the past week of at-dawn action. After a couple hours of relaxation and breakfast around a morning campfire we headed up past Goulding to drop off Carlos. If you are ever up in the Monument Valley area looking for a guide I highly recommend Simpson’s Trailhandler Tours, and specifically, Carlos.
The sheep out here do not look, and do not wait for anyone or anything… not even a convoy of 4×4s.
After a quick lunch in Kayenta, we reached Navajo National Monument and set up an early camp. We’ll be hiking down to Betatakin tomorrow, as Keet Seel is still closed. It is cold up here on the mountain, and in typical NPS fashion no campfires are allowed. An early dinner and early bed are on the agenda tonight. Tomorrow’s hike to Betatakin starts at 09:30.
Gear Thoughts
I find myself waiting for the Helton-based shower rather than using the available Zodi system. While you do have to keep the vehicle running to heat the water, I find I much prefer the output of the marine pump, the variable (or off) flow allowed by the heat exchanger, and the added wind protection being right up against a vehicle. With the Zodi, there isn’t a lot of pressure and you must have the water on the entire time, as stopping the water will burn up the heating coils. This means it takes longer to get wet, longer to rinse off, and you waste water when you’re washing and don’t need it. I ended up using the same amount of water on each system, despite the higher output of the marine pump. The increased cost (tripple) is worth the added comfort and control, and vehicle dependence is really a non-issue when you consider the fact that the vehicle is probably going to be sitting there anyhow in a situation where you would use the shower.
On shower enclosures, at least in cold weather, I found I also preferred the PETT system’s tent over Outback’s Porta-Privy. The Porta-Privy has a large, always-open skylight that lets all of the heat escape – a very bad thing when you are showering in 40° weather. The PETT tent has three windows which can be left open or closed, and are designed such you can toss the shower sprayer into one so the excess water drips outside while you are drying off.
Navajo Expedition: April 29th
April 29th, 2010, 22:39 hoursYesterday’s wind was followed by a 25° drop in temperature and a sprinkling of snow, making for a beautiful and dust-free return to Monument Valley. We set off from Mexican Hat after a wonderful breakfast at The Olde Bridge Grille. We will definitely be back this way, as the town is a perfect spot to base future explorations around southeast Utah. Today was a short day today with much of our sight seeing done from or very near the vehicles. The area of Monument Valley known as Mystery Valley is full of pictographs, small ruins, natural arches/bridges and slot canyons to explore. The place is a maze of rock, sand and history.
An early camp at Rain God Mesa made for a welcome rest and conversation around the campfire, and time to catch up on the trip’s highlights thus far.
The last remnants of the storm passed just to the west of us, making for a beautiful sunset…
Food: Dave made an excellent dessert tonight by grilling thin slices of mango, then covering them with honey. This combination of heat and honey changes the texture and brings out the flavor and sugar of the mango, and the peel makes the perfect bowl. The result is what candy would be if you could harvest it from a tree and grill it over a fire.
Navajo Expedition: April 28th
April 28th, 2010, 20:50 hours
Morning brought us up through the tourist-saturated area around The View Hotel, giving us a welcome stop at a grocery store for resupply. Still no sign of my Hostess Crunch doughnuts, I really should have bought some when we stopped in Flagstaff. The rest of the day on into early evening we traveled through even more expansive dunes, cliffs, and slickrock trails with one added obstacle – an ever worsening dust storm.
We’ve reached the top of Hunts Mesa at what seems to be the peak of the storm. The weather radio reports it will not pass until sometime after 21:00. A search of several potential campsites reveals none with shelter from the sand-blasting, made worse by the many dunes up here on the mesa. It would seem the local hotels are in cahoots with the weather, with rates starting at $195. Carlos mentions he knows a good place for us to stay in his home town of Mexican Hat, so we’re heading for the Utah border.
The San Juan Inn & Trading Post, Carlos’ recommendation for “camp” and dinner, turned out to be this perfect little 2-story structure clinging to the cliffs over the San Juan river. As it is just outside the reservation, the restaurant (The Olde Bridge Grille) serves alcohol. As it is in Utah, they have Polygamy Porter. They also have excellent food…
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