I feel pretty lucky to live where I do. Sure, I can list off plenty of things that might be a negative about Arizona or Phoenix, but if I think about last weekend it's easy to focus on the positives. A. I haven't had the heat or AC on in my house since last October. I open the windows at night and let the cool air in. Then in the morning I shut everything and by the time I get home from work the house is in the 60's still. (That won't last through summer, but I'm happy to still get away with it in late April) B. From my front door I can ride to the trailhead of a mountain preserve with well over 100 miles of mountain biking, hiking or if you have one, horseback riding. Sure, it gets old, but if that's my only complaint about my giant riding area a mile from home in the middle of the 5th largest city in the US, then I should just let it go. C. In well under an hour I can be on a lake, river or creek enjoying the water. In just over an hour I can use 4x4, a mountain bike or a dirt bike to get to an area remote enough that I know I'll see no one. So, this was a C. sort of a weekend. The spot we were headed to can get have a few other trucks on holiday weekends, but this early in the year it should be quiet. On Saturday after doing some riveting chores we hopped on the motorcycle. The saddle bags were loaded with ice, water and food. When you aren't camping overnight it's easy to bring too much unnecessary stuff just for fun. The bike did great in the dirt despite being an utter pig!! 2up riding is always dicey on dirt, but after a bit even the sand washes were manageable with enough throttle. When we got to the crossing it was FLOWING. A lot. I know the river bed is rocks so that's a plus, but when it's moving so fast and deep I knew there was no chance of crossing without dropping the bike. This isn't a, drop it in the river and not worry too much, sort of bike. So we just went down the old boat launch of ol horseshoe lake and put our feet in the water and enjoyed some sandwiches.
Afterwards we road over to the dam. It wasn't flowing over the top, but when it does you can imagine that the little walking path beneath the "lip" feels like you're getting barreled in a wave. On smaller dirt bikes, you can actually ride down the path in front of my bike and cross the damn that way. It's an alternative to the deep water crossing down stream.
The small bit of Grey colored Concrete on the far side is the "ramp" you have to ride up on the other side. It's not difficult, but certainly not for the new rider either.
So, after some more exploring and getting a bit stuck in some soft sand, did I mention this sucker is heavy, we headed back home. Horseshoe lake always looks about like this. It goes up and down pretty regularly.
We decided to head back the next day in "Goose." He is a little better in deep water than a bike. The water was pretty deep, but still within what I'd call doable. The issue at this crossing, the deepest of 4, was that the water was moving so fast that it made the truck slide a bit as we crossed. That's a big red flag. Thankfully, I had the prettier half on dry land with a phone and a SPOT GPS just in case it didn't work out. Also, good to have your winch or a tow strap ready to go. (And no seat belt on in case it flips or gets swamped.
This other crossing is long, so the pucker factor of committing to it is high. Of course, the wider a crossing given the same river, the more shallow it has to be, so it's not too bad. In a still section like this you just worry about MUD. The river is slow here and therefore could deposit all of the silt it's carrying. Again, I knew this area so I knew it "shouldn't" be too bad.
Don't splash the photographer if they are holding your camera. If not, send a nice wave their way. It's a sign of "thanks" in many cultures. (Cultures I haven't found yet, but I'm sure they are out there)
Making some friends along the road.
It was nice to see no tire tracks on this side of the river. When the water is lower a lot more people attempt the crossing. It's never "crowded" over here, but sometimes you see another truck or two. Notice the cactus version of: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Some of the cactus were fat (Denoting they are full of water) some were looking sort of like they had too much skin! I'm not sure, but I wonder if they look like this after being fat with water and starting to dry out???
Parked under the Sheep Bridge. In some of the pics you can see the trestle of an old bridge. That was the actual wooden bridge built by the shepherds to move the heard from the high to lowlands. The current one was put in place by volunteers. "On the banks high above the river stands a replica of the Verde River Sheep Bridge. The Flagstaff Sheep Company and the Howard Sheep Company constructed the original bridge to minimize the loss of sheep when crossing the river. The bridge was started in 1943 and finished in 1944 at a cost of $7,277. The material used came from an Arizona mine and from a railroad line. On November 21, 1978, Sheep Bridge was entered into the National Register of Historic places. Sheep Bridge is the gateway to the west side of the Mazatzal Wilderness."
Here are a couple of pics of the old bridge:
Seems safe!
Old next to the new:
You don't have to jump off the rope swing, but it's always something I have to do.
Splat...
Several hundred Swallow's nests were under the bridge. They spent most of the day fending off larger birds that got to close to their homes.
Time to head back. This was a mini trip. Hour and 20 out, stay for an hour and then head back to get stuff done at home. On the way back I had to stop at get a shot of this Crested Saguaro. Very rare and very pretty. "The rare crested saguaro is an anomaly in the cactus world. These are mature cactuses that begin to grow in a broad fan shape instead of continuing to develop a characteristic long trunk and curving limbs. Botanists don’t know what causes a saguaro to develop a crest. About one in 150,000 saguaros develop this unusual growth."
Either I'm getting taller.... or the world is... sinking....
This one seemed even a bit deeper. Of course it looks deeper in pics because the upstream side will always have more water hitting the truck do to the flow. That moment you no longer feel any sideways slippage and you know the worst is over.
Sure, you don't want to outpace your bow wave, but when it's flowing this hard the wave constantly gets washed away so it's not flowing in front of you quite like you'd hope. It's best to just stay at a speed that keeps the initial wave out front and not swamping you engines fan. (Yes, you can remove the fan belt for a water crossing so it's not spinning and therefore doesn't break or cause damage)
Next up was the shallow, but slightly muddy one. In water this deep, that's still, at least you know you can always get out and work to get unstuck at "some" leisure since the truck wont be barrel rolling down stream!
The Horseshoe Dam from the other side today.
A little view of the walkway below.
After that we headed on home. Sunburnt and happy. Doing laundry and housework to get ready for a week in the office just doesn't compute after a day like this. ....and once again, you've wasted yet another completely good part of your day reading this. Will you ever learn.
