Friday, November 25/2016

Headed out

Today was a riding day.  With the quads fueled up and Henrietta's skid plate now bolted together and secured properly (Kay and I are sure going to miss those black rubber tarp straps holding her together!!), we headed out.  John wanted to find the "back way" to the Desert Bar (also known as the Nellie E Saloon).  Although we have been over to the bar via the trails a few years ago, John wanted to try a different way and that supposedly was via the Grey Eagle Mine Trail.  Off we went.....
We started out on Shea Road and headed  south east and soon found ourselves on a wide trail which followed along the base of Gibraltar Mountain Wilderness Area.  There was absolutely NO motor traffic allowed and a fence on both sides of some of the trail ensured that.  There were a few places where there was no fence and one could see what remained of quad tracks marking up the pristine sand dunes that lay to the left of the trail.  Although it probably doesn't do any damage to the area, the untouched beauty of the surrounding dunes was disturbed.

Rock "paving"

Being that we were skirting the mountain, the trail itself was strewn with lots of rocks and large spans of rock "paving"!!   Henrietta is not one of the best riding machines as she is a 2009 Arctic Cat with more than 7000 miles on her!!  She is a trooper and as long as Kay and I take it easy on the "old girl" she takes us up and over anything that the much newer Wildcat maneuvers over.

The sand dunes - not a mark on them

Wide, dusty trails

We made our way over to the trail that would eventually spit us out onto Cienega Springs road and soon found the Kiosk that signals the Grey Eagle Mine Trail Head.
This trail is a relatively short trail  (about 5 miles) which winds through the rugged terrain of Billy Mack Mountain.  It offers great views of the area and is really suitable for all types of Off Road Vehicles.  We met stock jeeps, quads, tons of side by sides (both stock and modified) and dirtbikes along the trail today.  The trail itself starts and finishes on the Cienega Springs Road also called the Nellie Mine Road or The desert bar road.  It all depends on who you get your information from as to what the road is called.
Anyway, we started up the trail and it was quite picturesque.  We found ourselves travelling along a narrow canyon with several palo verde trees growing up the sides.  There were several places along the canyon that were fairly narrow so that if you actually met oncoming traffic, someone would be putting their vehicle into reverse and backing up to a wider part of the trail!!  Fortunately, we were parked for a beverage break when we were passed by about 10 side by sides and dirtbikes so we got lucky.
We traveled along until we got to the junction of Giers Mountain Trail and Grey Eagle Trail.  We took the Giers Mountain Trail and never did really finish the Grey Eagle Trail which I'm thinking is something we really should have done because reading about the mine site sounded quite interesting. I am sure we are going to be back here again so finishing this trail really needs to be on the agenda.

Grey Eagle Mine Trail Kiosk - sits just off the Cienega Springs Road

Trail marker

Sandy trails along parts of the Trail

Palo Verde growing up the sides of the small
canyon

Some small gravel along the trails

Beverage and a "pee" break - Kermit and Henrietta

Heading up

We accessed the Giers Mountain Trail and immediately started climbing.....up, up and up!!  The trail is a rough four wheel drive trail that starts just off Highway 95 between mile markers 155 and 154.  It lies in a very rugged and I mean rugged (almost inhospitable) part of this diverse state.  It is the home of big horn sheep although we were not so lucky as to spot any.  Perhaps we were too busy keeping our eyes on the trail as it truly did offer us a variety of challenges.  From small rolling rocks to much bigger boulders, tight blind turns, shelf road and LOTS of oncoming traffic, we had our hands full.   The views were incredible and I kept saying profound remarks like "WOW"!!  Somehow, that just didn't seem like enough!!
Kay and I had to giggle as here we were in old Henrietta while we were being passed by young, powerful modified side by sides that seemed to eat up the rocks and off camber terrain like it was nothing.  Us, on the other hand, picked our path and kept trudging on.  Both Kay and I giggled when she mention that all these people were probably wondering "what's Grandma doing on a trail like this?"!!  Well....Grandma (aka Henrietta) managed to do the whole trail and back again!!
We even got several spectators clapping for us when we maneuvered what turned out to be the most difficult part of the trail.  There was only one way up and one way down so by the time we got to the spot, there were several spectators and we managed to conquer the uphill, off camber, rocky slope.  We had Henrietta's front wheels off the ground of a few occasions but we crested the hill to clapping hands and cheers!!   Thank You...Thank you very much!!

rugged wilderness

Incredible views - does one ever get tired of this?
I think not!!

Eventually we made it back to the Grey Eagle Trail and knew the worst of the trail was behind us. We came and we conquered!!  Henrietta was so proud of herself!!  There was still a lot of traffic on the trail but we were able to sit along the trail and wait some of it out.  It was time for a beverage break and get ready for the final leg of our trip back to camp.
It was turning dark and it certainly looked like we were going to have a "night" ride today as well. That was cool though because the trails look so different in the dark and since we were on familiar trail, there was really no stress in wondering.....is this the way we came?
Just before we turned off the road, there were several side by sides further down the road that were actually looking for the same trail we were on.  They had seen John turn and we heard them mention that they had better try the trail where we were.  As it turned out, this was the trail they needed in order to get back to their campsite!!  It is so easy to lose your way in unfamiliar territory so I am sure they were glad to see John turn when he did.

Kermit

Memorial Plaques that lie near the trails summit of Giers Mountain trail

Waiting for oncoming traffic to get to the summit
so that we can descend 

Our ride home was uneventful and we found ourselves spit out onto the pavement about 3 miles from our campsite.  So, into High gear Henrietta went and we were home in no time.   It was a great ride today and we saw some incredible scenery and met people along the trails whose faces were nothing but huge smiles.  As one fellow said....."Only in America!!"  It was a great day!!
I can't remember what John cooked us for supper but I'm sure it was delicious.  Life is Good!!

Another incredible sunset.