Derek’s Trail Riding and Arizona Adventure Thread
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OP
This morning me and 3 friends are setting out on a trip we’ve been planning for months. We are going to do drive the entire Arizona Peace Trail, which is an almost 700mi loop trail and is the largest OHV loop in the country.
Just taking 2 rigs, a Polaris RZR and a Honda Talon, I’m leaving mine here since I’m still waiting on an axle issue to be fixed and riding passenger. The plan is to complete it in 6 days but we took the whole week off just in case it takes longer. I’ll post pics/updates as service permits. This is what we’re looking at for an itinerary if we can stay on track.
Day: 1 Yuma to Quartzite
Day 2: Quartzite to Lake Havasu
Day 3: Lake Havasu to Kingman
Day 4: Kingman to Wikiup
Day 5: Wikiup to Salome
Day 6 Salome back to Yuma
Just taking 2 rigs, a Polaris RZR and a Honda Talon, I’m leaving mine here since I’m still waiting on an axle issue to be fixed and riding passenger. The plan is to complete it in 6 days but we took the whole week off just in case it takes longer. I’ll post pics/updates as service permits. This is what we’re looking at for an itinerary if we can stay on track.
Day: 1 Yuma to Quartzite
Day 2: Quartzite to Lake Havasu
Day 3: Lake Havasu to Kingman
Day 4: Kingman to Wikiup
Day 5: Wikiup to Salome
Day 6 Salome back to Yuma
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Glad your buddy is OK. Just a reminder that things can go wrong in a hurry.
Geezer
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100+ miles a day sounds like a lot to me but, I'm old. But, I'd still like to try a day or three of that trip. It would probably be so much fun that I'd want to do the whole loop. Until I get the opportunity to try a trip like that I'll settle for your pictures. Y'all be safe.
OP
Day one was pretty uneventful, had to reroute to get around s flooded portion on the trail and made it through the most technical portion on the whole trail. Getting ready to break camp, grab some chow and be on the trail to Lake Havasu.
OP
That was a fun part of the trail. Nice and flat with lots of dips and hills. Like a roller coaster.
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.
Born & Raised in Winslow...
Went to college in Tempe and lived in Tempe for 7 years.
Drove that Jeep all over different parts of Arizona.
1943 CJ2 327 Chevrolet w/ Muncie 4-speed
All that off roading that @Derek8404 is doing is in some harsh, rugged, unforgiving country.
Arizona is "wide open space" for sure. I appreciate him sharing his adventures on this forum.
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OP
I love Tempe. The wife an I are considering staying here in AZ permanently and that is definitely on the list. Although I do really enjoy Yuma where we live, it would be nice to have more to do.
My ideal retirement is a nice house somewhere in the Phoenix Suburbs and a small piece of property (less than a acre even) that borders blm land and I’ll put a shipping container with some livening quarters and power out there. That way I can head out and do all the off-roading on the weekends I want.
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Check out Pinal County, lots of blm land there. The strawberry area north of Payson is great too
OP
4 days in now and we’re gone about 475mi. We hit Kingman after Lake Havasu and stopped in an old mining town called Oatman on the way. Made it to our destination and camped in the desert outside of town.
Today we woke up and grabbed some breakfast at Cracker Barrel and hit the trail. We went from Kingman to Wikieup, and while it was the shortest distance mileage wise (85mi) it was a rough ride, fun though. We went up to over 7,000ft elevation in 10mi. Then we traveled about 50mi through one of the most technical trails I’ve been on. It was slow crawling in low gear and 4 diff lock the whole way. Fun but little tiring as it was on the edge of a mountain the whole way.
Today we woke up and grabbed some breakfast at Cracker Barrel and hit the trail. We went from Kingman to Wikieup, and while it was the shortest distance mileage wise (85mi) it was a rough ride, fun though. We went up to over 7,000ft elevation in 10mi. Then we traveled about 50mi through one of the most technical trails I’ve been on. It was slow crawling in low gear and 4 diff lock the whole way. Fun but little tiring as it was on the edge of a mountain the whole way.
OP
Finished up the ride and make it back to Yuma last night. Had a great trip and other than a small set back of a normal water crossing being impassable, both rigs getting stuck and having to be recovered and having to backtrack 20mi then travel 100mi on highway to get around a lake, it was pretty uneventful.
Overall the trip was smooth and I’m actually very surprised that at a bare minimum we didn’t at least have to change a tire or the belt on the Polaris. We did surprisingly well on this trip. Most groups take more rigs and usually do it in 7 days, we pushed through without stopping too much and had some GPS tracks loaded to follow. Total distance was just over 800mi in 6 day/5nights on the trail.
Lot of cool scenery and various types of terrain on the norther portion of the trail.
Overall the trip was smooth and I’m actually very surprised that at a bare minimum we didn’t at least have to change a tire or the belt on the Polaris. We did surprisingly well on this trip. Most groups take more rigs and usually do it in 7 days, we pushed through without stopping too much and had some GPS tracks loaded to follow. Total distance was just over 800mi in 6 day/5nights on the trail.
Lot of cool scenery and various types of terrain on the norther portion of the trail.
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Man thanks for the pics, very envious. Glad y'all had very few problems. Was in Mesa about 10 years ago for a work school and told my wife I would love to take our 4-wheelers out there and ride.
OP
Went out to the border yesterday with a group of friends. On the way back we came across a group of I assume drug smugglers. They had on camo and we’re carrying backpacks. They took off behind a bunch of rocks when we went by. There wasn’t any cell service so we drove couple miles trying to get it so we could contact border patrol.
As we were stopped agent drove by so we flagged him down and told him about the group. He said “yup, there’s 4 of them and I’m tracking them now” we showed him on the map their last location and he took off after them.
As we were stopped agent drove by so we flagged him down and told him about the group. He said “yup, there’s 4 of them and I’m tracking them now” we showed him on the map their last location and he took off after them.
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@Derek8404 cool pics as always! There is a unique book written by a retired US C&BP agent that you may find interesting due to your relative proximity to the US-Mexico border:
Out on Foot: Nightly Patrols and Ghostly Tales of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent by Rocky Elmore
OP
OP
Awesome birds. We have a couple that live in the tree in our yard. It’s very cool to sit on the patio and see them working to build the nest together and watching them run down prey. They’re amazing hunters. They also kill snakes and I suspect that’s why I haven’t had any rattlesnakes in my yard.
Growing up in Az, I saw them almost daily. I also spent considerable time in my youth trying to catch one and never could run one down.. 🤣
They are FAST..!!!
I have also seen them with a snake, or part of a snake in their mouth.
As you stated, they are absolutely amazing hunters!