April 10, 2008 Freeman Rd to Ripsey Wash

Corinne and Rosie looking good !

Last night Corinne's husband Jeff came out to our camp, a 2 hour drive for him, and he brought PIZZA ! It tasted so good ! He stayed to have dinner with us . By this time we had learned that a leafy salad just didn't work in the wind; it blew off of the plate . Also, the wind caught the pizza box, flipping some of the pizza into the dirt . We didn't let that stop us from eating it !

We camped very near the trailhead on FreemanRd. An okay place to camp; being up on a slight ridge would ordinarily be a good thing but it was very windy when we were there so; no campfire, and early to bed to keep warm .

Corinne had some sleeping arrangement challenges . She did not want to deal with the big tent that she had used on our last trip, so she borrowed a 2 person backpacker tent from me . What I didn't know was that she wanted to put a cot in it . That just did not work ! So she ended up using the saddle pads and a very thin foam pad for cushioning in her bed . It couldn't have been comfortable but she never complained; a good camping companion .

The next morning Dick fixed us our usual breakfast of a fried egg, a piece of buttered bread, oatmeal with raisins and walnuts, and small orange . He also always made a rolled up quesadilla, with jalepenos for me, for our trail lunch . That and a large orange was always plenty .

Dick packs up the camp; Corinne and I saddle the mules; and off we go .

The trail was very easy, good footing, basically level, and winding through junipers and open grass areas . The huge boulders scattered throughout the area give it it's name; the Boulder Segment .

Diane and Billy "near" Tecolote Ranch

Bull and calf at a cottonwood shaded corral

Diane and Billy under a huge cottonwood tree

A cairn marking the trail down into a side canyon of Ripsey Wash

April 9, 2008 Yellowjacket Well to Freeman Rd.

These next few days are difficult to describe as to their location, except to say that the Trail goes north from Oracle and on to the Gila River where it crosses at the tiny town of Kelvin . Kelvin is a few miles downstream from Kearney .



Our camp at Yellowjacket Well in Bloodsucker Wash .

This gate (so much character !) is downwash from Yellowjacket Well

After about 2 miles,down the wash, we were looking along the left side of the wash for the trail out of the wash and found it just past a rocky outcropping covered with sahuaro cacti . Large cairns made the trail easy to see .

Following 2 track roads and single track trail the route meanders over nice desert country; and then suddenly you are looking down on the quintessential western windmill scene: Beehive Well .
Picture a canyon about a quarter of a mile wide with walls 150 feet high . In this little canyon is a windmill and a huge, 60' diameter, open topped water storage tank . And corrals, and a small shed . And it is all old . Mature mesquite trees and palo verde trees line the canyon floor .

Up canyon a short way and the trail climbs out onto a ridge . Gently switchbacking and following the grades, the trail winds it's way north toward the dominant landmark in this area; Antelope Peak .

Antelope Tank; the only water we saw on this section .

Monday, April 7: North from Tiger Mine Rd. with Corinne

On this part of my journey on the Arizona Trail, I was joined by my long time friend C0rinne Geertsen . She rode Ron Silverthorn's mule Rosie .

After a VERY windy camp on a ridge northeast of Oracle, Dick drove us to the trailhead on Tiger Mine Rd. Tiger Mine Rd. goes N off AZ highway 77 which is the highway between Oracle and Mammoth on the San Pedro river . Not much room for a horse trailer rig but enough to be safe .



The trail starts on a ridge and, looking North, it seems as if the whole state of Arizona is laid out in front of you . The panorama goes on forever with ridges fading lighter and lighter into the distance .



There were still many wildflowers still in bloom but I had never seen 7 blooms from a seemingly single stem of Mariposa Lily .





With good grades, the trail leads up over the ridges and down into the sandy drainages between them . A cottonwood tree or dense grass shows the occasional presence of water . The wind got to be quite strong on the ridge tops .






We rode as far as the Pipeline Rd. before we stopped for lunch . ( Having spent some time last year on the Pipeline Rd., I did not want to ride any more of it .)



Things do look different on the return trip, now we were mostly looking up as we climbed back toward the TH where Dick was waiting . We again passed a huge bull that we had named Blondie . He was still laying under the same tree as when we passed him going out .

Billy sets a good pace .

While we had been riding, Dick had gone into Oracle to replenish our ice supply and get some cold drinks for us . A&W is really good after a windy day in the saddle !


Our next camp would be at the inviting sounding place of Yellowjacket Well in Bloodsucker Wash .

Actually it was a rather nice campsite with a huge, ancient mesquite tree for shade and clean sand for our camp . The wind died down at sunset . This was the second night we built the campfire in the road so as to have safe weed free place for it . ( It became a tradition to have it in the road .) A large, vocal bull strolled through camp at 1 AM .