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Deep into the Tonto National Forest I was the Lone Ranger on a mission to conquer some past mental and physical demons.

This was day 2 of the 2022 trip to Arizona. I had done the most research about this route. This was out of necessity due to the remoteness and danger level. It was going to be 113 miles total between civilization. The terrain was known rugged and help was likely not gonna be available if something happened. Cell service is non existent for 95 of those miles. I knew of only one ranch with people anywhere near the route. Should I have had a Spot device or other method of rescue, of course, but I didn’t and thought about it many times. I deserve a lecture, and I thought about it many times in my solitude.

Here is the route
Going clockwise the red pin is Robbers Roost Canyon on Table Mesa Rd. The top of the route is Bloody Basin Rd. “B” is the Sheep Bridge. “C” is not a named road but just a path from one point to the next. There is nothing here. “D” is the the Dam at Horseshoe Lake. Cave Creek is where civilized life resumed.

I ran the 7 miles up the frontage road from New River to Table Mesa. the route to get to Table Mesa was where we turned back in the truck a few days ago. You can get to it a different way, but I wasn’t in using the freeway
Here was the turn back site from before.



Today, I found an “easier” way around. (Pic from my recon run 2 days before the ride.) I didn’t stop and take a picture because I just needed to get to it. I was a little afraid if I stopped and pondered, took pictures, or didn’t fully commit, I could chicken out.


The white building in the background is the last real structure for quite a while.

A half mile from the interstate, the road has a clear message despite all the bullet holes.

The route was strictly vetted. I watched plenty of YouTube videos, scanned every mile of Google maps, read ride reports and PM’ed locals riders on AdvRider, gleaned trial reports from Altrails, and called the ranger station for intel. Now of that would matter if I couldn’t get past the voice in my head.

As some of you know I had a get off in South Dakota last summer. I was bruised up some and prob tore my remaining ACL. I was careless and let my focus wander for just a few moments and it bit me hard. I got lucky it was only this bad


I have intentions of future dual sport riding that will likely involve some extended solo travel. I needed to know if my mind could overcome the giant doubt I “acquired”.

While I was alone in the high desert, I had plenty of conversations the whole time. Multiple times I could audibly hear myself giving myself bits of advice, words or encouragement, and reminding myself of fundamental technique.

“Plan your ride and ride your plan”

I have 92 more pictures to post from this route after gleaning and weeding out ones that don’t tell the honest truth about how this ride made me feel. I took the first pic at 7:24 and last one at 3:57. The weather was perfect as you can see from the photos. Temps were cool and crisp in the morning about 55, pleasant and dry with warming around noon near 70. As I came back out of the mountains, the dropping temps held steady as I came back to town in the 60s.

A couple photos of the first few miles to keep you interested.


Some of my self coaching was affirming. “Look at the beauty that is out here”


Some of it was “Don’t be a little bitch and look for a bail out”


Some of it was “Be deliberate and purposeful”


Some of it was “Don’t be a pussy and take the easy way out, you will regret it”.


Where was Stuart Smalley when I needed him?

See you tomorrow.


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Doubt is a good thing to have and is another way of saying it is good to know your ability and don't take on stuff beyond one's ability. This took a long time for me to learn this. Now that I am officially old I can't afford to have an accident. I don't want to have legs that black and blue. My wife needs me. So I am happy to ride well within my ability. Forest service roads are fine. Things like Black Bear Pass in Colorado are out as sections of some BDRs. YouTube is a great resource.

Great photos and thanks for sharing your experience.

fontanaman wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 6:46 pm Doubt is a good thing to have and is another way of saying it is good to know your ability and don't take on stuff beyond one's ability. This took a long time for me to learn this. Now that I am officially old I can't afford to have an accident. I don't want to have legs that black and blue. My wife needs me. So I am happy to ride well within my ability. Forest service roads are find. Things like Black Bear Pass in Colorado are out as sections of some BDRs. YouTube is a great resource.

Great photos and thanks for sharing your experience.

Amen!

Continuing….

As you could tell the early morning light was doing well but my shadow was hard to get away from. The water crossing ahead was very easy as the rocks were small and consistent. Combine that with clear water and I didn’t have to scout it.

The Table Mesa road gets its name from this feature. A few years ago, my BILs neighbor ran the road in his Jeep and said it was way easy and boring. Maintenance has to be a tough task with the ever changing terrain due to fires, erosion, and river channeling.
All of these shots are from the same bike location.


I just moved around to show the different angles.


The road here was in great shape. I dont know why considering there was nothing I could see that would be the reason for keeping it maintained.

It was cool here in the shadows of the mountain. Each time I stopped, I made sure I did some form of orienteering. Either with my printed map, the GPS, or cell phone. The phone gps was decent even with no signal. I wouldn’t want to use it as a stand alone tool, but some do. I ran into some later that did just that.


After climbing back up to the top, I stopped for a quick snack. I had plenty of granola bars and snacks. 2 liters of water in my backpack and another 1 liter in my tank panniers .


The road certainly fluctuated between smooth forest service type roads and rocky goat paths.

You had to keep a sharp eye out for the changing conditions. It wasn’t easy with the sun at times being low. Can I say that o love the Scorpion ATT 950 helmet I have? Modular with a sun shade, removable “beak”, very light, flows air well, and is reasonably priced. I had my Sena changed and connected to the phone, but didn’t play a single note of music the whole day.



There simply was no “extra” need to be entertained by anything audible other than what was natural.


That is if you can count the little snarl of my 250 as “Natural”. Many of the down hills, I just let the bike idle as I picked my way through the hard stuff.

I doubt the bike saw over 25 mph for 95 miles after I got to trail.


Another easy crossing. The road could get lumpy as it got close to the water. I have only seen videos but apparently some flash flooding of this area has obliterated the road. I would find some of these very areas later.

Stupid shadows. The waterway is the New River. It is a small creek almost everywhere. There are plenty of springs listed in the area. Between those natural sources and valley run off, the New River heads south west and makes Lake Pleasant after joining with all the creeks that drain south from Prescott. Later it makes the Aqua Fría waterway that feeds Phoenix. Water has to be scarce here.

At these elevations of less than 3000ft and this far south, I can’t imagine snow ever accumulates enough to provide runoff.


The road changes its character as much as it’s direction as it winds above the riverbed.



I stop often to enjoy the moments and make sure I am staying vigilant about location and keeping my pace deliberate.

I am getting far enough out here where a walk back to the trailhead and the last known help would be an all day event.

I wish I would of had something to provide scale for these boulders. They were gigantic. Mother Nature put them there as no equipment stacked them there.


Back up top of the river you can see the road along the left side.

I both wish that I could have a buddy or three with me to share this and also wanted it completely to myself on this day.

It was here where it started to get a little stupid.


I had read many places where the road just disappears below piles of stones. I knew I would be walking it at times.

I knew there would be times to find go arounds.

Apparently someone didn’t make it through and abandoned their journey.


The KLX never balked at any of it. I had to walk beside it one place but the rest of the time, I just rode it over. I couldn’t take unnecessary chances out here.



Sometimes the dry riverbed became part of the road as the channel had encroached man made landscapes.


From bone jarring rocks to coarse sand, Table Mesa had it all.


And just like that the road becomes wide, smooth and flat. I prob let the KLX loose here and hit 20mph as smooth as it was.


It could have had something to do with the horse/cattle corrals that popped out of nowhere. Many reports I read included wold horse sightings. Especially around the natural spring areas. I saw a few far off. bit none near the road.


Constant meandering through the desert. If a person who loves small dial sport could make a road, this is the one they would love.


For you Ms Tyler.


Not much else was in bloom, but as I was taking this shot, I thought to channel your inner spirit and found beauty in a harsh place.

I won’t ever take a flower pic without thinking, “this is a Tyler shot.”

It’s bed time here, see you tomorrow.


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Most excellent! Thanks for posting.

The thing about this ride that just kept resurfacing was the expansive emptiness. The first pic has the road way in the back to the left if you zoom in. The “Tyler Flower” pic is 3 miles away from this one. 3 miles on the road is nothing but out here with so many twists, turns, and obstacles it seems to take 20 min. Well because it did.



I didn’t have to hurry, I didn’t want to, and I knew I shouldn’t.


Just another road into the openness. Maybe it is because I have never ridden in this type of environment, but in the seemingly stark landscapes, beauty was there.


A hawk of some type was gliding on the persistent wind


Pulling in my clutch and hitting the kill switch was becoming so automatic and enjoyable.


Road conditions improved drastically as I turned north on 7 Springs road. Freshly groomed was not easier to ride on as the gravel was soft. This junction was one of my bail out points of needed. Heading south would take me toward North East Phoenix.


I stopped here and saw the catalyst for the road improvement. The was the only other machine I saw since getting on the trail.


While I paused to watch this monster tear up the ditches and deposit them, rocks, boulders, signposts, grass clumps, and small trees onto the road. The surface was super inconsistent. I was a little worried it could be like this for a long way.

I took some video from my spot and as grader lumbered by. It was operated by a NFS guy in the traditional white shirt and green pants. I saw 2 more later as they were working together to knock the big rocks off and smooth out the furrows they pulled up. They were not friendly enough to stop despite me pulling up my modular. Oh well, they had a job to do.

The only dwelling place I saw. No signage indicated what this place was. I looked on Google maps and it is a sprawling compound. Maybe just a ranch but I didn’t see any livestock. I am sure one of you will make sense of it for us.

I can’t imagine running to town here is a common thing and anything less than a serious truck. I don’t see crazy Beth Dutton driving the AMG out here.


The easy way back to the interstate is 27 miles. Lol. I doubt it. Bloody basin is the expansive basin that has 2 stories about its name. One is the color of the terrain because of the iron compound in the soil. Sedona is not that far away and I am sure the red rock might bleed down toward the drainage area.


The better story is about the wars between the sheep herders and cattle ranchers. Supposedly the battles were so fierce when the ranchers would catch a herd of sheep unattended, they would kill them all and their blood would stain the water as it made its way toward the Verde River.

Maybe fiction is better than fact sometimes. I took this pic just to remind myself in case I needed a landmark. I was headed toward the the Verde River and the Sheep Bridge.



I would later come in contact with a couple guys riding their bicycles that said they were making their way north along this trail.


I was headed down from here. It was easy riding for now as the road was decently graded here.


I had been looking for a good specimen close to the road.

The thing about these cacti, they seem to be pretty particular about where they grow. Elevations above 3.5K had none, north slopes were devoid of them, and lower elevations below 1500ft seem to be without much density.



Easy to find good places to take pictures here.


First glimpse of the Sheep Bridge. Still a ways to get to it.


Structures out here could not have been easy to build let alone transport the materials out there.

There is nothing on the other side of the river, but that’s exactly where I am going. If I can get across and find my way out the other side, I will start to feel good.


Maybe there was some truth to those blood stained rocks?

Hope it’s not gonna be mine.

See you tomorrow.


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Odd how a road grader makes a mess of the track, isn't it. Thanks Josh, good stuff!

Good shit, Josh! I imagine your choices might be slightly different if you had a companion rider along..... I get what precautions you're taking solo, and good on ya.

It was still a few miles to get down to the bridge. The decent down to the river seemed abrupt. Some of the switchbacks were very rough.



This was essentially the halfway point in terms of overall miles.


The original bridge was supposed built with scrap metal.


Wiki link here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verde_R ... eep_Bridge



I know a guy who likes bridges.






.Beyond the bridge was a whole different kind of adventure. It was not an official road. Pretty much limited to bicycle traffic. You could get back here in a modified vehicle, but it was a long way and really no reason.



The plaque was placed in this side because others have been stolen. There is a fair bit of OHV in the area but access to this side is pretty much limited. If you did want to steal the plaque, you would have to lug tools up a very steep rocky slope.


I had to get down that slope. It was right behind the rock to the left.

No mapping software that o used would let me make the loop since only foot traffic is allowed. I called the ranger station in the area and asked them about crossing. They said it was fine as long as I wasn’t riding fast or quote “acting like a jackass. No burnouts or wheelies”. I walked it across with no issues.



Halfway across I looked down and saw these guys. I talked to them a little from up top. I had some extra water and granola bars I knew I could spare. Their story is certainly a strange and epic one.


Looking back to the West.

I got down below and made my way over to the bicyclists. Their story according to them is wild to say the least. These 2 French Canadians were taking a “gap” year in the summer of 2020. They were from the Ottawa area and avid cyclists. They set out west to ride across Canada. Because their progress was slow due fewer open towns and getting supplies, they got nervous about weather and wanted to go south. They turned left in Montana and rode through an abandoned border checkpoint. Said they just kept riding south toward better weather. Ride all the way to the border in Southern California. Apparently they had friends of friends near Mexico City they could stay with. They did not have vaccines and were in trouble from their parents for going into Mexico. Concocted some story that they had to stay there so their parents would keep sending money. It worked and they were on their way back.

I was skeptical of their story because how did they get back into the US. According to them, they just rode along the border until they found a place to cross. They go about 25 miles per day off road and 75 on road. But they mostly stayed off road and like to avoid authorities due to their vaccine status and expired documents. I asked them how are they gonna get back into Canada. They said they hadn’t figured it out yet exactly. But in their words “Can they really keep us out of our own country?” I wished them good luck, gave them my extra water bottle and half of my granola bars. They needed it a lot more than me.


I set my GPS track south. There was no route that showed up on my older 550, but my phone could get close and the landmarks continued to make sense. I did ask the bicycle guys how they got across the dam. They said they just rode across. I was staring to wonder if that was all BS. “They just rode across a US border, Mexican border, and back into the US? Really? Well, I was able to follow their tracks in the dirt and it lead all the way to the dam.

More in a second.


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All I had to do was keep the river on my right. I had reconned with Google maps and even had color printed ones with me just in case. I saw some javelinas as they ran across the road. People said they were everywhere out here. I could never get my bike stopped in time and camera ready. They ran right across the road. They were fast and looked wild and elusive.



The road went south below the dam and then turned back north to approach from downstream. Navigation was easy and I could occasionally see the bicycle guys tracks in the soft sandy areas. The road went through many typical washes and rock gardens. It was challenging and wild. I was no pioneer in the area, but it sure felt like I was blazing a trail.

Seeing the first glimpse of the dam was a relief for sure.


It was warming up and I took frequent breaks to check the map and confirm my path. Also an excuse to drink water and soak up the moments.

Take a close look at the road as it goes right across the face of the dam.



The breeze was blowing from the north and you could now smell the lake. It had a moist smell/feel that before was not there before. It was arid and obvious in the rest of the trip.


Save yourself and avert your eyes from the gray beard and find the two small white pick up trucks. You can see the gate on the near side. You prob can’t see the gate on the far side.


I had called the ranger station before we left in preparation for getting across the dam. All my recon showed there was a road and it went right across the concrete face. I was given a warning about staying away from the edge and that was it.

Well, I ride up to the concrete and I got to the near side gate and it was open. I rode across slowly but also had feeling like I was doing something wrong. I never thought to look across to the far side. At the far side, I pulled up to a closed gate. It said “This Gate Must Remained Locked at All Times”. Oh, crap!! Wait, there is a latch, it is on the outside, I will reach through and open it real quick. NOPE, it’s got a device on it. Now what???

How the F am I gonna get across? I can’t go back. I am 79 miles in. Even my bail out points are gonna be at least 50 miles back. I will run out of gas and that is way back in the bush. That’s a stupid idea.
I have tools with me I guess I could try using them to take the lock off and put it back. That is a bad idea. I also have some cutters and could just cut a few of the ties holding the chain link fence to minimize the damage.

That is a bad idea.

Oh yeah, right by the gate is a security camera. I look around and start to notice more than a few. I threw my hands up towards one of them and pointed toward the gate. I was literally playing s game of charades with a security camera.

That’s is really dumb idea.

WTF. I ride back across to the east side because sitting on the face of the dam where the road is and looking up at the gates holding back all that water is unnerving. I see s couple signs that read “Water may wash objects off roadway”. “Sudden release of water may occur without warning”. “Do not stop on roadway”.

I ride over again to see if I just didn’t look closely enough at opening the gate. Nope. Still locked with some electronic lock. I am prepared to start removing hard parts on the gate and or fence. I ride back across to think this out again. Check the map for another way out, I guess I could spend the night on the side and at some point, someone will come get me. There are buildings on the east side. One of them must have an alarm if I break in. They will open the gate to let the cops come get me.


This is stupid! I hear 2 voices. One is my high school football coach who always said “Find a way”. The other is Les Stroud “Keep your head and think your way through it.”


See you tomorrow!


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That's some bullshit cliffhanger stuff right there.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:01 am That's some bullshit cliffhanger stuff right there.

Thats what I thought last night when I read it. I would expect nothing less from Cav47 the drama queen.

Abercrombie FJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:08 am

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:01 am That's some bullshit cliffhanger stuff right there.

Thats what I thought last night when I read it. I would expect nothing less from Cav47 the drama queen.

Spoiler alert bitches, I survived.

Cav47 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:10 am

Abercrombie FJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:08 am

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:01 am That's some bullshit cliffhanger stuff right there.

Thats what I thought last night when I read it. I would expect nothing less from Cav47 the drama queen.

Spoiler alert bitches, I survived.

How do we know this isn't Spawn...faking us all out?

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:23 am

Cav47 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:10 am

Abercrombie FJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:08 am

Thats what I thought last night when I read it. I would expect nothing less from Cav47 the drama queen.

Spoiler alert bitches, I survived.

How do we know this isn't Spawn...faking us all out?

Because she would have had to post something about the trip.

Festus wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:24 am

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:23 am

Cav47 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:10 am

Spoiler alert bitches, I survived.

How do we know this isn't Spawn...faking us all out?

Because she would have had to post something about the trip.

She quit writing reports and my 250 barely can carry my fat ass. Let alone her too. LOL

Festus wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:24 am

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:23 am

Cav47 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:10 am

Spoiler alert bitches, I survived.

How do we know this isn't Spawn...faking us all out?

Because she would have had to post something about the trip.

Grooved that one in there for ya...

...on with the epic report. Does Cav live?! Does he die?! Does Spawn post?! These in the next installment, same BAT time, same BAT channel!!!

Patiently waiting for the next installment... glad you stopped to smell the flowers along the way.

Ha the drama is depending Garmin Zumo 550 for navigation.

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 1:01 pm Ha the drama is depending Garmin Zumo 550 for navigation.

He wasn't that stoopid....now THAT would be drama. As backup, he printed maps and oriented the maps with what he saw around him to get situational awareness. Plus, he had the sun's position, the stars and a sextant, and the moss on the north side of the cactus...