New Trails On The ATVs

At least the trails were new to Michael and me!  Joe and Kathy had ATV troubles last week, received a new part and Joe has them running again.  He wanted to go out today and test his repair job.  Sounds like a good excuse to us!  Fred and Nancy led the way and off we went.

Judy asked in a comment the other day, “do you normally take established trails when out on the ATV?”  And the answer is yes, always!  The Escapees North Ranch park is surrounded by BLM and state land.  The land has been used for mining in the past and there is still lots of hobby mining going on.  The land is also leased to a rancher and we see herds of wild acting yearlings almost every time we go out.  Mile after mile of trails crisscross this land and those are the trails we use.  We are not the kind of ATV folks who rip and tear across the land—we poke along, stop to look at rocks/cactus/birds, take a picnic and just generally have a great time!  It takes us five to six hours to go thirty miles round trip!  Fred and Nancy carry a five gallon bucket and one of those “pickers” with them stopping to pick up every bottle, can or other trash they see.  Today they came back with a five gallon bucket full of trash. 

We even have a “southern belle” traveling with us!  I guess Kathy thought it was a little hot today which it was! 

Water in the Hassayampa River

A little barrel cactus getting a good start hiding beneath a mesquite tree.Strange place to build a house—most definitely in the flood plane!  We stopped here late afternoon beneath a bunch of huge, old cottonwood trees—a very welcome respite from the sun!

Back at North Ranch we all rid ourselves of some of the dust and headed to the Congress Mercantile for dinner.  The rest of the gang had not eaten there before and pronounced the hamburgers delicious and huge!  The cowboy and I had pizza.

It was a spectacular Valentine’s Day!