Aggravating Ride at McDowell

Aaaarrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh.  Today was an aggravating day.  We set out for a ride, looking for a trail we had ridden on Thanksgiving.  It took us awhile to find it.  Eventually we realized the hideous uphill we'd just ridden was, in fact, the fabulous downhill I was remembering. So that was good.  But then Jim flatted.

 

Something bad is going on with Jim's back wheel.  This is the second flat he's had that was not caused by a puncture.

 

Today's incident occurred on the side of the tube facing the rim strip.  It's very peculiar.  The tube is bleeding latex.  It was a pretty good slice, so the latex couldn't seal it.

 

So, after an aggravating ride, we returned to our site and found bees swarming the basil and the site.  What is it with the bees and this site?  I think we're taking #72 off the list for the future.
Tomorrow we're up early to disconnect the water and electricity before the wretched bees return.  According to the internet, they do not fly below 55 degrees.  Then we will return to Tucson.

Many Armed Cactus in McDowell

A saguaro at McDowell.  They seem to have more arms here than in Tucson.  I don't know why that is.

 

We rode today, it was good but it was cold.  The fast swoopy descents were chilly!  What's really chilly are the floors in the showers.  There are no sewer hookups, so we're using the showers, and they are cold!  We're leaving Sunday to return to Tucson.  Showers will be warmer there.

The Trip to McDowell

Oy!  It's been a day!  It's only about 140 miles from RCW to McDowell, but it was a neurotransmitter depleting day.  These were taken north of Picacho Peak.  We were driving down the road and noticed the pickup on the far side of the road, facing the wrong way, with his flashers on.  Traffic slowed to a crawl.

 

We saw this first.  They were in the median, trying to back out of it.  My theory is that he was not paying attention and drove off the road when traffic came to a halt.

 

Then we saw this!  Vehicles everywhere.

 

The white pickup had been towing the trailer, but we think he was rear-ended.  If you look at the hitch, you will notice it's in the dirt.  Or maybe he rear-ended someone, because his front end was ruined.  Who can say?

 

Farther up the road we saw more vehicles.  The Airstream appeared to be unharmed.

 

The Budget Rental truck's driver appeared to be receiving a ticket from the police.

 

Then, even further up the road, the SUV was being loaded for removal.

 

We were really happy this happened before we got there.
Then, after turning onto 202, we saw a pickup truck go by with a giant fan in the bed.  It was the kind of fan you would use to dry concrete or something like that.  We both looked at the blades rapidly spinning and hoped it was firmly secured.  Nope.  Five minutes later it was in the middle of our lane, just waiting to take out the RV.  Fortunately the right lane was open and Jim avoided it.  The truck behind us hit it solidly, taking out his left front tire and then dragging it with the undercarriage.  That scared the living snot out of us, hitting that would have required removal with a wrecker.  
After arriving at McDowell, we pulled in to our slot, and what did we find? Bees!  I'm allergic to bees.  The water faucet was dripping and they were massing for a drink.  I hate bees.  We called our favorite apiarist who told us just to wait until sundown, and they would go home.  So, now we are here, the water is turned on, and things will be better tomorrow.

New Year's Day

Greetings Earthlings!  How was your New Years?  We continued our grand tradition of ignoring the holiday and going to bed at a reasonable hour.  We did not hear as much gun fire as we have in the past.  The Tucson police have cracked down on "celebratory gun fire", and we are very happy about that, as some of it occurs not too far from RCW.
New Year's day we took the RV out for a drive.  Why would we do that, you wonder?  Well, because for the last two days we've had an obstruction in the black tank that has prevented us from fully emptying it.  For you non-RVers, this is very, very bad.  This morning we decided that something must be done, so we dumped a small bottle of Dawn detergent and a cup of Calgon down the toilet and headed out for Kinney road through the Tucson Mountain Park.  See the rolling terrain and the curviness of the road?  When driven at a rapid rate, it does an excellent job of sloshing the contents of the black tank.

 

We saw this when we were heading out for the second circuit of driving fast through the park.  Look at the green sign.  The last line says that Dr. Bernal is the "official chiropractor of the West Ajo Feed & Supply."   Why does a feed and supply need an official chiropractor?  Odd, just very odd.
 

 

When we returned to RCW, we were rewarded with a complete black tank emptying.  We are much happier now that this is over.
This is tonight's sunset.  It was pretty good.  Today was kind of cool, many people are returning for the winter, it's good to see them back. 

 

Tomorrow we are up and out to the McDowell Mountain Regional Park where we will stay for 4 nights. 

Trail Review: Hugh Norris Trail

Today we hiked part of the Hugh Norris Trail.  The sign at the trail head tells us:

• The Hugh Norris trail is long, difficult, and quite spectacular.  The trail, named after a former chief of the Tohono O'odham Indian Police, begins with a series of switchbacks to the top of a ridge overlooking the saguaro forest.  From there it ascends along the ridge, through areas with splendid views and unique rock formations, to the top of Wasson Peak.

All of the above is true, but what is not mentioned is the stairs.  About 10 years ago, steps were put in to control erosion.  They persist for about the first mile of the trail.  They're not too bad going up, but I found them to be painful on the knees going downhill.
 

 

It is a gorgeous hike.  The views from the heights are just spectacular.  See the blue squares off in the distance?  That's where the CAP water goes, and is allowed to percolate down to recharge the aquifer. 

 

More climbing, more stairs!

 

After you reach the big rock formations, the steps end, and the trail becomes a side hill goat track.  That's the trail on the right side of the photo.  In the distance is the trail heading up Wasson Peak.  We turned around here, because we'd decided we would do one hour out max.

 

This is taken from the saddle where many people stop to take in the view.  Is it not lovely?  The pointy peak on the left side is Cat Mountain.

 

This is a big boulder.

 

Look how dark the sky is getting in the far horizon.

 

At the bottom of the trail, it was becoming positively ominous.

 

Rain out in the desert.

 

By the time we got home, we had a full blown squall going through the park.  If I had been 30 seconds earlier, I would have had Jamie's basil in my hands before it blew over.  It's fine, no blood, no foul.

I don't know if we'll do this hike again.  The stairs are really a bear on the knees.  The heights and spacing are totally random, so you can't get a rhythm going with your stride. Once you're past the steps, it's not bad at all.  From the trail head to the top of Wasson Peak is 4.9 miles.

Trail Review: Explorer Trail

Yesterday we hiked the Explorer Trail.  To find this trail, park in the Fiesta area lot at the Kennedy Park on the west side of La Cholla, go towards the back of the park, then walk up the El Paso Natural Gas Company right of way towards 44th Street.  When you see the cluster of mobile homes, look to your left.

 

This is the start of the trail.  In my humble opinion, this is THE WORST TRAIL EVER.  We did see mountain bike tire tracks, but I personally can not conceive of riding over the rubble strewn trail.  For about 45 minutes we followed the trail under the power lines, hoping it would get better.

 

There is a connecting single track trail that goes to the Cat Mountain trail.  It is slightly more interesting than the power line section of trail, but only marginally so.

 

It winds its way through the saguaros for awhile.  It's not a ridge trail or side hill, it's mainly in a valley.

 

We reached the Cat Mountain trail, noticed we were close to Ajo, and then turned around to go home.  This is more of the rockiness that we experienced.

 

So, I say to you, hike somewhere else.  It's a slog through loose rocks and there is nothing really interesting to see.