A Quick Escape From Phoenix

The Apache Trail, also known as the AZ 88, is an old road running from Apache Junction through the Superstition Mountains towards Globe. Believe it or not, a good portion of the road is unpaved. When driving along the road, you get some good looks at Canyon Lake, Four Peaks, as well as the Theodore Roosevelt dam. It is really amazing to see the Superstition Mountains and all the different types of rock formations.

The 40 mile drive is an awesome experience, and it reminds you what the world looked like before gigantic cities took over. There are a few small towns (and I mean small) along the way but other than that, it is simply nature. No paved roads, just power lines running over the mountains.

The Drive

The road is pretty rough in some spots and the car I was riding in managed to lose a piece of a hubcap. Now the cars alignment is all out of whack and it raddles like its going to fall apart. But it was worth it, check out the pictures:

View of Four Peaks

A Bridge Overlooking Roosevelt Lake

Theodore Roosevelt Dam

Superstition Mountains

As you can see, it is a pretty amamazing drive. I highly recommend it to anyone in the Phoenix area because it is a great change of scenery.

Tune in later this week for some new posts and pictures.

So the last few months, I have driven by Four Peaks a few times and have always wondered if hiking to the summit was possible. If you are unfamiliar with these mountains, they are located about 60 miles northeast of Phoenix. Browns Peak is the highest peak in Maricopa country with an elevation of 7,657 feet. For those familiar with Phoenix, that is roughly 400 feet shy of being three times the height of Camelback Mountain.

Four Peaks Up Close

Time To Give It A Shot

Yesterday, I decided to finally give it a shot. I read up on what trails to take and how to get to the trailheads. From what I found, taking a dirt road over 12 miles was the only way to get to the starting trailhead known as Lone Pine Saddle.

How To Get There

There are two different ways to get to the trailhead, both being dirt paths.

Route #1

Take the SR87 northeast out of Phoenix until you see the FR143 sign on the right hand side. It is easily noticed because there is a sign saying Four Peaks. The downside to this route is the road is very rough. It is not recommended for a small car or low clearance vehicle. Which is why I went with route #2. It is approximately 19 miles until you reach the trailhead, so plan on taking some time to get there.

Route #2

Route #2 requires a little more driving. You have to drive on the 87 until you hit the 88 junction just south of Rye. From there you take the 88 south towards Roosevelt Lake. On the right hand side, there is a turn off for the FR143 which is also marked. This road is steeper and shorted than the one coming up the west side of the mountain. But it is much easier on your vehicle. It is also a shorter drive, consisting of 12 miles of dirt road driving.

The Lone Pine Saddle Trailhead

Once you reach the parking area on Four Peaks, you will see a couple signs marking the different trails. Make sure to double check the trails so you know which one you are on. This was my main mistake on this adventure.

I ended up taking the Four Peaks Trail (#130) instead of the Brown’s Peak Trail (#133). This resulted in walking a really long ways, only to notice that I started to circle the peaks. The trail was still a great time however. I managed to see some wildlife and even heard a loud 4-legged creature, which could of been a bear or mountain lion. I am not real sure…

Here is a view of Theodore Roosevelt Lake I took along the way:

Theodore Roosevelt Lake

Next Stop, Brown’s Peak

So I will be returning to Four Peaks soon to finish my goal to make it to the very top of Brown’s Peak. I plan to do it in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for a followup post.

Why It’s Probably Not A Good idea

This weekend was another adventure out in the wilderness. I did some hiking in Sedona, Arizona and almost got struck by a massive bolt of lightning. It was pretty intense, but luckily I got some pretty cool pictures of the whole thing.

I’d like to start this story from the end with this picture I snapped of a lightning bolt at the bottom of the hike:

That’s Not Good

I am no expert on weather, but I am smart enough to know that lightning and thunder at relatively the exact same time means get out of dodge. Especially when you are standing on a rock in the middle of the desert. I found this paragraph explaining the risks over at InteliHealth:

“For example, if you are caught in a lightning storm while outside in an open space, especially at an elevation (for instance, while hiking on a mountain trail), your risk is considerably higher than the estimated overall risk of one in 600,000. (That’s according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; other estimates vary from one in 10,000 to one in 5,000,000.)”

So apparently hiking on a mountain trail can significantly raise your chances of getting struck by lightning. The crazy thing was the fact that after we made it safely to the car, we noticed another group of people still near the top of Bear Mountain. Right after we saw them, we saw a lightning bolt actually strike the mountain between the people and our car. It was literally less than a thousand feet away.

We figured it would be a good idea to call the ranger station and let them know that there were still people at the top of Bear Mountain when the storm hit. As it turns out, rangers only save people on the weekdays. The ranger station was closed and had a message machine with another number to call. So we called the other number and informed them that the lightning struck right next to the people and we could no longer see them. Our guess was they ran for cover somewhere after pissing themselves from the burst of lightning.

We waited a good hour for the ranger to come but no luck. They never even came to make sure everyone was alright. Luckily, a little over an hour after the storm we saw the people come walking down to their car. That is pretty shitty service if you ask me.

The Bear Mountain Trail

Anyways, the hike I did (attempted) was the Bear Mountain Trail, which is 2.8 miles one way with an increase in elevation around 1,800 feet. The hike was very steep, but provided some awesome views from start to finish. Along the trail, I managed to see a Jackrabbit, 1,300 June bugs, and some pretty cool caves. Here are some more pictures I got along the way:

If you would like to see the rest of my pictures from the trip, check them out over at my Flickr page.

Conclusion

As you can see, it is pretty amazing to see the surrounding areas from up top of Bear Mountain. It reminds you how beautiful Arizona can be, in good weather and bad. The hike is well woth the work, as long as it isn’t in a lightning storm. Luckily, I am still alive and sitting in my cubicle recapping the whole experience.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

I spent a good portion of my weekend working on my to do list, which was getting pretty long. I managed to get a good portion of it done, but I did not get everything done. I did some work on the blog, but you will not see many changes. I cleaned up some categories and added a few widgets to help the functionality.

By mid-day Sunday, I was itching to get out of the apartment. After sitting there all weekend, you feel the need to go do something every once in awhile. So I managed to get in a little road trip to…

Lake Pleasant, Arizona

I will start by showing you the picture I managed to take overlooking the lake:

 View of Lake Pleasant

Lake Pleasant is about 20 miles northwest of Peoria on State Rt. 74. It is a pretty short drive to escape the city and get your feet wet. When I first arrived, I was surprised at the size of the lake, which is somewhere around 16 square miles. The water has a cool blue hint to it that reminds me of the ocean.

Things To Do

Lake Pleasant offers a lot of different things to do. Some of the things it offers include:

- Boating

- Camping

- Fishing

- Swimming

- Water Skiing

- Wind Surfing

The only thing I did from that list was go swimming but it was sure nice after standing outside in the 100 + degree temperature. There are a lot of places to park your vehicle and get in the water, but some of them are a little rocky. The only thing I was missing was some cold beer and an inflatable pool raft to lounge on. I will definitely remember these the next time I head out to the lake.

Great Place To Spend A Weekend

Overall, it is a nice place to escape the Phoenix heat and take in some different scenery. I plan to go back sometime in the near future, but this time a little better prepared. It would be a great spot to pitch a tent and spend a whole weekend. I would recommend it to anyone in the Phoenix area.

Tune in tomorrow for a few ways to save money to travel!

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I had the privilege of checking out the Tonto Natural Bridge, near Payson, Arizona this past weekend. It was a really cool experience and I would love to share it with everyone.

If you have never heard of the park, it is a natural bridge that was formed by running water from a small creek. While I was there I also learned that the Tonto bridge was discovered by David Gowan in 1877 , while hiding from Apache Indians. It is a pretty interesting story to read about because he eventually moved his whole family to this location.

My Photographs

I took a lot of pictures, but narrowed them down to a few I would like to share. So check them out (click to enlarge):

Top of Tonto Natural Bridge

Tonto Natural Bridge Waterfall

Believe It or Not, This Is the Creek

Lizard Along the Trail

Standing In One of the Caves

Look How Small The People Look Inside

The Hiking Trails

When I first arrived at the Tonto State Park, it did not look like anything special. It looked like a grass field with a parking lot and a ton of people picnicking. But I was amazed once I finished all of the hikes.

There are three separate trails to hike, and they all lead to different places. Here is a little information I gathered from the trail guide they had at the park:

Pine Creek Trail - about 1/2 mile long, which leads to the Pine Creek natural area. They recommend wearing hiking shoes and say to allow one hour for the hike.

Waterfall Trail - about 300 feet long, and ends at a waterfall cave.

Gowan Trail - about 1/2 mile long, and it leads to an observation deck at the bottom of the creek. This trail also recommends wearing hiking shoes.

The hiking trails are a little rough, but overall pretty easy to walk along. There are a lot of stairs when heading to the creek bottom, so plan on walking down a ton of wooden steps. Also, plan on getting a little wet if you really want to snoop around in the cave. The water leaks through the rock from the top of the bridge, and makes it feel like a light rain at the bottom.

If you are taking your camera (I highly recommend it), bring along a case to put it in so you don’t have to worry about getting it wet.

Location

The Tonto Natural Bridge is pretty easy to find if you are coming from the Phoenix area. You simply have to head towards Fountain Hills and take the SR 87 north to Payson 80 miles. From there, continue north another 10 miles until you see a sign for the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.

Just a word of caution, there are some steep roads after you turn left towards the State Park. Some of the roads reach as much as a 14% grade.

An Awesome Trip

Overall, this was an awesome thing to do. It was cool to see this thing in person, because it looks so much different in person than it does in pictures. I highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in Arizona, specifically in the Payson area.