Day 98 to 113

October 12th to the 27th, 2007

From Pinon to Kingman, Az. via the Grand Canyon.

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          after /  après >>

...Yeah...I think we're in love...

Marc thinks she looks more like a giant mouse than like a dog so, Paul suggested calling her Mickey. But, since she's female we'll call her Minnie! (As in Minnie Mouse...)

 

...See, she fits right on there!  She's wondering: "Is it OK if just lay here?".

 

Yeap! We're taking her with us! The Quadtrek team as just grown a member!

 

On the road again...This rez is simply huge!!

 

On the way to Cameron...

 

...We get to see all kinds...

 

...Of strange formations!

 

Desert riding is way cool !!

 

 

At the Cameron trading post RV park...

 

...We met John and Pat Colliver. Off-road enthousiasts, they were amazed at what we were doing! So much so that after chitchatting for a little bit, John pulled a green present out of his pocket and handed it to me:

"Here's a little something to help and encourage you guys." He says!

"Wow! Thank you! Very much! Guess we'll use that to spoil ourselves a little bit".

Next thing you know, we're both on our ways, heading in different dirrections, probably never to see each others again...Strange feelings...

Warm and sincere thanks to you guys, we wish you all the best with your moving project.

 

Speaking of moving, we got to go...

 

Through the desert again, only this time, it's really remote. Little tiny dotted lines on the Delorme's Atlas and Gazetteer. No towns or villages, no major roads for a long while. This is definitely the most remote section we've ridden so far.

 

See what I mean?? Got to trust that GPS!

 

Remember when we posted pictures of mountains covered with dense forests, like up in Montana? Different, is'nt it? It's sooo dry here, there are NO trees. Our lips are chapping and our nose bleed...

 

When we get to the top of the plateau, trees begin to reppear. Higher elevations means more snow in the winter thus more moisture for the vegetation.

 

SURPRISE!!

A couple of beautiful wild horses!

 

 

     Polaris Industries - Canada                            Polaris Industries - USA

 

 

"Hey Hon'! What do you think of this spot for tonight?"

 

France agrees...

 

...So does Minnie.

 

She really does look like a mouse, does'nt she?

 


 

From our campsite at around 7000 ft, we get down on the valley floor and follow along the Little Colorado River Gorge (what you can see on the pics above) until we get to Cedar mountain. There, we have to climb up again to 7300ft.

 

What does that sign say?

 

Yesss! After riding desert, forest, desert again and forest again, relying solely on the GPS, looks like we made it!

Does'nt really appear to be a major port of entry to the park, does it? Guess that's what they call the road less travelled...

 

 

Mommy and Minnie meditating...

 

There it is! Our first peek at the Grand Crack!

 

The Colorado River, at the bottom is 300ft wide. Kinda gives you an idea of the scale of the G.C.

 

The Quadtrek family!

 

Although it varies somewhat, the width of the Canyon here is about 11 miles!

Is'nt it amazing that we made it to the Grand Canyon riding our ATVs?? We're not absolutely sure if we should be here or not so, we won't spend too much time hanging around. Just a couple more pics.

 

Humbling. Who said man kind was a big deal?

 

 

 

Oh! Just one more photo..

 

...Well, maybe one more...

 

...Only another one...

 


 

Possibly the outfit we'll need for our next trip!

 

Changes in vegetation here keep amazing us!

 

 

All these kind of cactuses are common sight in the Kaibab Forest.
17oct_19.jpg (37183 octets)

 

We're out of the forest and back in the desert. Heading west.

More wild horses. Wonder who's more curious, them or us?

12oct_37.jpg (13534 octets)

 

Now, here's a real typical Hogan! It's been abandoned for a while. Let's take a peek inside...

 

Wow! Pretty impressive! Look at the way the logs were placed to make a strong enough roof to hold all the mud! The ceeling is not that tall. And the walls are made of flat rocks, a rare find around here! COOL !

 

 

Entering a private ranch. We register as is requested and move on.

 

Flat, straight, endless roads criss cross the area. You better head in the right direction or you might run out of gas and water really easy!

 

 

Time to double check with GPS and software. Right there, at the intersection, in the middle of nowhere!

 

 

Pretty good road for one that's not maintained!
Water tanks here and there hold precious water for the cattle to drink, when ever there's cattle here!

 

We hit some closed gates with signs saying to close them back after we're through so, that's just what we do.

This time, we're right in the middle of the heard!

Close encounter. Hope they're in a good mood...

 

When we get to the ranch camp, we are told that ATVs are strictly forbidden here! That we are trespassing a private property! That we should have seen a sign saying so about 50 miles ago!

OH! We did see a sign. About 8 miles back, saying "No motorized vehicules", right there, in the middle of nowhere, a tiny stop sign on the side of the trail. We thought it was a joke! We had'nt seen another road crossing that one for the last 40 miles! Are we suppose to just turn around?? We could'nt even be sure we would find any other road going in the right direction. And we did'nt have enough gas to backtrack all the way out of here!! This ranch is 4000 square miles!! Don't you think it'd be a good idea to put up a sign at the entry to the ranch??

 

Well, at least, we had a good show...And, soon as rush hour traffic was over...

 

...We were kindly (...) escorted to the gate of the ranch, about 25 miles down the road. Our escort explaining in the mean time that they were seriously considering pressing charges against us...Interesting...

 

...Guess this is where quads are suppose to ride, around here...Well, at least we made it from here to Peach Springs in no time!!

 

From Peach Springs to Kingman, if you don't want to ride Route 66, you can either follow the railroad track, or ride back up to Grand Canyon West. The one road that goes up there from here is on Hualapai Indian rez...

...So we stop here to get permission. Which we are granted provided we stay on the road. Good! We don't really feel like getting into the same kind of situation as yesterday...
We have ATVs and we have permit so, is it cool, or not???

Forestery manager says it's cool. "Just stay on the road."

 

En route to Grand Canyon West.

 

 

 

Since we're counting our pennies and you have to pay to see whatever there is to see in G.C.W., we simply turn around and head south-west through a canyon that brings us...

...Here! We all heard about Joshua Trees (Rock group U-2 even had an album named Joshua Tree). But to see those trees right there all around you is a real treat!

 

We actually ride our quads across a huge Joshua Tree Forest!! Amazing!!

 

More related to cactuses than to palm tree...

 

...They come in all shapes and sizes!!

 

 

 

Minnie caught in the act of tasting this new Joshua Treat!

 

France and Minnie surrounded by cactuses.

 

Enjoying!

 

Amazing camp spot!

 

Hot dogs on J.T. campfire!!

 

 

"Fill her up?"

"At that price? No, I don't think so!!"

(Average price for regular is about $2.90/gal)

 

On the home stretch to Kingman...

 

Kingman Arizona! Where the mother of all roads brought the mother of all rides!

 


 

''Drrrring....Drrrrring.....Drrrrring''

''Hello!''

"Is this Mr. Marc Joinville? This is the Kingman regional medical center, we have a lady here by the name of France Labonté. She was at the food store and lost conciousness, someone called an ambulance. She's here in the E.R. and she's doing OK."

"Pardon me? What?? How...What happened??...I'll be right there!!"

Good news is: After a thorough check up, everything looks good, all is normal.
Bad news is: Nothing explains why this happened...
Conclusion: HEALTH IS WHAT MATTERS MOST!!

So, we take a few extra days to rest, here in Kingman. In the future, we'll pay more attention to what we eat, eat more regularly, drink more water and...stay away from food stores ;)

We'll also stay close to each other, more than ever !!


 

We spend a few days in Kingman, also to work on the web site.

If variety is the spice of life then Kingman is HOT!

Las Vegas
Cactuses
Camels!!

 

Our friends and co-workers at the Kingman Cascades plant offered to store our truck and trailer here, indoors! In a garage!! Thanks Fred and Marc! Really appreciated very much!

Fred took us on a tour of the plant which uses paper converting machines very similar to the one Marc works on. Very interesting! Marc filled up an application form right away! See you in March guys!

 

What do girls do when they go to town?

...Girls go shopping!!

 

Saving the best for last, while in Kingman we get a chance to meet, in person, someone who has litterally been working for us from the beginning. So much so that a lot of people thought he was with us on the ride!! Donnie came all the way from Phoenix just to meet us and spend a couple of hours with us!! What a super nice guy!

Donnie AKA Desert Hawk, keeps busy posting updates on about 25 discussion forums on our behalf as soon as we update our site! What an incredible job he does!

In fact, if it was'nt of Donnie, our web site would have never been as popular as it is now.

It's a real pleasure to see you Donnie! Thanks soooo much for everything!

...T.B.C...

 

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            after /  après >>


Vue d'ensemble/
general view

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carte  détaillée/
detailed map/

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>> Click to enlarge

 

                 GPS

Au / At    Cameron, Az
Date       12 oct / Oct 12th
Lat    N    35 52 30
Long  W  111 24 39
Elevation  4000 pieds/feet

 

Au / At    Peach Spring, Az
Date       16 oct / Oct 16th
Lat    N    35 31 0.9
Long  W  113 13 11
Elevation  4448 pieds/feet

 

Au / At    Kingman, Az
Date       20 oct / Oct 20th
Lat    N    35 13 20.1
Long  W  114 00 24.1
Elevation  3439 pieds/feet

 

 
50C   122F
     
  40C   104F
     
30C   86F
     
20C   68F
     
10C   50F
     
0C   32F
     
-5C   23F
     
-10C   14F
soleil.gif (1277 octets)

Going up, going up...

 

 

 

 


Facile

Moyen

Difficile 

Easy

Moderate

Difficult 

Easy to ride them,
easy to get lost on them...

 

 

 


Les statistiques

Total 16 jours / 16 days

541 Miles
4377 Miles: à date/to date
$550 Resto
$209 Épicerie/Food
$222 Essence/fuel
$432 Camping
$427 Divers/Misc.
$1840 Total


 

 


 

 

Les Oscars-The Oscars:
...et le gagnant est... LA CHOSE LA PLUS APPRECIÉE:

 

THE MOST APPRECIATED THING:

Minnie!!

 

 

 

 

 

Nous sommes fiers de vous présenter nos partenaires.
Ils nous ont fourni un soutien important afin de nous aider à réaliser cette aventure. MERCI À TOUS
 

 

 

We are proud to introduce you to our partners.
Their precious collaboration helped us live this fabulous adventure.

THANKS TO ALL.

Polaris Industries - Canada
Polaris Industries - USA



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