Day 98 to 113
October 12th to the 27th, 2007 |
From Pinon to Kingman, Az. via the Grand Canyon.
...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. |
|
|
|
We're out of the forest and back in the desert. Heading west.
More wild horses. Wonder who's more curious, them or us? |
|
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...
|