Whitford Canyon Hike

In my last post I thought I would hike Silly Mountain just across from our RV park the day before Thanksgiving but my plans changed. Glenda wanted to hike the Hieroglyphs Trail with me and didn't want to get up at 7 am like the hiking club was doing for Silly Mountain. So we slept in until 8 and had some breakfast and drove to the trailhead by 9 am. Since I had been there before with the hiking club, I didn't really take many photos. It was a nice hike and the weather was perfect with a slight breeze. So after a big Thanksgiving dinner with residents in the park on our street I knew I needed to get out on the Whitford Canyon hike today. Whitford Canyon is about 30 miles down US Hwy 60 to the east of our RV park, then on a very dusty and rocky gravel road for about 5-6 miles. We drove across many canyon washes and over some hilly terrain. We finally made it to the trailhead with about 20 folks in our hiking club group.

This is a tame section of the road into the trailhead

Folks heading out onto the trail

 

We followed some trail and walked down a few canyon washes as we made out way down the trail. The plan was to make it to the remnants of an old frontier jail and then into a small slot canyon.

 

One of the washes we hiked down

Another wash

 

The landscape changed a lot from some underbrush, trees and shrubs to open areas with numerous cactus and rock formations.

 

After about 2 miles of hiking we made it to the frontier jail. Which actually I don't think is a frontier jail after looking at the structure.

What do you think?

 

This is an area where a lot of mining took place years ago so the structure could be a place where a miner made his home.

 

Then we headed over to the slot canyon. This slot canyon is pretty small and not very high walls. The slot is about 30 feet long and we had to climb up the wall at the end to get out.

 

 

 

All in all it was interesting to be in the slot, tight quarters and twists and turns. I hope I get the chance to hike in some deeper slots in the future.

 

It was a nice hike back after we stopped and had some nourishment. The scenery is so incredible and I just can't get enough of it. You would think that seeing s many cactus and shrubs it would get boring but it doesn't. Here are some more photos to enjoy.

 

Great views from the trail

The Master Hiker   :-)

Dead Tree photo

Teddy Bear Cholla

Beautiful vista

Canyon Wash

 

It turned out to be a great morning with some new friends. I look forward to more hikes and new places. The desert is really a beautiful place to be. Until next time. 

 

 







Apache Trail Dam Road Hike

On Wednesday I joined the hiking club for a 5.5 mile hike on the Apache Trail Dam Road. This was an out and back type of hike. Or should I say DOWN and back UP hike. The Apache Trail Dam Road leads to the Apache Trail Dam(of course). We started our hike at top of the canyon that leads to the dam. We hiked down to the bottom of the canyon leading to the dam but we didn't go all the way to the dam it's self. Once we got to the bottom of the canyon we stopped, rested and had some nourishment before hiking back up. The elevation change from the top to the bottom is about 1000 ft. So the hike back up was somewhat strenuous but a good prep for longer hikes with more elevation.

 

Click on photos to enlarge 



Group at the trailhead

View from the trailhead

View down the canyon with the road

Beautiful views on the way down the canyon

Another great view

The road coming back up

 

Apache Trail Lake

Bottom of the canyon

Master Hiker?

Four Peaks Mountain in the background

 

 

Got a good workout on the way back up the canyon road but the views were really worth the effort. Our next hike this week will be on Silly Mountain across from the RV park then Friday the plan is to hike Whitford Canyon. There are some great red rock formations and the ruins of a frontier jail. Should be able to get some awesome photos and if we go about a 1/4 mile further there is a slot canyon to explore. I'll post those activities next time. Enjoying our time here but starting to plan our trip back to IL and IN for the holidays. Until next time. 

 

 

Clean Bighorn...Set up for the winter

Last Friday I had a power wash company come to our site to scrub and power wash the Bighorn. They got to our site about 12:30pm and started the process. They did the best they could to get the bugs off the front cap of the rig and got the roof and sides cleaned nicely. After they were done I got up on the roof and applied some UV protectant. Once that was all done we washed the windows on the inside and put out our patio rug, applied the wheel covers and put on some stair step carpet.

Nice and clean

Ready for relaxing

UV protection for the tires

Helps to keep dirt out from our shoes

Bug free

 

 

Yesterday I finally got around to applying some wax to the front cap of the rig. Hope that will help with bug removal in the future. So far things are going well here in AZ. So glad we came here with the weather issues others are suffering from. I think our area in AZ and lower FL are the only spots in the country to escape the cold blast this last week and very glad we don't have to put up with the snow. I could get used to this. Well, I went on a hike with the hiking club on Wednesday and will post on that soon. Had to come up to the main office area to get a good internet connection to send an email about my wheel defect and to enter this post. May be talking to Mediacom in the area to see if it's worth signing up for cable internet for the next 3 months. Karaoke night tonight....fun to watch those that can sing do their thing. Oh, we found a local produce store that has very fresh produce and very cheap. Will definitely be going back again. Getting to know our way around the area. That's about it for now. Apache Trail Dam Road Hike will be posted soon.  

Busy, Busy in Gold Canyon, AZ

We've been here at Canyon Vistas RV Park now since Nov. 1 and really enjoying the amenities here. It's a great place for us to start our winter adventure. Here is a list of the things to do here.

Canyon Vistas Amenities

Arts & Crafts Ballroom Billiards Room Bocce Ball Bridge & Misc. Cards Card Games Card Room Ceramics China Painting Church Service Non Denominational Clubhouse Computer Classes Computer Lab Craft Show Dance Classes Dances Educational Classes Exercise Classes Fitness Center Geocaching Happy Hours Hiking Club Horseshoe Pits Jam Sessions Kitchen Ladder Golf Lapidary Laundry Facilities Library Line Dance Lessons Line Dancing Massage Therapy Pet Area Pet Friendly Resort Pickleball Ping Pong Pitch & Putt Poker Pools & Spas Pottery/Ceramics Quilting & Sewing Room Red Hats Scrapbooking Shuffleboard Courts Softball Stained Glass Stretch & Tone Class Swimming Pools & Hot Tubs Tai Chi Tennis Courts (Turf & Sand) Themed Events Travel Agent Walking Paths Water Aerobics Water Volleyball Wood Carving Wood Shop Zumba This is the view of the Superstition Mountains from our window. Way too many things for a couple to do. I've been playing Pickleball, going on hikes, riding my bike and getting lots of walking in around the park. Glenda is line dancing and starting to go to Zumba. I played golf with some of the guys here too. All this activity has generated some weight loss which is a good thing. I plan to keep that up. So all in all, it's a good start. Tomorrow I have a company coming to power wash the rig and make it nice a shiny again. I'll get some photos together after it's done. We've met some great folks so far. Lots of people for Canada. We were told that about 45% of the population in the park is from Canada. Guess I can understand that with the weather. Still having internet issues and have talked to 4 different techs at Verizon Wireless to resolve the connectivity issues. Thought we had it but it went bad again. Posted this by the park Wi-Fi. They assured me it will get fixed. We'll see.

Leaving Tuscon, Wheel issues and Canyon Vistas RV Park

Last Saturday we moved from Tucson to Gold Canyon. However before leaving we decided to stop at an RV repair facility to check out a slow leak in our right rear tire of the 5th wheel. We stopped at All RV on N Grant Rd. After backing into a tight space between two other rigs the mechanic too the wheel off and found the source of the slow leak.

Not the most professional looking

Got experience backing to a tight space

Crack in the wheel

Decided to put spare

 

 

Well it wasn't road debris in the tire.....it's a crack in the wheel near the spoke. Of course they didn't have a wheel like ours in stock and I don't know if this is a defect in the wheel or damage from a pot hole or something like that. So I had them just put the spare on and make sure it was at the right pressure. After a total of 3 plus hours we got out of there and on the road. We were able to make it to Gold Canyon around 2:30 pm PDT and park on our site. I have made contact with the supplier of the wheels for Heartland. They are sending me a claim form to fill out and I will need to get some additional photos of the wheel to send them. They will determine if there is a defect of road damage. Either way I should be ok since I do have Tire and Wheel Coverage on my Extended Warranty that I bought from Wholesale Warranties. Plus we are staying in the park for the next 4 months and that will give me time to resolve this issue, get a new wheel and have a tire facility put the new tire on the new wheel and then when we leave in March I can have an RV repair service take the spare off and put the new wheel and tire on. Once we get the rig washed, we'll put some covers on the wheels and no one will be the wiser. So we are in Gold Canyon and beginning to have some fun. We like our site and our neighbors.

 

Our site #319 and our neighbors behind and side

Green space across from our site with a walkway

 

 

So many things to do here....Will update later.

 

Updates can be an issue since our cell service here for our MiFi is somewhat sporadic and weak. Also the park Wi-Fi is some what sketchy too.  Looks like I need to look into a booster and antenna. If you have any experience with this and some advice...I will gladly take it. Thank you 

Mission Xavier Del Bac....White Dove of the Desert

Before we left the Tucson area we made a top at the White Dove of the Desert - Mission Xavier Del Bac. San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. Visitors can step back in time and enter an authentic 18th Century space. The church retains its original purpose of ministering to the religious needs of its parishioners. Catholic mass are still performed at the mission. There is no admission charge to visit Mission San Xavier however donations are recommended. Some 200,000 visitors come each year from all over the world.

White Dove of the Desert

Front view

Entering the Mission

The main ceiling looking up

Joe Begay

 

After we viewed the Mission, we walked over to the Mission shops where there were some vendors. We walked up to one booth where we met Joe Begay. He was selling jewelry that he had made. He gathers stones, polishes them and also does some silversmith work. He had earrings, bracelets and rings or sale. As we looked at his wares, he brought out a book with a number of photos of him. We found out that he was also an actor and had played rolls in Dancing with Wolves, Tin Cup and in his younger days he was an extra on Little House on the Prairie. Joe is a native Navajo Indian but had parts where he was cast as a Mexican. His career has span decades and he still has his hands in acting now. Glenda bought a pair of earrings and we enjoyed our time talking to Joe. If you're in the Tucson area a visit to the Mission is worth the drive.