Davis Wash

Earlier in this trip I was chasing the sun across the country. The days were nice and long, and I could ride for as long as I felt comfortable. Then I would stop, set up camp, make and eat dinner, then find a nice place to watch the sun set. If I stopped riding before I got tired, I would even have time for a 2-3 hour adventure on foot. I don't really have a good sense of what season it is, so I feel out of touch with how short the days are now. Overnight it seems the daylight hours have been cut almost in half. Transitioning from relatively flat dessert, to more mountainous dessert has also cut extra daylight out quite literally over night. I am starting to barely have enough time to find a place to sleep, set up camp, make and eat dinner, all the while the sun is setting. It's also getting hard to sleep all the way through the night as the sun is my alarm clock and it keeps getting later and later in the morning.

The Arizona desert is amazing to look at though. The temperature is almost perfect. When I wake up it is usually in the low 50s I'm guessing. By the time I'm done eating breakfast the temperature is warm enough that I don't mind washing my dishes with cold water. The first two hours of riding this morning we brisk, but not uncomfortable. Mid morning till noon is perfect. Then the afternoon gets a little hot, to the point where I'll seat if I stop moving. Then I'll arrive at my campsite just after the sun goes behind the mountains but just before sunset, any I'm comfortable in short sleeves and shorts. After the sun sets, I need to immediately don some pants and a long sleeve shirt. I think I'm right on the boarder of having enough daylight, and the temperature be warm enough for me to be comfortable. I feel this journey is approaching it's end. I guess the end of something enjoyable is always bittersweet. You can now look back at those enjoyable memories and put to use your new experiences. There is also something new waiting for you in your next journey. Who knows what it will be!

I really trailed off there but it's too hard to edit this with one finger, so it'll stay. The desert is gorgeous! I stared to see the type of cacti that look like the cacti that's drawn in a roadrunner/Wiley coyote cartoon. The scenery is actually pretty close to that cartoon. My advice if you never see this part of the country is to get off your as and come see it! Then watch roadrunner cartoons and compare. Not a bad homework assignment; although I guess the first half may not necessarily be at home.

Today I made a trip to visit my grandfather's resting place. Coincidentally it is Veterans day, and he served in the air force during the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was good to see him again. RIP Grandpa Bill.

I then headed for the start of the Apache trail which my Aunt Monique had recommended. The trail started out as a paved road. It soon became very bumpy fit about 6 or 7 miles. The bumps were very regular, went across the entire road and were spaced about 10 feet. At the same time the sun was getting dangerously low in the sky. Soon the road smoothed out and the ride got a lot better. The scenery was stunning around each corner. While I didn't like the fact that the sun was about to set and I still had yet to secure a tent spot for the night, the light made the landscape light up all around me. With about 20 miles left on the trail, it became unpaved. The road was hard packed sand and suitable for my motorcycle. I did scope out the trail using my handy dandy pocket computer and paper map in search of a nice place to rest for the night before venturing down this trail. I did find a few campsites, but came across a forest service road that was begging me to check it out. I eventually found the road, just before the sun set at the virtual horizon behind the mountains, and it too looked suitable for my motorcycle. It may have been difficult for a low clearance front wheel drive car to climb back out, but my two wheels did the trick. The road was steep, narrow, windy, and without guard rails. At the bottom of the forest service road was a boat launch and several flat spots to camp. I unpacked my gear set up camp, ate a quick dinner and got ready to head to the grand canyon in the morning.

Pictures: These are all pictures along the Apache trail. The last one is the Roosevelt dam which controls the Salt river downstream.Read more