October 6-7, 2001

"Graham Crackers"

It seems that we have had many trips recently that just weren't meant to be, trips that we aborted due to illness or something else unforeseeable happening to us. We've also had a number of trips that resulted in bad things happening, such as injuries or illness. Here is an example of another trip that just wasn't meant to be, but in the end, everything turned out for the best, and we still had a great trip! To celebrate the third anniversary of the day that John and I got engaged (October 17), we decided to do a car camping trip, so that we could follow the tradition of freezing our butts off when autumn reared its ugly head in the high country that weekend. Originally, we had planned to do this on October 13-14, seeing as October 17 fell on a weekday, but when John's training schedule (with his skydiving team) changed, we moved our camping trip up a week, to October 6-7. Since we would have Mary with us, we also decided to camp at a lower elevation than we had in the past, because although we were willing to freeze our butts off, we were not willing to allow Mary to get sick again. We chose instead to camp at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, where the nighttime temperatures would remain in the fifties. We also had the option of camping with John's parents that weekend. Since it was Columbus Day weekend, they were planning to camp at Roper Lake, near Safford. There, they would be joined by Aunt Lotte and Uncle Richard, who had recently retired and were now exploring the country in their new motor home. We had been invited to go, but we declined because we did need to have a weekend to ourselves. There were, of course, a number of places where we could have camped, but we wanted to do something new, something that none of us had ever done before. After much research, John suggested that we do a trail in the Galiuro Wilderness Area, which was located near Safford, in Graham County. To get there, we would take the same road that we would take to get to the east trailhead of Aravaipa Canyon, but, instead of turning right to go to Klondyke, we would turn left and drive towards Bonita. John found that there was a whole network of trails in the wilderness, but there were two that he wanted to do: the Paddy River Trail, which followed the Paddy River, and the East Divide Trail, which went into the mountains. He chose one of the trails and printed up the topo maps for us. We spent Thursday and Friday night packing up the Jeep for our trip. This would be Iris' first car-camping trip, so naturally we were concerned that we were not going to have enough space for all of our equipment. It used to be that we would take the van on car-camping trips, and there was room for everything and the kitchen sink. In the Jeep, there was limited space, but we did manage to get everything to fit by reclining one of the backseats. On Saturday morning, we left the house at 6:00 a.m. and began our long drive to the Deer Creek Trailhead, where we would begin our hiking adventure. After a brief stop to buy bagels for breakfast (at Einstein's Bagels, of course), we left town on US 60 and drove non-stop to Claypool, the site of our first bathroom break. We also changed drivers while we were there; at that point, it was my turn to drive the Jeep. The next leg of our adventure took us through the San Carlos Apache Reservation on US 70, which was completely uneventful. As we passed through the reservation, we listened to the news, catching the weather forecast for the weekend, as well as the latest news on the state of the nation. From what we had heard, the weather was going to be perfect until Sunday, at which time a storm system would be moving through the state. It was going to stay mainly in the north, but there was a chance that we would see rain in the southern regions, too. After passing through the tiny town of Cork, we came to Klondyke Road, a thirty-two mile long dirty road on which one can go about sixty-five miles an hour easily. As I made the right turn, I briefly stopped on the railroad tracks and asked John if I could see the map, because every time we had been there, he had done the same thing! I was laughing as I drove away, because I had gotten him back for it! (Editor's note: I stopped on the tracks for a total of three seconds - I am too chicken to stay there any longer! I just don't want to get flamed for "endangering my child".) Klondyke Road was a bit more crowded than usual. We probably passed by ten vehicles, if not more, coming out as we made our way in. The camping areas near the radio tower, though, were completely empty, even though it was a holiday weekend - it was still early in the day, but I did find that unusual. John and I considered camping there if we couldn't find another place to camp near the trailhead, so we kept that in mind as we kept driving. When we came to the junction at the end of the road, we turned left and drove a few miles on an equally good road until we came to FR 253, where we would find the trailhead, eight miles in. Here, I was very glad that we had the Jeep. Although the Oldsmobile and the van could have made it on this road, it made it so much easier to have 4WD. For the most part, the road was rocky and rough - your typical forest road - with one dry river crossing (over the Paddy River) and some steep grades. The ugliest part, though, was a mile from the trailhead, where we kicked the Jeep into low gear so that we could crawl, as slowly as we could, over the rocks that clogged the road. We arrived at the Deer Creek Trailhead around 9:00 a.m. and discovered that there was a primitive campground there! How perfect could that be! There were about eight different sites, all with fire rings and grills, all shaded by giant oak trees. Next to the campground, there were signs indicating the Galiuro Wilderness Area, with tips on hiking and backpacking (the usual "pack-it-in-pack-it-out-treat-the-water" instructions that we see at a lot of the trailheads) and information about the wilderness area itself. I parked the Jeep in the middle campsite and announced, "We're here!" Mary became very excited and began flailing in her car seat, anxious to get out; once she was free, she began to squeal with delight. "That's all the driving for today, Mary," I told her. "You don't have to go in that car seat anymore today." I think she was glad to hear that! We immediately began to set up camp, to get that out of the way before we went hiking. The first thing we do, of course, was to lay out the tarp, so that Mary would have a place to play, where she could burn off all of that pent-up energy that she had from riding in the Jeep for three hours. In nothing flat, she had all of her toys spread out, and was happy as a clam. Meanwhile, John and I worked to unload our gear from the Jeep and to get everything set up. Once we were finished, we took some time to relax before preparing for our hike. We decided to begin hiking at 11:00 a.m., so we had plenty of time to prepare, as we still needed to make sandwiches and fill up our water bladders. Even though we had all that time, though, I still walked away from the campsite without my hiking stick! We started hiking at 11:00 a.m., at the Deer Creek Trailhead, where the East Divide Trail departs. (I thought that we were going to hike the Paddy River Trail, but John had selected this one instead.) At the beginning of the trail, we had to pass through a gate then cross over a small wash to get to the trail. The East Divide Trail began with a gentle climb over the grassy hills at the base of the Galiuro Mountains. The terrain is very much the same as that found in areas such as Towel Creek, Gap Creek, and Juniper Mesa. Like these areas, all of which are located at about 5,000 feet in elevation, the trail traipses through the low grasslands of the state, across rolling hills that are sparsely dotted with junipers and pinions, over a route that is covered with rocks. Sometimes, the mix of rocks and grasses can make route finding a little difficult, especially when the trail does not get much usage, which allows for the grass to grow into the trail. This trail, however, was well marked with cairns, so we did not have to worry about getting lost. For the first half-mile or so, the trail gently climbed up a hillside - so gently that it didn't even feel like we were climbing at all…always a nice way to start a trail. On top of that, the weather could not have been more perfect. The sun was shining, but it was not at all hot; I think it was only a very pleasant seventy-five degrees outside. The only thing that concerned us was the billowing white cloud that was just beginning to emerge from behind the Galiuro Mountains, the one that had the slightest hint of gray in it. "Hmm," John muttered, "I don't like the looks of that." After cresting the first hill, we soon dropped steeply into a small, dry creek. The trail then climbed out on the other side, up the face of the next hill. Upon cresting that hill, John stopped under the shade of a juniper tree to wait for me. As soon as I caught up to him, he asked, "Do you have a cup for Mary?" Uh-oh! I had forgotten to pack a tippy cup for her! Oh, crap! "Well, that's the end of that hike," John said with frustration. "Not necessarily," I replied. "We have water, and Mary knows how to use a Camelback bladder!" That was true; we had shown her how to use one while backpacking in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area last month. Of course, it would only work if she was on the ground, as the bladder relied on gravity to work, so I had John take Mary off of his back and set her, in her carrier, on the ground. Then, I put the bite tube in between her teeth, and as she bit down, the water seeped into her mouth. After she swallowed, she smiled, indicating that she had enjoyed drinking from my camelback. We know that wouldn't last, though. Sooner or later, she was going to want milk or juice to quench her thirst. I suggested that we at least hike up to the wilderness boundary, which was 2.5 miles from the trailhead, have lunch there, then turn back. John agreed, so we kept hiking. And the clouds kept gathering… By the time we reached the first trail junction, a mile and a half from the trailhead, the skies were beginning to threaten. The billowing white cloud that we had seen earlier was now a large, dark gray thunderhead, and a cold wind was beginning to blow around us. As much as we didn't like it, we kept hiking. From the trail junction, we kept hiking on the East Divide Trail, which kept climbing gently uphill until it reached a fence line. There, the terrain began to change a little. The loose rock disappeared, but we were now walking on smooth, black rocks embedded in the ground. The trail was also beginning to flatten out… …Then, suddenly, there was a crack of thunder, and John and I simultaneously turned around to start hiking back to the trailhead. We were not about to get stuck in the rain again, not when Mary was with us. That hike was over. Our return hike was done at a quick rate of speed, to ensure that we made it back before the skies opened up on us, or before we got struck by lightning. (John later joked with me that, since he knew that I could hike that fast, he would now expect more out of me. Great.) The thunder followed us all the way, rumbling behind us like some wildcat, growling and nipping at our heels. We knew that it was only a matter of time before the storm caught up to us and overtook us, so we kept going, never stopping even for a breather, until we reached the gate. Just before we arrived at the trailhead, we began to feel the first drops of rain as they fell from the sky. We hiked even faster then, and we managed to make it back to the tent before the big downpour. And it was a good thing that we did, too, because John had not put the rain fly up on our tent. Everything would have been soaked. The three of us immediately crawled into the tent, where we ate lunch while listening to the downpour. That was when we started discussing our options: should we stay, or should we go? If we go, do we go home, or do we camp somewhere else? That would depend on what the weather decided to do: was this a fast and furious storm system, or one that would linger for the next few days, dumping vast amounts of rain and drenching that already ugly 4WD road? Decisions, decisions… As the rainstorm began to subside, John emerged from the tent and flagged down a local, who just happened to be passing through on the way to the ranch nearby. Out of curiosity, he asked him what the road conditions were like after it rained there. The rancher replied that FR 253 was not the road we wanted to be on when it rained. Although it looked to be a decent road, it was not. After it rained, there were portions of the road that turned to soft mud into which we could easily get stuck. He said that he had once torn off the front end of a 4WD pick-up truck after hitting one of those mud puddles, and he ended up getting stuck for three days! "We're outta here!" John concluded. Rather than risk our lives by staying there, we decided that it was time to leave. Quickly, before the rain returned, we packed up the Jeep and got ready to go. The question remained, however, where we should go camp, since we really didn't want to go home. We thought about camping off of Klondyke Road, in one of those campsites next to the radio tower, until John came up with a better idea: let's camp at Roper Lake, with Mom and Dad and Lotte and Richard! So that's exactly what we did. Upon leaving the campground, we carefully drove back up FR 253 - which was already muddy from the first downpour - until we reached Bonita Road. From there, instead of turning left to return to Klondyke Road, we went right, towards the town of Bonita. As we drove down the dirt road to Bonita, doing sixty-five miles an hour, with Mary wailing in her car seat because we had promised there would be no more driving that day, we watched in the rear view mirror as the storm clouds continued to gather. Behind us, the skies were now completely gray and had engulfed both the Santa Theresa and the Galiuro Mountains. We were so glad that we had made the wise decision to leave! The drive to Roper Lake took us about an hour and a half to complete, and it was truly a scenic drive - we now knew why Bonita was named as such. Bonita Road took us through the beautiful high desert at the base of the Galiuro and the Pinaleno Mountains, two of Arizona's magnificent "sky islands." The town of Bonita was also quite pleasant, despite there being a state and a federal prison nearby. In Bonita, the road became paved again and became SR 266, which would take us to US 191 - formerly known as the Devil's Highway. SR 266 was twenty-one miles long and twisted along the base of Mount Graham, in the Pinaleno Mountains. We found many campgrounds and roads along the way, places where we could go explore some other day. Upon reaching US 191, we went north for about eleven miles, until we came to the turn-off for Roper Lake. The man at the fee booth let us pass through to look for the Verleys - he even indicated which campground they may have been in. He was correct, too, because when we pulled into the campground, we immediately found the Verleys' motor home! The whole gang was there when we arrived: Bill and Erika, Lotte and Richard, and Janice and Danny and Joshua, too. (Janice and Danny were staying in the motor home with Bill and Erika.) They were all glad to see us - especially after we told them the story of our adventures in the Galiuros - and they invited us to squat on their campsite for the night. Once the Jeep was unloaded, John and I relaxed while Lotte and Richard - and, of course, Bill and Erika - played with Mary. Lotte and Richard were very happy to see her and were impressed with how much she had grown - and with all of the things that she could do now. The last time they had seen her was at Christmastime, when she was only four and a half months old. Then, she could barely sit on her own; now, she was cruising, pulling herself up, crawling long distance, and so on. A bit later in the afternoon, Lotte and Richard took us for a tour of their new motor home, in which they had been traveling the country. While we were there, the skies opened up, and it began to pour. All throughout the evening, the rain came off and on, with thunder and lightning and fierce, cold winds that forced us to seek refuge in the motor home. Once again, we were counting our blessings that we had left the Galiuro Mountains. That night, we put Mary to bed at 8:00 p.m. For this trip, we brought along my old sleeping bag, the one that we had purchased when we first started car camping, way back in 1998. We folded it in half and used it as Mary's bed, so that she would stay nice and warm. It was a good idea, with one flaw: I had put it next to the door of the tent. Mary eventually rolled right out of her sleeping bag and ended up pressed up against the door of the tent. She woke up and began to fuss, so we had to move her to the middle of the tent, between John and me. After that, she slept peacefully for the rest of the night. John and I went to bed around 9:00 p.m., after everyone else had already retired. Not long after we turned in, another downpour began. John and I listened to it, and he said what I was thinking: "I'm so glad we decided to leave the Galiuros." The next morning, John and Mary and I awoke at 6:00 a.m. to a cool, sunny morning. We emerged from the tent and discovered that everyone else was still asleep, except for Erika, who came outside to join us. She then invited us inside so that we could eat our breakfast and drink coffee in the warmth of the motor home. Around 8:00 a.m., Janice, Danny and Joshua left us so that they could start driving back into town. As for the rest of us, we all decided to go hiking on Mount Graham. While John packed the Jeep and I kept Mary entertained, the rest of the group looked at our options. Most of the trails were on top of Mount Graham, where it was considerably colder, but there were two trails at the 5,000 foot level: the Round the Mountain Trail, and the Ladybug Trail. Both trails were long - the Round the Mountain Trail was about fifteen miles long - but that didn't matter to us because we would only be able to hike a couple of miles, as John and I had to leave by 1:00 p.m. to drive home. The Ladybug Trail had the least amount of elevation gain. Both trailheads could be found on SR 366 - the road that goes to the top of Mount Graham - within a half of a mile of each other. I don't think that we decided on a trail before we left, but we got ready to go hiking anyway. We filled up our camelback bladders and packed up our day packs. Then, taking two vehicles - our Jeep and Erika's car - we began the drive up to Mount Graham. In the end, it was the Round the Mountain Trail that won out. Since John and I were in the lead, we started to go to the Ladybug Trailhead, but the rest of the group stopped us and told us to keep going. Minutes later, we arrived at the Round the Mountain Trailhead, where we parked the cars and got ready to go hiking. The trail began next to the horse corral, where there was a water tank that looked like a keg of beer and a wooden trail sign. We stopped there and took a group picture, using my hiking stick and the timer on my camera; then, we began to hike down the trail. The Round the Mountain Trail began with a steep downhill descent towards a small creek that was seasonally dry. Almost immediately, we got lost, though, by turning right instead of going straight downhill. Bill found the trail and called us all back to it. Upon leaving the creek bottom, the trail then began to climb…and climb…and climb… Basically, it was one of those trails that "follows the contour", meaning that it is one long, continuous climb uphill. Along the way, we encountered the type of foliage that is typical for that elevation: manzanita trees, scrub oaks, and cacti - Uncle Richard even got stuck in the leg by a hidden prickly pear. The trail itself was very rocky, much like the one in the Galiuros, but it was much wider, indicating that it was a little more popular than the other trail. As we continued to hike, we noticed that the storm clouds were beginning to form again over the Pinaleno Mountains - another storm was imminent. John and I paid close attention to them, and we knew that, at the first sign of thunder, we were turning back. After three-quarters of a mile, we came to a trail junction with the Noon Creek Ridge Trail. There, we stopped to take a breather and to watch the clouds as they continued to gather. At that point, we were beginning to hem and haw about whether or not to go on. Finally, Aunt Lotte suggested that we do so, because she had done enough hiking for the day. So, we began to hike back to the trailhead. This time, the hike was all downhill, which made it quite easy. John and Bill, however, decided to hike back on the old abandoned route, which paralleled the current route for about a half of a mile until the two trails merged together into one. Upon reaching the trailhead, Bill suggested that we drive up to the Wet Creek picnic area to relax for a while before we left to return to Phoenix. The picnic area was only a few minutes up the road, so we followed them there. When we arrived, John and I immediately recognized it, as we had stopped there during our camping trip on Mount Graham (my birthday trip in 1998). We lingered there for a little while; then, it was time for us to leave. We said our good-byes and got into the Jeep so that we could begin our long drive home. En route, we stopped in Safford to fill up the gas tank and to buy snacks for the ride home. The only snack I could find, though, was a box of graham crackers that we shared between the three of us. That box of graham crackers sustained us until we reached Globe, where we finally stopped for lunch, at 2:00 p.m. Just after we passed through Bylas, we were hit by another rainstorm. That was when we decided to turn on the radio, so that we could hear the weather report. Instead of getting weather information, though, we learned that the United States and Great Britain had begun bombing Afghanistan only five hours earlier! Wow, that was a shocker! We arrived at home around 4:00 p.m., happy to have arrived safe and sound, happy that we had made such wise decisions.

Return to Naked in the Woods.

This site maintained by John and Heather Verley, © 2008.