Today, Sunday, Mar. 1, 2009, I set out to try for the back - the east side - of “my” mountain that I was looking at a week or so ago from the Midland-Vidal Road - the west side.  I “think” I see a climbing route up that thing from that side, but the east side looks interesting, too, from Hwy 95, and the topo map shows a huge curved dry wash leading into it………………..

The wash is called “Slaughter Tree” Wash, but I don’t know the history of the name.  Unloaded Suzy at the wash and started upstream……………….

For a while, the going wasn’t too bad, then the trail started to deteriorate.  Finally, after a mile or so, I gave up and we (Suzy & I) climbed the bank to the left and headed off cross country.  (on the way back, I found a road on the right side.  Oh Well)  Going wasn’t bad, and I made good time…………….

………..for a while.  If you’re going to go cross country in the desert, even going “with” the washes as I was here, you’d best stay alert and keep your eyes open.  It can look just as flat as can be and within feet you’re looking at a waker-upper.  If you’re going fast and not watching…………………

Fortunately, it wasn’t too long before I came across an old road going more or less in the direction I wanted……………….

The country was getting rougher fast, and forming into giant parallel valleys.  The road went right along the ridge tops, and I’m very disappointed in the photos.  It’s too bad the camera has a flattening effect on the terrain.  Going along these ridges, I felt like I was riding the Great Wall of China.  They’re quite high - I’d guess 200 feet or more - and they are far steeper than they look in this picture.  It was exciting, and I was grinning like an idiot, (there’s any doubt ??) hanging on tight, and watching very closely.  A distraction would be disastrous.  This was great……………..

Another strange effect I noticed was on the Spot Locater Beacon’s Google map of my location.  Here’s the link to my final stop for the day……………..

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33.8822,-114.6203&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

When you look at this, it looks (to my eye, anyway) like the ridges have a tuft of vegetation on them.  Not so.  The vegetation is in the bottom of the washes, and the roads are on the ridges.  Is it just my eyes seeing it backwards ??  Look at the picture above to see how it really is.

After several miles, the road became a little rougher, and I could see a steep hill ahead………………….

That were the end of the line on That road, for sure.  Look at the textures and layers here.  Fascinating………………….

Well, OK, for some time I’d been paralleling another road on the next ridge to the north and it appeared to go much farther, but how to get to it ??  There Is a cross-over from here, but, uh…………..the 1st portion is almost straight down.  I’m still a little (??) spooky from the roll-over in January……………

http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=69

and am being a little conservative.  I was very lucky at the Bradshaw Road site, and don’t want to go thru it again.  Here’s the beginning of the cross-over.  See the road coming out of the center right ??  That’s a long way down, Sports Fans………………

In all honesty, it’s obvious that others, many others, have gone down this, and maybe up it, too.  Yah, I could go down it, I’m sure, but if the road on the other side isn’t passable for some reason, I’d be stuck.  I don’t think I could make it back up this.  Soooo………….I turned around and went back a mile or so, till I found a cross-over I could use, then started back to the mountain…………………….

Once again, the picture is deceptive.  It was very steep and a looong way down on both sides.  I gotta say that it IS fun, tho’.  I was watching Very closely.  Inevitably, tho’, this road ended, too.  Really Ended…………………

>From here, there was a great view of the big canyon and “my” mountain, but it’d be a long, rough hike, and it doesn’t look climb-able from this side anyway.  That’s OK, this was one of the greatest rides I’ve been on, and I enjoyed the day hugely……………….

Now, I turned around and started the long ride back out toward the Colorado River.  Distance is deceptive……………….

With less experience, I would swear I drove 30 or 40 miles today, but I been there, done that a time or 3, and know better.  If you’ve never done it, go out and walk a measured mile sometime, especially over rough terrain.  It’ll surprise you - a mile is a looong way.  Altogether today, Suzy’s odometer showed just 19 miles for the trip.  Part of that was going up the dead end road, then looking for a cross-over, and so on.  I’d say the “as the crow flies” distance is probably not over 7 miles………but it’s one heck of a 7 miles.  I took many pictures of a lizard and a lot of flowers again, but will hafta make a separate page for them.  I did see a small herd of Deer, too, and That’s irresistible…………here they are……………

These are big Mule Deer, much larger than the Columbian Blacktails I grew up with in British Columbia, and their coats are very dark.  There were many flowers, lizards, birds, etc., the whole way but there just isn’t room to put it all on one page.  What an absolutely great day.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.                        Lar.

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Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: October 3rd, 2009 under 08 Blythe 09, 09-3-1 Slaughter Tree Wash.
Comments: 1