Queen Valley June 09

We did the first half of this trail that runs along Rogers Trough road at the beginning of the year with LDW. Ever since then Billy has been itchin to go back and finish where we left off. I really don't have much to say about this trip other than it was fun. Probably our last day trip for the summer. This section was not passable with out body damage. There was actually still glass from the weekend before when a guy from NAXJA tore up his cherokee.

Vance barely squeezed through this section going this way. Having to turn around and go back was even more tight due to the angle.

Here's some of the new body damage from tryin to get back through!


Funny thing I noticed...none of us have front bumpers!

Rear JK Bumper

After a very long time, but actually a half hour here and there, it's finally done. Now that it is done I'm already planning on making another one with a little less cutting and welding involved. I know where there's a press brake that I might be able to use! Anyway, this one is technically not done because it's still gona get a spare tire swing out that also holds a hi lift and maybe a gas can.

The Superstitions

Last weekend I was over at Vance and Jessica's house and we pretty much did nothing all day. Went to Taco Del Mar, got some fish tacos, later went to Taco Bell, got some chicken tacos, sat around in between. We talked about how lazy we were and laughed as we were each sprawled out on a couch. Then Jessica said "we need to do something...let's go on a hike!" I was totally up for that but we were losing daylight and weren't really ready for that. So we all decided that we would hike the Superstitions, the Flat Iron trail the next Saturday, June 13. Man were we in for it! Our hike began at 6am at the Siphon Draw trail head in the Superstition Wilderness area and led us to the base of The Supes in the Tonto National Forest. It was fairly cool for Arizona in June and the clouds passing by helped protect us from the sun on our way to the top. I would say it was 80 when we started, in the 70's at the top and triple digits on the way down. Here's a view of our destination from the base of the mountain. That peak in the center of the picture is Flat Iron. At this point we were feeling good about the trail. We weren't really tired yet. Just moments after this, when we started to ascend, was when we realized what we got ourselves in to. We had three different groups pass us on the first quarter of the mountain part of the trail. Including an old lady that we saw disappear in to the mountain. We found out how out of shape we are. Vance and Jessica said that it was hard on their lungs and my problems were in my legs. They were burning so bad like I was constantly squatting on the way up. I've been hiking on hunting trips but nothing to this extent and have now decided I'm to heavy and need to lose at least 30lbs.See the person in the front? That's the older lady that had passed us! Well on our way up we some how got off of the easiest path up and veered right to a more difficult one. To best describe it in short it was, less hiking and more climbing. And not just small rock faces but loose boulder gardens. We are serious boneheads. Well just as we were getting to the top, Vance realized that he had lost his camera so we were all bummed and decided to forget about it at the moment and take in the view from the top. I usually get a lot more and better scenic pictures but I think the fatigue and the thought of going back down the hard way to try and find the camera, I wasn't supposed to think about , got to me. At the top! Vance and Jessica with a little bit of AJ and Gold Canyon in the Background.And me...all 260lbs, slouched over in pain but satisfied with my accomplishment. One thing I really enjoyed at the top was the cool breeze hitting my sweaty shirt. *SIGH*...it was wonderful. You can actually see the trail head in this picture. At the lower left corner of the pic there is a faint trail, that is actually the size of a dirt road, that runs along the corner of those houses and leads to the parking area which is those circles and yes it's the farthest one. Oh ya, and get a good look at that belly because it's gona be gone after this summer.

And here is V and J heading back down the hard way. And no...didn't find the camera but did find out what our bodies were capable of, even when out of shape!

Chirp, Chirp

Well since it's so hot out and nobody is in the mood to go wheelin, except maybe a night run...Beeline to Bartlett?, I decided to post some pics of the little finches that caught my ear with their beautiful little chirps while working in the front yard. I don't know what kind of finches they are or if they even are but I do know that they are tiny and loud and that the male bird is usually the brighter of the two. The one in the picture below is of the female of the pair that was feasting on the seeds of the wilting sunflowers. This is the best picture I could get of her man's color.And here's a shot of the bully that swooped in and caused a ruckus. She's the one in the center. She's also little bigger that the other two. You can barely make the couple out at the opposite ends of the photo. He's on the left and she's on the right. It's refreshing to see wildlife, that you don't really see to often in the city, come into your yard. The other day I thought a heard the call of a love bird. I went out front to check and sure enough...there was a male in the large ash tree in the front yard just singin' away.

Pyeatte Draw

Well, it was a beautiful trip. A bunch of us went on a trip planned by the Baker brothers, on the 8th and 9th of May 09 to one of our favorite trails. We had a nice little camp site with a bunch of little kids, a little dog, a rope swing and even the kitchen sink. We decided to hit the trail early that morning, well...not "early" just earlier than the club with about fifteen rigs in it, so we wouldn't have to wait behind them. Well during our lunch they passed us up and decided that they were gona take lunch so we all decided to go to a place on the upper Verde River that Billy and Hannah found the day before. It turned out to be a real good decision because everyone enjoyed the cool water. Everyone but Vance, he's "not a water guy". After that we all parted ways. Jess and his family packed up camp and went to visit family in Vernon, Billy and his family went home along with Jaron and his family and Vance, Jessica and I went to his dad's place in Tonto Villiage to air up and visit for a while before heading back to Mesa. It really was a good weekend and I'm thankful I was able to go.

Fathers and Sons

On May 1st and 2nd I had the privilege of taking Saul and Chanler on their ward's father and son outing. Other than the campsite being a stones throw away from the highway and the constant smell of death coming from the dead cow elk up the road, it turned out to be pretty fun. More fun for the boys and that's what's important! After we got our tents set up the boys went to play with their friends, mostly catching crawfish and I just sat in my chair by my jeep. Well 9:00 comes around and the boys said they were gona do skits. By this time I was a bout to fall asleep, so I told them to just come to bed after that. So I went to bed myself...til about 10:30. I was awaken by screaming, stampeding and people tripping over my tent. If you haven't guessed it yet then I'll tell you...Capture the Flag! I dealt with that til almost midnight and couldn't fall back asleep til I don't know when. But like I said...it turned out to be pretty fun...for the boys...and that's what matters. Breakfast!Here's Julian trying to catch a crawfish with a sausage link and the boys watching.And here's Julian still trying while Saul and Chanler look like they're posing.

JK Hitch

This is it...pretty simple. All the nuts are supposed to be fixed but I was half an inch off on the measurements on the outside holes, that's why those nuts and washers are unpainted. I had to oval the holes out and didn't have time to weld the nuts on because we needed to use it. No...not for the boat, for work.