Ride Summary – Jan 25th – Wickenburg-Stanton Goldfields/Ghost Town-Yarnell-Hassayampa River Box Canyon Ride

The Phoenix ATV / UTV Club had nice cool sunny weather (mid-40s to low-70s) for their Jan 25th – Wickenburg-Stanton Goldfields/Ghost Town-Yarnell-Hassayampa River Box Canyon Ride.   That morning, we had to relocate our staging area from the Wickenburg Rodeo Grounds to the nearby Sophie’s Flat Trailhead parking area about 3 miles away due to an unanticipated rodeo event going on that weekend.  Bob played traffic cop at the rodeo grounds redirecting the group to the new staging area with flyers and had placed directional signage along the route.

There was a good turnout of 46 adventure-seeking participants (including 2 small dogs + 1 new puppy) in 30 vehicles (4 ATVs + 26 UTVs).  It was nice seeing some familiar snowbird faces return to the Valley and very nice to meet new people interested in OHV riding at our meet-and-greet stops.  The joint club ride was primarily organized for visiting members of the Colorado Cliff Riders club staying in Wickenburg but we had a few other out-of-state visitors join us too.  David & Beverley Cade and his friend Tommy Lusan & his wife drove in from Yuma AZ to attend this ride.  Other out-of-state visitors included Shaun & Jen Kirkman from Ogden Utah;  Dwight & Carolyn Bevans and Howard & Cindy Trask from Rush Colorado; and Steve & Lois Love from Wichita Kansas.  We were pleased to note that the out-of-state visitors had purchased their Arizona OHV Decals for this week’s two club rides.  James & Robert King of the Prescott ATV/UTV Riders club join us with their 2 sports quads.  All the other participants were from the surrounding Phoenix Metropolitan Area (Phoenix, Chandler, Surprise, San Tan Valley, Cave Creek, Scottsdale, Peoria, Sun City West, Buckeye, Goodyear, Gilbert, Palo Verde, Laveen, Morristown, Anthem, and Waddell).

We divided the group into two flights.  Bob Maitzen was the Roadrunner group flight leader heading out first with Mike & Joan Koep as his tailgunner.  Bill Poppo led the second Coyotes group flight a few minutes later with Steve Block as his tailgunner.  I want to give a big Thank You shoutout to the Mike, Joan, and Steve for volunteering to be our tailgunners at the staging area.  Great job on the radio and in watching over the two groups!  The other mid-pack radio wingmen did a great job too.

The club had a sign-in table at the trailhead’s gazebo near the vaulted toilets.   Complimentary trail mix bars, dust masks, club business cards, and ID badges were available for the ride participants.  Bob held the 9:00AM safety meeting and talked about the ride route and destination highlights.

DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS

·         Sophies Flats trailhead (vaulted toilets)

·         Desert + mountain mining trails + box canyon ride  (elev 1900′-4900′). 

·         Stanton Goldfields/Ghost Town

·         Lunch at Yarnell Ranch House Restaurant and/or Yarnell Diner

·    Shrine of St. Joseph of the Mountains (hillside Stations of the Cross with life-size Statutes)

·   Hassayampa River Box Canyon with hike into adjoining slot canyon (2-1/2 miles of continuous water crossings)

After the general announcements and our safety meeting, we departed at 9:15AM heading northwest on graded Blue Tank Road with its many changing elevations and varied terrain.  At the Jack Burden Road intersection, we headed north to Rincon Road and then turned east.  The dust conditions were not too bad considering the recent rain and the size of each flight.  To minimize riding in someone’s dust, each flight was stretched out over a mile or more at times but maintained a good pace on the graded road sections.  We did not use the rotation method on this ride but instead opted for collapsing the group occasionally at major turns to maintain radio contact and insure that people followed the correct route.   Visibility was excellent and everyone watched over their trail buddies behind them so no one got lost.  That’s what being a good “Trail Buddy” is all about.  Watching out for each other’s safety… riding etiquette… sportsmanship… and responsible OHV riding.

At the Boyd Ranch, we headed east-northeast on the moderate-level-rated jeep trail with its loose rock and off-cambered and bedrock sections.  It was in pretty good condition (20-25MPH) and has many changing ridge-running elevations for great scenic views.  Our first meet-and-greet photo stop/pee break was 15 miles in at the jeep trail gate.   The Coyote flight joined us a few minutes later.

We continued on to the Angels Ranch Road and then to the Decision Corner intersection where we headed north on Weaver Creek Road to the Stanton Goldfields/Ghost Town.  Bob played traffic cop again to line up the two flights in the Stanton parking lot.  The RV park at Stanton was full of RVs and recreational gold panning snowbirds.  Some club members bought ice cream at the main office to eat while exploring the Opera House/Saloon and Hotel Stanton buildings and reading about the Rich Hill/Potato Patch sign.   It was another great meet-and-greet photo stop.  We took group photos in front of the Opera House and Hotel Stanton building and by our vehicles.

We continued up the road to Yarnell where the flights split up for lunch between the Ranch House Restaurant, Yarnell Family Diner, and those packing a lunch went directly to the nearby Shrine of St Joseph of the Mountains.  After lunch, both flights met up at the Shrine to walk the hillside and take photos of the life-size statutes depicting the stations of the cross.  

Side note – the town of Yarnell is currently constructing a Granite Mountain Hotshot Firefighters Memorial on the Shrine Drive corner to honor the 19 firefighters that died saving the town and community from a devastating wildfire.  The original Hotshots Memorial site required a 3.5 mile hike northwest of the town to the spot where they perished.  The 8,400 acre Yarnell Hill Fire was ignited by lightning and was the deadliest wildland fire for U.S Firefighters since 1933.  The wildfire was the sixth most deadliest American Firefighter disaster overall, and the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona (Source:  Wikipedia).  A 2017 biographical drama movie was made called “Only the Brave” telling their story and dedicated to their memory.

On our return, we stopped again in Stanton for a vaulted toilets pee break and to leave a $20 tip to replenish the toilet paper we used.  We returned on the same jeep trail with a rest stop at the mid-trail gate again.  At the Boyd Ranch, we stopped for mechanical repairs on one of the Prescott sports quads.  James King had lost a couple of bolts on his back frame resulting in a flopping cargo box.  Ray Hildago carries extra bolts and between the bolts, zipties, and bungee cords, the pit crew was able to secure James’ frame and cargo box.  It pays to travel with a group.

Afterwards, we dropped into the upstream end of the Hassayampa River Box Canyon for 2-1/2 miles of continuous meandering water crossings within the Box Canyon.  That section was a lot of fun to drive crossing 6”-12” deep water with the occasional canyon wide water crossing!  You had to maintain momentum and zigzag across the flowing water and deep sand to go around the deep holes.  The guys on the sport quads got soak!  For camera buffs, the Box Canyon and adjoining hidden slot canyon make for some really nice photo opportunities of the box canyon trail.  We stopped the group across from the Mistake Mine so they could explore/photo the hidden slot canyon on foot.  Everyone enjoyed that leg of the ride.

We had a race down the Hassayampa with everyone spreading out across the wide riverbed as the water headed underground.  The sand caked our machines after all the water crossings.  It is the club’s version of being tarred and feathered.  Ha-ha!  We arrived at the Jack Burden Road riverbed crossing where we headed south to Blue Tank Road and east on it to the staging area arriving ½ hour late at 5:15PM.

The board members quickly set up the tables for the post-ride Desert Dessert Bar at the Sophie’s Flat Trailhead gazebo as the participants reloaded their vehicles on their trailers.  Brownie bites, lemon bites, soda, water, and 4 types of cake slices were provided by the club for everyone to decompress, socialize and top off a great ride.  People lingered for an hour until the sun started setting.    Overall, the Wickenburg-Stanton-Yarnell-Hassayampa Box Canyon ride was a nice fun ride and one to remember with meeting new riding buddies and great scenic views.  Again, thanks to everyone for a great ride!  A photo album and GPS track will be posted on the new www.phoenixatvutvclub.org website and our Facebook website soon.

Live to Ride… Ride to Live!  Happy Trails to You…Until We Meet Again…

Bob Maitzen, President – Phoenix ATV / UTV Club