AZ 401 trail - Rolls OHV

[cyberdos]

azredline, seabee1 and I set out to Rolls OHV for some exploring. We'd been to Rolls a few times. I have ridden a lot of the trail system there. But Seabee1 said he had stumbled upon a trail that he wanted to check out which didn't appear to be a part of the trail system. So off we went in search of it.

Started out on 4 Peaks road on a nice but brisk(for Arizona) day and we were moving fast on this hard packed road.



The road is NF-143.




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Seabee told me to lead him to "The Well"(point B above). Once there he took over and lead us into what we know now is NF-401.



Here's the start of the trail.

[Nightstalker]

What's the end look like??

[cyberdos]

According to our GPS tracks, this trail is actually labeled on Googlemaps.


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Point A is "The Well"
Point B is the lowest point of that 401 trail at 1,857ft.
Point C is the highest point of the trail at 3,355ft.
and point D is where the trail would eventually come to an end at the cabin.

The trail is only 6.7 miles but took us an hour and 10 minutes to get from the well to the cabin. We did make a considerable amount of stops to catch our breaths, take pics, and drain the morning coffee so considering all that and how relentless the trail was, I think we made good time.

Here's a view on Google Earth of us gong up the trail.



a wider shot of the entire trail.



and here are the pics to prove we rode it.

Seabee1 on the move.





azredline showing us how it's done on a big bike.



The trail had very little let up. It pretty much continued up up up and then down down down and then up and down and damn. It didn't seem to stop pounding ya.



Pano shot of the trail at a distance from the top.

[cyberdos]

Originally Posted by Nightstalker

What's the end look like??

Disappointing.



We were hoping it would end someplace near Saguaro lake since from there I figured we could make our way back to Butcher Jones but according to some hunters we ran into at the end of the trail they recently closed that part of the trail and made it Wilderness area.

I dunno. I searched around Google Earth and that trail seems to disappear rather fast and off into someplace far from the lake.

[seabee1]

i wouldn't say the end was diappointing. there was that cool cabin/shed thing, and the tailings pile that we didn't go and explore. it looked like someone was again mining it, as steve found a lot of new water jugs in the wash, and some new bags of screws/nails in the cabin.
maybe we should schedule a return trip to scout the old mine?

[Slowred]

Excellent recon, fellas! Looks like fun.

[cyberdos]

Originally Posted by seabee1

...
maybe we should schedule a return trip to scout the old mine?

I'm in.

BTW, I found a pic of the place I was talking to you guys about from one of my rides out there near the lake.



It's a lot steeper than it looks. Not hard to ride because there's plenty of traction but you've got to commit to a line and just go.

anyway, moving along. Here are more pics of the 401 trail.



Stopping for a break. At one point we got pretty close to the peaks. We thought maybe we'd be able to hook back up with 4 peaks road. That was wishful thinking on our part because after this point we descended some pretty steep trail and were hoping not to have to ride back up it.



azredline showing off.



nearing the end of the trail we finally reach the Wilderness.



I'm thinking that this trail is probably nor very much frequented. It's a tough drive/walk/hike to get there.



and finally at the end there's this.





I believe azredline has some pics of the inside he can share. Seems like there's been people there recently. We spotted two ATVers who were hunting javelina. Buddy would've loved that.

[cyberdos]

Seeing as there was no other option than to tread back we started off. But under some cloud cover.



We actually got a sprinkle of snow while heading back.

This was a tough sucker to get back up.



But we all made it through without any issues.





Back at the bottom we decided to try and ride all the way down to the lake to see if we could reach the point of that picture I posted previously. We zigzagged through some wash in which we had to cross water a good 10 times until eventually running into a dead end canyon.



Seabee1 takes a break in a cave.



He's there. :)



The water was running pretty good. You usually don't see this stuff around here. At least, not the times I've ridden here.



Seabee1 says it's technically doable.



So he walks a bit further out and comes back with a....no.

[cyberdos]

We weren't the only ones there. These guys had a little bit of problems with the water crossings.



The water wasn't very deep but the sand underneath would sink really quick. I had my own problems going up an embankment. azredline should have a pic to prove it.

As we were heading back these guys came out of where Seabee had just walked to.



They too were trying to reach the lake but had to turn back.

The rest of the ride was uneventful but fun. We did a nice loop around where the trucks were parked that's like a motocross track with a ton of whoops and nice bermed turns. Topped off with a couple mile wash to completely poop you out for the drive home. the purple is what we rode. the other colored lines is what I had previously ridden.



Elevation profile of the 401.




On the way out we saw this thing. I'm thinking it's gonna be my next truck.

[seabee1]

Yeah, that canyon would be tough even without the water. It was beautiful, though.

[azredline]

I've got a few pics to add. This was a fun ride!
The start point of this trail was at the big tank






The trail started out pretty nice, but it wouldn't last...



After about the third rocky climb we had a little break



The road pretty much became a continuous rock bed, most of them loose. I think Cyberdos liked it though cause he was movin’ right along.



Getting to spots like this though made all the rough stuff worthwhile



As we came down a rocky decent, we spotted a shiney roof not too far off. Seabee1 and I commented (and hoped) that this might mean an alternate trail out of here. (Not so lucky.)



We found the shack, and it appears to be an abandoned miners bunk house with about 5 or 6 old bed frames scattered about.

Seabee said he was ready for a nap! Since it was still nice out, he opted for the outdoor accommodations.



Of course, inside the shack were all the amenities, such as more bunks,



A modern cook stove



And of course, a gravity fed running water system



With a backyard of wilderness area, I think this would be a pretty nice camp spot.

Anyway, with this being the end of the trail, we had to go back the way we came. All the gnarly downhills were now uphills and vice versa. For variety, the road through in some water and mud where there weren’t enough rocks.



We got out of there without any mishaps, so we felt good about that. To celebrate, we decided to follow one of the washes to try to get to Saguaro Lake. For us desert rats, running water is a real treat!

Seabee1 leads us into the wash



Cyberdos makes a valiant attempt at keeping his feet dry. Wouldn’t last…



This was about the 5^th crossing, so the boys just decided to stay in the water and see how far we could get.



So, in we went! Look in the distance on this one, you can see Seabee and Cyberdos way down the wash.



We rode in the water a ways, then popped out when the boulders got bigger for a stretch. We finally decided another break was in order when we hit this boulder field.



Here’s the pull start for the ATV that was having issues. What do they need all them wheels for anyway…



With reaching our second hard fought dead end of the day, we headed back out. There was one water crossing with a step up to get out. Seabee and I voted over our bike to bike intercom system that Cyberdos should be the one to find the best line up through the rocks to get out. Here is the result of that search…



We watched and learned, then decided to try upstream a little ways!

Thanks to Seabee1 and Cyberdos for a great ride.

[refokus]

Looks like a great time. Thanks for the RR

[cyberdos]

Originally Posted by azredline

...There was one water crossing with a step up to get out. Seabee and I voted over our bike to bike intercom system that Cyberdos should be the one to find the best line up through the rocks to get out. Here is the result of that search…



We watched and learned, then decided to try upstream a little ways!

Thanks to Seabee1 and Cyberdos for a great ride.

C'mon now! I was inspecting to see if my fork height was properly adjusted.

Was a fun day indeed.

[seabee1]

thanks to azredline and cyberdos for a great day riding!

and i'll try not to forget my camera again next time.

[cyberdos]

Originally Posted by seabee1

thanks to azredline and cyberdos for a great day riding!

and i'll try not to forget my camera again next time.

I'll remember to bring your GPS. You should come over one night so I can give you some pointers on how to do all this stuff.