A Maine Rider’s Arizona Day Trips

[kobukan]

Originally Posted by cushman

Been searching for this place my whole life. But, since we were out to adventure, we turned left instead.

Well isn't that something . . . I went right past Paradise and didn't even get a picture of it.

[Hucker]

Originally Posted by kobukan

Well isn't that something . . . I went right past Paradise and didn't even get a picture of it.

You were shooting up the road left while I was looking to the right...lol. We didn't even get off the bikes at that stop...

[Erich in AZ]

Glad to see some folks enjoying our area. I live in Tucson, but work in Sierra Vista. It's a beautiful place.

Have you been to see the "Rattlesnake Guy" or the Courtland Jail south of Tucson? It's a nice little trip that brings you out on Dragoon Road. It's dirt road, but not challenging.

[Pantah]

Kobukan - This afternoon I fly to Sky Harbor and pick up my Yam 250. Tomorrow I ride it to Page, AZ and check with the rangers. If the road is still passable, I'll take Smokey Mountain Road northeast through the 'staircase' to Escalante on UT 12. Then on to Echo Park to camp on the Yampa/Green river in Dinosaur. I bought some tracks west from there on mostly forest roads. Then the Pony Express Trail to Ely NV. I'll meet a friend in Echo Park. The route is from Docking Pilot's Forever West trip. Tony Huegel made the route for me.

[kobukan]

Originally Posted by Erich in AZ

. . . Have you been to see the "Rattlesnake Guy" or the Courtland Jail south of Tucson? It's a nice little trip that brings you out on Dragoon Road. It's dirt road, but not challenging.

Haven't seen either one yet, but I'll add them to the list. I'm always looking for more ideas. Where is this "Rattlesnake Guy"?

Originally Posted by Pantah

Kobukan - This afternoon I fly to Sky Harbor and pick up my Yam 250. Tomorrow I ride it to Page, AZ and check with the rangers. If the road is still passable, I'll take Smokey Mountain Road northeast through the 'staircase' to Escalante on UT 12. Then on to Echo Park to camp on the Yampa/Green river in Dinosaur. I bought some tracks west from there on mostly forest roads. Then the Pony Express Trail to Ely NV. I'll meet a friend in Echo Park. The route is from Docking Pilot's Forever West trip. Tony Huegel made the route for me.

Sounds like an awesome adventure Pantah. Have a safe trip and let us know how it goes. There are more great places to ride out there than I can even keep track of. Can't wait to get back out there.

[AK Smitty]

Just stumbled across you RR and its great! Don't see too many Maineiacs on here. I am originally from Augusta and now live in AK. I store my bike in Maricopa usually. Great areas to ride and I need to do more dirt, you are seeing some great stuff.

I will check out your Mex rides when I get a chance. I spent 6 weeks there last year and had a blast. Actually will be back there tomorrow!!!! Bike is in PV.

Be back in Maine this summer and looking forward to it!! AK has decided summer is optional and I need some lobster!!

[kobukan]

Thanks Smitty. I saw some of your posts in the Mexico threads. Sounds like you've got quite a trip going - hope all goes well. Still plenty of lobster here in Maine . . . look me up when you're here and we can take a ride and eat some lobsters.

[kobukan]

Fort Bowie . . . revisited


I discovered that on my first visit to Fort Bowie I somehow missed the main area of historic Fort Bowie. This time I found the main hiking trail and made the hike in to see what was left of the old Fort.

The day started with a familiar ride from Sierra Vista over to Tombstone and up to St. David where I headed east on Sibyl Rd for about six miles to where I once again picked up the dirt road running along the railroad tracks to Dragoon. There’s a dirt road running along both sides of the tracks and the last time through there I took the road on the left, so this time I decided to try the road on the right – hoping it would go all the way through!







It turned about to be a really fun ride along the tracks. I had a great time, exploring some of the things along the way.





Trains run through there frequently and it wasn’t long before I was running along beside a train again. The road on the right was a little smoother than the one on the other side of the tracks so I was actually able to stay ahead of the train – felt good to beat the train this time.



Fortunately, the road did go through to Dragoon and after about eleven miles along the tracks I hit pavement again. I rode Dragoon Rd over to 191, then north for a brief stretch to Wilcox Playa.









It’s always fun to ride across the Playa. The dry lake beds of Baja dwarf the Wilcox Playa and make it seem like a dried up puddle, but it’s still big (about ten miles cross) and a fun ride - very different than anything in Maine.







I fueled up in Wilcox, and then headed south a little over twenty miles on Route 186 to the road to Fort Bowie. This is a beautiful area – a nice road with great views everywhere.

I noticed an interesting looking old cemetery along 186 and decided to stop for a closer look. I ended up spending more time here than I expected as I found it interesting. There were many old grave sites, along with many more recent.

Dos Cabezas Pioneer Cemetary

















A little further down 186 I turned off into the dirt of Apache Pass toward old Fort Bowie.





At about eight miles in I reached the main hiking trail into what remains of Fort Bowie . . . and started walking. The hike turned out to be about 3.5 miles round trip. It was a warm walk in riding gear, but well worth the effort.

About the riding gear . . . I always carry a cable lock to secure my gear to the bike if I have to leave it. Having several bikes (and several cable locks) I keep a removable tag on the cables with the lock combination so I’ll know the combination for whatever bike/cable I happen to have with me. Well, when I pulled the cable out of my top box there was no tag to be found anywhere. I don’t know what happened to it, but I had no idea what the combination was – I tried a couple numbers, but it was a waste of time. This place was well off the beaten path and I wasn’t too worried, but I didn’t really want to leave everything so I left my helmet hanging on one of the mirrors trusting that it would be there when I returned, wore my overpants and carried my riding jacket. Wearing the riding pants was a little warm, but not too bad really. Carrying the jacket was a bit of a pain, but you do what you have to.





















I was surprised to find a nice visitor center staffed by a friendly Ranger lady. I had a short talk with her about the area, took some more pictures, drank a little water, and enjoyed the views for a few minutes.















I hiked back via the loop trail, which provided some very nice views overlooking the Fort, as well as the surrounding area.











This is a beautiful area and I highly recommend that you take the time for this short hike if you get the chance. It was really interesting to walk through here thinking about all that went on back in the day.

After the hike, I was back on the road. I was hoping to find a dirt route through to Noland Rd on the east side of the Chiricahua’s, but as is often the case what I saw on the ground was not the same as what I saw on maps and there didn’t appear to be any dirt roads through from where I was. It had already been a good day and I didn’t feel like taking the paved route around the mountains so I headed back to 186 and continued south to explore some other dirt roads I had noticed in some previous travels.





These dirt roads went south from 181 and eventually brought me out on 191 in McNeal. From there it was a familiar ride back through Tombstone to Sierra Vista, ending another great day of riding (and hiking) in beautiful southeast AZ.

[Razzeaux]

Just came across your RR. I'm planning to ride out west for the first time in the Fall. Tnhanks for sharing.

[DurtKlod]

Great stuff. Thanks for taking the effort to post all the pictures. I've got family that homesteaded in the southern Chiricahua Mountains outside of Douglas in the mid to late 1800's. During the day, my great great grandfather and the other men would be out tending to the ranch. My great great grandmother has passed down stories of while the men were out, she would hear horses and would look out the windows and see the Indians coming on bareback. She would gather the children and they would crawl under the floor boards of the house and wait quietly while the Indians would come through and take what they pleased - mostly just the sugar. She and the children would come out after they left and resume whatever it was they had been doing. Some time later, my great great grandfather was herding cattle in the rain and got struck by lightning. He did not make it but my GG grandmother continued to live out there with the kids. She must have been one tough woman.
Still later, one day a horse wandered into her yard carrying a cowboy who'd been, all shot up. Not knowing who it was, she took him in and nursed him back to health. Turns out, it was Jesse James and he'd been shot up after a failed bank robbery (location unknown). After that, every so often, she would end up with "extra" cattle. She was pretty sure it was Jesse and his way of thanking her for what she did.
My great aunt still owns the land but she no longer occupies it. They no longer feel safe living out there with the constant theft and vandalism from those entering this country illegally and the drug traffic. Not much has changed I guess except instead of being Indian trouble, now it's Mexican trouble. My cousins share stories of a lot of scary wild stuff that happens down there... watch yourself.

Would you mind if I re posted a couple of your Fort Bowie pictures for the Then and now thread... giving credit where credit is due?

[kobukan]

Great stories DurtKlod. Mid to late 1800's in the Chiricahua Mountains . . . now there's some wild times! Feel free to post the pics wherever you like.

[RedRockRider]

Great thread, Kobukan. Like the pics and write-ups. The train pics are great. Bikes and trains go well together.

[kobukan]

Originally Posted by RedRockRider

Great thread, Kobukan. Like the pics and write-ups. The train pics are great. Bikes and trains go well together.

Thank you RedRockRider. I just noticed the link in your sig and took a quick look - only got as far as the part where you said "It was the first time I had ridden a motorcycle since the Peace Corps in Africa, 25 years ago." Wasn't expecting that - a little over 25 years ago, my best friend and riding buddy was in the Peace Corps in Africa - he was only there six months before being killed in a motorcycle accident. I didn't ride for a long time after that, not entirely due to that, but it was definitely a factor. Still think of him often when I'm riding and wish he was here to see some of this stuff. I'll take another look at the rest of your thread another time - looks great. I've been to Moab and the surrounding areas several times over the years and it's one of my all-time favorite places in the country.

[TooTallRacing]

If I keep reading this thread there will be a house for sale in Indiana.

[BigDogAdventures.com]

Man---I can't express how much I've enjoyed your little trips.

I've ridden in Arizona lot------my best riding buddy lives in Tuscon.

But you have taken me to some places I've been------but more importantly----to places I've not been. I'm always keen on laying down waypoints of neat places----------I got a bunch of new ones reading your continuing story---------and I thank you.

I've documented 2 stories of Arizona rides on my website. You have to poke around a bit to find them down the list.

But one of my favorite places I went (not sure if you've been there) is Johnny Ringo's grave site----the fastest gun in the West so some say---------his story is so interesting. I found his grave to be a bunch of piled up rocks on a dead end dirt road on private land that allows you access to walk to his grave. Man it was cool.

His Grave is very near some of the places you've been riding.

It's here:

N31° 51.900'
W109° 25.104 '


You can only access it from the West off of 181 as the road is a dead end into the mountains.