Towers Mountain

During Recent attempts to find Bradshaw's grave (Part I, II, III ) there was a break in the action where my brother-in-law had other obligations, so I went out alone. This was once a very common occurrence, but in more recent times I have become accustomed to enjoying the sights with a friend. And another body is always good if something goes wrong and you need a little muscle to push or rock the machine.

After mulling over where to go on what turned out to be a chilly day, I decided to check out some side trails I had seen near the mountain town of Crown King, AZ, on recent outings. Due to my usual habit of getting side-tracked by other sights, I really only got to do the main trail I had in mind, but found the views to be quite spectacular...and the temps quite cold! As you can see from the lead photo, Towers mountain has...well, towers. Several of them, in fact, although that apparently isn't the source of the name ( that belongs to a Mr Towers somewhere in history ).

After staging in my usual location on Senator Highway just south of Prescott, a ride of something on the order of 25 miles is next until you arrive at FS 52C which heads east and climbs rapidly up the mountain.I had looked at this mountain many times in the past and thought it barren except for the obvious cell and microwave equipment, but I was wrong as usual. Once 52C climbed for some distance it joined in to 9238A and again continued to climb to the summit where yet more roads were encountered. Not only were these some of the "trail" variety, some were actually very good graded roads. I now realize that if one chooses, you can go across the lower end of this mountain and head into Crown King from the "main" road from I-17.

After winding on up, I found part of the reason for the good roads: Houses. A few of them, actually. I would guess these are summer homes, since no one in their right mind would choose to live here in the winter.

Shortly after driving by the last private driveway, I was at the summit, All 7685' of it, complete with lots of small buildings and communications equipment...

As you can see, Towers mountain will soon be adorned by another tower. I am actually surprised that this area isn't gated off, but I saw no signs other than those warning to stay out of buildings, etc.

On the way back down I did a tiny bit of exploring and added more trails to my ever growing to-do list...but this was no day to be up here. Summer...that's when its best to be on top of this mountain. There was thick pine cover that had recently suffered a fire, and one of the side trails was marked "Gladiator mine trail". This peaked my interest because one of the recent major fires here was the Gladiator Fire, and I assume it started somewhere near the mine itself. In fact, looking at a topo map post ride shows many mines in the area ( which shouldn't surprise me at all ). Much to be checked out...on a warmer day.

Back down on Senator Highway and heading for home, this ride wasn't done with a few treats. First was a Javelina crossing the road. Not all that uncommon. Second was a bit more of a treat in the form of 3 black bears; Momma and 2 cubs...which meant that I stopped forward progress ASAP, 1400lb SxS or not. This was the 2nd time in the span of about 3 weeks I have come across a bear in this area. Too bad they ran into the bushes before I could get my camera out. Now, 2 months after the fact, I am sure they are curled up nice and warm and cozy somewhere.

Like them...it was time for me to disappear into the setting sun and the waiting trailer to take me home again.

The Search for Bradshaw's Grave, Part I.

You know...for a guy who hasn't moved and inch in nearly 130 years, Issac Bradshaw can be a tough man to track down. My brother-in-law and I have now spent 2 days looking for his grave and have yet to get closer than a few miles away.

Now...lets get one thing clear here: I know where the grave is...even though I have never actually been there. Any off-roader in AZ who has squashed coyote poo with knobby tires does. There are plenty of maps, videos, and trip reports telling the world exactly where it is.
What I was attempting to do is get to the grave from the north off of Wagoner road by less traveled paths. And it's not necessarily his grave that we are interested in so much as it is the numerous mining sites that surround it.
Okay...so with Google Earth and GPS at my disposal, why have I not made my way to it yet? For one, my GPS maps don't have the detail necessary to find the trails to his grave, and the cell phone app with TOPO maps I often use is useless here since there is ZERO signal in this area once you drop off the very top of the mountain.

Google Earth can show you roads, but it doesn't always show how good the roads are. Especially after the record Monsoon rains we had this past summer...and the monsoon's often change the roads dramatically in one season. Now...washed roads don't usually stop the old Honda unless it's pretty extreme, but narrow roads just barely quad width ( IE 45-50" compared to my 60" SxS ), slopping into a drop of hundreds of feet and certain death usually do. Many of these roads are now single-track only, as the passage of time slowly erases them.
I must also confess that I have a habit of looking at GE and...kinda-sorta memorizing the route I need to take. Most of the time this works, since there are often numbers that will ring bell when I see them. The problem is this area is not National forest, so none of the roads are numbered, and for that reason, even writing them down would be of little help.

And who wants to do that anyway? Just as I secretly sabotage myself by getting started late because I like riding after dark, so too do I like the challenge of finding things just using my ( semi-educated ) trail sense. Thus far I have done a good job of finding out how not to get to Bradshaw's grave...and have had a great time doing so!

A week ago we ( my brother-in-law and I ) set out after staging on Wagoner road ( Wagoner is a town located east of Kirkland, AZ ) and followed it east for about 10 miles until it "becomes" FS 362. Just past upper Oak creek windmill, we were to turn due south and head to lower elevations and in the general direction of the Buckhorn Mountains, though our destination would be north of them. I knew the general area where the turn is and had passed the side road many times, so we turned and then followed the road for a few miles until it split...

...with one heading in an easterly direction ( the pic above ), while the other went slightly westward and south...the way we wanted to go.
After a bit of travel, there were some side trails that looked un-used, while the main trail wound its way down into a steep canyon...but appeared to be very eroded. After stopping to look at GPS and trying unsuccessfully via smartphone to verify that this was the right trail, I decided to head on down despite the fact that my trail sense was telling me that this didn't seem like what I had looked at on various maps.
My assessment from the top proved to be right; washed, rocky, and narrow in places...technical and challenging...which I don't mind ( and even like ) so long as it actually goes somewhere and I don't have to turn around on the side of a cliff. We made it down, but not before putting my B-I-L into a peculiar bush that grows here that sheds seeds just like a dandelion. The line forced me to the extreme right to avoid falling into a deep gully and rolling...

After spitting out fuzz and dusting ourselves off, we crossed Ryland creek at the bottom and came across the remains of Silver Dollar mine.

Collapsed shack at Silver Dollar mine.

I had been watching as we descended into the canyon an it appeared that at some point the trail would climb a steep ridge...and that sent up flags. This trail had seen what looked to be almost no traffic, and had already been very eroded, so I knew there was the possibility of difficulty on this section.

After snapping some pics, we twisted around the canyon to the hill, and sure enough the record-scratch noise sounded as I stopped at the bottom of what was basically now a 10' wide ditch with a nice big bedrock section at the top for good measure. I could make this climb if we absolutely had to do so, but it would become more intense than recreational. And we could top the hill and find an impassable section one-half mile away and have it all been for naught. So it was decided that we would turn back ( we already had a difficult trail to go back up at that point ), and I thought what was my main route to Bradshaw's grave was simply not going to work.
Two weeks later I would find a post on ADVRider where some dirt-bikers had taken this actual trail back in 2012. I don't want to short-change them, but I am fairly confident they didn't climb this trail as we found it on this day, so I must assume that the summer monsoon's really did a number on it.

In a harbinger of things to come ( in more ways than one ), we noticed that we kept hearing single-cylinder engine noises on the mountains to the west of us where there wasn't supposed to be a trail, and I dismissed them as bikes in one of the unused trails we passed on the way down. We had passed a large group right at our turning point off of 362 anyway.

So we turned and headed back up, with me taking my turn in the fuzzy bush, and then proceeded to crawl up and over the difficult terrain...with my Pioneer once again surprising me with how easy it makes stuff like this look at times. 15 minutes later, we were sitting back at the 1st split pondering what to do next.
Having all but given up on heading for Bradshaw's grave, we changed our plans to exploring several side trails here, so we set-out to explore them and took the road in the picture above. It went a short distance to Miller windmill, Logan mine spring, and presumably Logan mine somewhere around the area...though we never saw it.

Miller windmill displays some appropriate advertising.

Backtracking to the main road of FS362, we headed north through Johnson flat for some other side trails we have been wondering about. Turning on FS9254A and passing through the gate, after 1/2 miile or so we were surprised to find something relatively rare in this part of the country: a posted sign and a locked gate, behind which lurks the Boaz mine.

Fortunately, a side trail headed south again, so the trip was not a total waste. Soon we were riding down a ridge back, and once again the trail turned rough and badly washed...but I was still holding out hope for a secrete back-way to our original destination. For my chance, we ended up in a washout so deep that my Pioneer was almost on its side with the dirt berm rubbing the rear door at the very top ( about bicep high on my BIL, who at this point must be wondering why he does this ). Once again, it drives out after a few attempts, with only a lost nerf-bar cap to show. For our effort, we did find some remains here...

Something obviously was here, but one of the many AZ fires had destroyed whatever structure was here...and strangest of all, NOTHING is shown on any map I can find. There does look to have been some mining activity on the hillside above.

Backtracking to FS362 and fresh out of side-roads, the decision was made to head on up to Minnehaha and take FS192 over to FS711 and the back way to Crown King. This trail is likely the most popular in AZ, since it starts just north of Phoenix, and allows a nice trip to "the mountains" without too much driving. Our plan was to head up to Senator hwy and head north, where we would hit 362 again and make a loop.
I had been on a section of this trail before and seen several vehicles...but nothing remarkable. Today it lived up to its reputation as the busiest trail. We had been meeting a large number of dirt bikes all day...but here we really ran into thick traffic. Probably over 100 dirtbikes for the day, maybe 30 SxS's, and several quads.
The trail itself, while not technically challenging, has spectacular views...but certainly isn't for the faint of heart. It is a shelf road just over vehicle width with steep drops on the downhill side, and leaving the trail means certain death...as the local search and rescue team and some memorials will verify. We spent so much time pulled over letting people pass that it took twice as long as usual to make it to the top. Someday i'll remember to get a pic of this road!

Once at the top, the scenery and temps change dramatically. Pine forest replaces high-desert chaparral, and probably a 15 degree drop in temps. Just across from where you hit Senator hwy was a nice camping area, and we decided to eat dinner as the sun sank into the west. As yet more traffic dusted by, I had my traditional spaghetti and meatballs, some Little Debbie's, and a few shots of Barton's to knock off the chill and facilitate war stories.

After an extended break, we are on our way again, warm jackets and tobaggan's in tow. More bikes get waved by as the sun now disappears behind the mountains, and I check out a section that was washed out last summer, but still passable by good 4WD's. Then on down FS362 again into a long flat area area called Minehaha Flats. It has been home to a number of small communities ( Shelley place, Lapham, and others ) in the past 150 years...not to mention some hippies at some point. Only relics and graves remain...

My trail sense tells me this truck might be on private land...

By the time we stopped at this truck, it had been dark for 30 minutes or more, with only the smell of a campfire a few miles back to let us know there were other people in the desert with us tonight. We took a short break to take in the stillness of the night, but as we were leaving, the silence was interrupted by what sounded like barking on the hillside above us from an unknown animal. A reminder that the desert comes alive at night.
Engine started, lights on...whatever it was is left behind as we head back to Wagoner rd, lights bouncing off moths...and even an owl, as we made our way back to the vehicle. Another ride done.

Post ride, I took a look at Google Earth and discovered that I had simply taken the wrong road, and now having gone back...I don't see how I missed it!
My only defense was the group of dirt-bikes we passed must have blocked the entrance partially...but THIS WEEK, I made the right turn! Up here at least...

To be continued....


Click here for part II

Back-country exploration: Battle flats/ DeSoto mine trail

The sign says it all. This trail has some challenges.

The old pack mule sits there idling in the chilly morning air, with puffs of steam from the exhaust syncopating to its mechanical heart beating away. Waiting....during the packing of the days supplies. Water, a toboggan to ward off cold, a few aspirin, and a few trail snacks from Maverick's. GPS on and smart phone apps engaged,  I am soon heading south from my staging just south of Prescott. This section of Senator highway heads through the pines on the west side of the mountain, and the bitter air hurts my big old Dumbo ears despite the toboggan. I love this section of road, twisting around old mines, past jagged trees that have witnessed man come and go in vain, while the earth remains. Shadows holding even colder temps alternate with the wonderfully warm sun.

I have been through here before....but it's been a few years, and never on my ATV. You seem closer to nature on a quad.

I had been planning riding this area for sometime, but I didn't want to see the remains of the Gladiator fire that destroyed a considerable part of this area last summer. I was surprised to find that the burn area was not the desolate waste-land that I envisioned....it was clearly evident, but regeneration has already begun. My goals for the day: Try and find the "Battle flats" trail I had seen covered by on occasion by 4 Wheel Drive and Sport Utility magazine, and Crown king. If the trails went as they were supposed to, this could be made into a bit of a loop. I also had my AZ Back-roads book mentioned in my other posts, and it proved to be valuable, despite being several years old. By the way...this book refers to Battle flats as the DeSoto mine trail, and it seems to go by both names from what I found on YouTube.

Several miles of pine-covered Senator hwy ( also known as FS 52 ) slowly gives way to more open terrain as it nears my turn off at FS 89 ( and this section added several "to-do's" to my trail list ). 89 heads in an easterly direction for a few miles before the trail seems to split in a few directions. In general, you follow the creek /wash ( with stinky cow-poo scent ) and the trail will zag in and out of it a few times. There will be a gate on a side hill that avoids a large concrete drainage-type structure...if you went the right way. This section of wash provides some rock crawling....and will stop a stock automotive 4x4 save for maybe a Rubicon with good skid plates. Eventually the trail leaves the wash and starts to climb a ridge where the lead photo was taken. The decent on the other side is a narrow shelf-style trail that heads back down into the wash once again after going through another gate. While the trail that starts as 89 doesn't appear to veer off anywhere, all the maps I have seen start referring to this section of trail as Peck mine trail. Whatever it is...if you follow the main trail you will get where you want to go.

Beautiful, remote country. 89 to the left, 9268R heads into the distance on the right....

Once you head down the wash for a short bit you will encounter some adopt-a-trail signs as the trail once again leaves the wash for some climbing action. Eventually you will get to the intersection above ( coming toward the camera from the left ). For this trail you take 9268 while Peck mine continues straight. I usually do a preliminary ride in an area to gain knowledge of distances and time before I start serious exploring...so peck mine was saved for another day. Now on 9268, the trail once again travels trough another canyon with a fairly steep climb out, then follows a ridge and travels through another gate. The next mile or two is the hardest part of the trail with alternating climbs and descents of a seriously steep variety. These will probably stop the less experienced/skittish rider, but they can be done. All that's needed is the proper line. Just for kicks, the most serious of these has a 1-2 foot tall step at the top, but most vehicles will be able to squeeze through the lowest part to the right side ( ascending ). Several YouTube vids show this climb...but as is always the case, photo's and videos don't capture the true scale of it.

It's steeper than it looks here, but it can be done. Hidden to the right, the step at the top is much lower.

After this climb, I came across evidence of some carnage incurred by this trail....

"Lincoln" and other lockered rear-ends put max stress on axles.  This one didn't like it. Welded gears may have prohibited replacing just the axle. Way to haul your trash back out of the desert, jerk!

Once through the series of climbs, you will emerge just north of the DeSoto mine, with and expansive view to the east. Somewhere out there is Cleator and I-17...if you go far enough. First some mine exploring...

I though the view here was nice....

I know little history about DeSoto mine, but it looks as though it was a pretty extensive operation. Tailings piles, scraps of metal, fenced entrances, and the usual desert trash left by those that came later....probably last week. The main shaft appeared to be near the top of the mountain, and the ride up passed by colorful barren rock, perhaps giving away the presence of what man was seeking when he went to the amazing effort it must have taken to build all this. The view was from the top of the world...

Colorful rock formations abound.

Top of the world, courtesy of DeSoto mine. Senator hwy in the distance.

The path to the top. 

Once I was done admiring the view, I headed down the mountain where you will be dumped out onto Senator hwy...so I headed back across the mountain for Crown King. Plenty has been printed and posted about CK, so I wont go into this charming town here. CK is a popular destination for off-roaders from a variety of directions, so traffic was a constant for much of the remaining trip. Main street was jam packed with Jeeps, ATV's, and Side-by-Sides, so I chose to head a few miles toward Horsethief for a photo before finishing up the loop.

Evidence of the Gladiator fire, just south of Crown King.

From here I headed back for Prescott...stopping only to eat lunch in the pines near an old cattle shoot. I wonder who built it....how long it has been there, and the things it has seen over the years. The odd Jeep or dirt bike is the only disturbance to the tranquility of the back country, but I welcome the healthy off-road use. This is why I came here...to the west. To ride and enjoy it...without the posted signs and Cabin building Floridians that have taken over my native North Carolina. A little fuel from the fuel pack and I am back on the trail headed for home. The sun is setting, bringing out the deer....and the cold. Back at the Jeep to load up, after 83 miles of travel. On a rough riding old Foreman, no wonder I am beat-up. But it was worth it....and so it will be the next time around. See you on the trails.

4WD&SUV article from a few years ago....Battle flats