A Trip Over 4 Peaks!

Last night we had decided to head out first thing this morning and take on the 4 Peaks Jeep Trail.  This is the 2nd. Trail that we have taken now out of our new Arizona Book we bought and again it was no disappointment! 

Thought I would give Charles A. Wells another plug for his book, “Guide To Arizona Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails”.  The trail today was about 28 miles long on what he rated as an “easy” trail… well it was a bit of a challenge… seems they had a lot of rain last year in this area and the trails got washed out a bit and are more of a challenge, however our Jeep did not even bottom out today, but we did need 4 wheel drive and our low range on our transfer case to make it through!

As you head out on the trail to see the 4 Peaks…

About 1 mile into the trail off of Hwy. 187 we found this Cactus Farm that was all fenced in. 

They prop up the Saguaro Cactus’ while they grow…

Three guys in this red pick-up started out just ahead of us… we only saw one other vehicle and a couple atv’s…

We started late on the trail, around 11:00 this morning so we stopped at a campsite early for lunch.  You are allowed to camp in this area.

This was a very rocky area, so check out these unusual rock formations… looked like books with bookends!

There was lots of switch backs on this road, and you can see in this picture how much of the road can get washed out.  This is where you need 4 wheel drive and low range on your Jeep.  You are climbing steep grades as you go around these switch backs. Just adds to the fun!

More road washed away… you can just straddle these ruts with the Jeep and go right over them.

You can tell where the river flows when it does rain back here, as these trees live on the river bed.

We started out at 2,100 feet of elevation, and we hit a high of over 5,300 feet.  The view was… well you take a look!

When you hit the high peak, it is all down hill to Roosevelt Lake.  Notice all the green in the picture below, and catch those great legs!

The Jeep Trail we were on today was a challenge and you needed a Jeep or similar vehicle to navigate it, but it was a “road” on our TomTom GPS we use in the car!  Look at the weird road we were following…

Our book described the view of Roosevelt Lake as “Commanding” and they were right…This is a major source of water for this area, and feeds the City of Phoenix.

As we came down the backside of the mountain, we came across the “fun loop” as described in our book.  We drove around like a pair of Tourist!

We made it out of the trail and to Roosevelt Lake.  This is the bridge you cross at the dam and…

this is the dam!

We had a bit of a drive to get back home.  We had to go over to the Town of Globe, and hit Hwy. 60 and then head over to Apache Junction.  We stopped at the City of Miami for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant that was quite good. 

Overall, it was a great day for a ride.  If we did not have our Jeep with us this year, we would not have been able to enjoy all that we did today!  We recommend today’s trail to anyone visiting this area and you will find it on page 166 of the book mentioned above! 

We stopped at Wal-Mart today, and Judy was able to get a real nice pair of hiking boots for $12.00… yes, that is right, $12.00!   It pays to have small feet and fit into children sizes!  Now she has to break them in!

Made it back in time for a hot tub of course!

Till tomorrow…