Overland Road Trip Report

[Scott Brady]

We had a great trip, with a successful retracing of the Overland Road using a combination of vehicle travel and trekking. Beautiful scenery with two fantastic campsites. :camping:

Here are a few teasers- Hopefully the others will have fun stuff to post.

http://www.expeditionswest.com/adventures/2006/overland_road/images/IMG_1610.JPG

http://www.expeditionswest.com/adventures/2006/overland_road/images/IMG_1688.JPG

http://www.expeditionswest.com/adventures/2006/overland_road/images/IMG_1698.JPG

[edgear]

I can't wait to see the rest of the report. I'm bummed I missed out on this one, but hopefully I will be able to explore this area some other time.
:sombrero:

[desertgirl66]

Looks like a great trip! Can't wait to see more pics!

[BMAN]

I need not say how very dissapointed I am that I missed another great trip.

[crawler#976]

Thanks to Scott for his leadership and friendship on this trip! As a first timer on an Expedition Portal trip, I was very impressed with the people who attended. It was a great group to spend a three-day trip with!

I had the opportunity to haul Scott’s Jumping Jack tent trailer on the trip. It tows very well both on and off highway. Even in rough conditions it stayed pretty close to the track I intended it to take. It’s also easy to setup and very comfortable to snooze in.

Friday:

The trip started at the Ft. Whipple Museum in Prescott. It’s well worth the visit! The historical items were varied, and included some Civil War era carbines and a 50’s era ‘lectro shOck therapy machine. Ft. Whipple is currently the site of a VA Hospital and the Prescott National Cemetery.

I was very surprised to find that Scott’s research showed the Overland Trail skirted around the headwaters of the Verde near Paulden, AZ. and crossed Hell Canyon a few miles to the northeast. The hiking team headed out for a 2-mile walk in 100+ degree heat! We met them on the opposite side of the canyon, and headed east on the Drake road to CR73 that heads to Williams, AZ. We stopped at Bandit trailhead, and then headed to Bear Springs. From Bear Springs the Overland Trail heads up to Summit Tank. This was part of the Sheep herding trail – We missed seeing a Basque Shepard and about 300 head of sheep on White Horse Lake road (they came thru my neighbors camp on Friday at the Summit Trail head!). We made camp in darkening skies and had a few hours of light showers Friday night. Still, we managed to have a nice fire and a couple hours of good relaxation.

Saturday:

After breakfast Sat morning we played for a short time in a cinder pit, then headed to the historic CCC camp sight. From there we dropped the hiking crew off at Dead Horse Tank. They started out about 10:00 AM on a trek following the original Overland Trail route to Dow Springs via Pomeroy Tanks. Those of us not hiking attempted to parallel the route to Pomeroy Tanks as close as possible. We stopped to check out the tanks – a short hike revealed some very large pools of water in a beautiful canyon. We then headed to Dow Springs to have the second group of hikers head in to join the intrepid group from Dead Horse Tank. Mike and Al headed out to do some Geocaching, and upon their return I headed out with the Jumping Jack trailer to get a start on the group since it was starting to rain and the terrain is a bit rougher than the rest of the trail. The area is famous for it’s greasy clay, we got to see about 6 miles of increasingly slick travel in a moderate monsoon shower. Fortunately, the storm moved off to the west in time for us to setup a great camp near Scott Springs off FS231.

Sunday:

The morning was cool and cloudy as we headed into Flagstaff to the site of Old Town Springs – the original northern starting point of an 8 to 10 day journey from Flag to Prescott via the Overland Trail. The day finished with temps getting hotter than expected – it was a little humid to boot.

After driving home I spent about an hour with a hose loosening mud from the truck, and it still took $8.00 in quarters to finish cleaning the Taco and trailer. The sticky, sticky stuff with pine needles in it turned into an adobe like substance…

I didn't take a lot of pic's, but here a few of the one's I did.

Later!

Mark

[Scott Brady]

Thanks so much for all of the route help Mark! I appreciate it:victory:

[Willman]

:lurk:

Looks like a great trip!!! The pictures look awesome!! Keep em' coming!!!

:1888fbbd:

[Ursidae69]

Cool photos! :victory: I love rainstorms up in the pines, we sure need the rain! Wish I could have made this trip.

[flyingwil]

nice Pic Scott and mark! Way to go guys, looks like a great adventure!

:tent:

[BajaTaco]

Very fun trip! Here's a few more pics...

[BajaTaco]

more...

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I like this level. Is it called "Pinyon Pine"........? (http://expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2677&d=1153799610)

Interesting Pinyon Pine Facts.......... (http://home.earthlink.net/~swier/PinyonPine.html)

Pinyon Nut Nutritional Value......... (http://www.pinenut.com/values-species.htm)

Great Trip!

Great pics!

This is now on my To Do List!......:sombrero:

Thanks for sharing!

[blupaddler]

Impressive!


Slacklining too! Looks like another fun trip!

[Boston Mangler]

http://www.expeditionswest.com/adventures/2006/overland_road/images/IMG_1610.JPG

Very Cool Pics! Looks like another awesome trip!

One question though, what is that thing on top of the silver taco between the 2 lights on the roof?

[Scott Brady]

MotoSAT (http://www.motosat.com/)

[crawler#976]

I like this level. Is it called Pinyon Pine?

Yes, we were in the pinion/juniper zone at Hell Canyon, but at that location it's 99.9% Utah Juniper (Shaggy Bark Juniper). It's probably the most commonly cut firewood in our area - they grow like weeds up here...

[Boston Mangler]

MotoSAT (http://www.motosat.com/)

Never seen that, is that for remote satellite internet connections and such? Can it be used as a GPS antenna as well?

[Scott Brady]

It provides voice and data. Mike has a handset on the dash that allows for phone calls, etc.

[BajaXplorer]

B Mangler,
Satellite tracking antenna on truck.

Scott,
I mispoke when I said MotoSat, the service is through MSat. If anyone wants info on the unit (Westinghouse D1000) go to this site (http://www.crystalcommunications.net/pdf_files/msat/westinghouse/fleet_talk.PDF).
I had a great time with a lot of really fun people. Looking forward to the next time. Will post some pix later.
BX:wings:

[crawler#976]

http://www.sharlot.org/archives/history/dayspast/text/2000_06_18.shtml

http://www.sharlot.org/archives/history/dayspast/text/1998_05_31.shtml

I've now heard multiple stories on the Del Rio Springs area. The articles above help clarify it some.

Also, here's a link to the location of Navajo Springs where the Territorial Papers were signed.

http://www.tomjonas.com/swex/wherenavspring.htm note - cool website!!!

[crawler#976]

Chris - the fire you guys saw is now called the Overland Fire:

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/333/

[whitethaiger]

Great trip, thanks everyone!

Nice reports and pics.

It certainly was hot on the hikes, but at least the evenings and nights were cool. It was also nice to get some rain. Here in SoCal conditions are currently very unpleasent with temps 90-100F and humidity 70%+.

Mark, thanks for those links. Good find on the fire also. The fire wasn't generating much smoke, but we saw some moving along in the trees close to Whiting Ranch. We could also hear an ATV, that was probably FS keeping an eye on the fire.

[flywgn]

Great trip! Thanks for the pix and commentary.

I admired BX's MSAT on a previous trip. We have Motosat on our ATRV (which is how I'm currently posting since we don't have any other type of internet hookup on our new place here in ID) and while it does give you both internet (therefore VOIP too) and TV (which we've used twice: Dakar Rally and Tour de France) it's a bit cumbersome...but that's for another thread.

Again, thanks for posting this trip report.

Allen

[articulate]

I'm fascinated by this trip, and ashamed - really! - that Brooke and I couldn't participate. She likes trips when there are a few other women along. I know you can't spill many details, so if any of this is available to the mortal public please speak up:

How many miles did you throw down by foot?
Did you run into anyone else?
Does this cross any land for which you need special permission or permits?
What's the degree of remoteness? Furthest distance from civilization along the way?


:088:

Way to go.

[BajaTaco]

I'm fascinated by this trip, and ashamed - really! - that Brooke and I couldn't participate. She likes trips when there are a few other women along. I know you can't spill many details, so if any of this is available to the mortal public please speak up:

How many miles did you throw down by foot?
Did you run into anyone else?
Does this cross any land for which you need special permission or permits?
What's the degree of remoteness? Furthest distance from civilization along the way?
:088:

Way to go.

Mark, this would have been a perfect trip for you and the SuperCool chick. I wish you had gone with us.

To answer some of your questions:

1. The tally hasn't been verified yet, but I believe it was 10.5 miles total.
2. We never did come across any other hikers (except team #2 that came in to meet us from the east end - about a 4 mile RT for them). We did come across a couple who was camped right on the overland trail near a road that crossed it. But they weren't hiking.
3. No
4. I don't know the answer to this one. I bet we could try to estimate it though.

[crawler#976]

Question #4

The majority of the "official" Overland trail system is on or paralleled by an existing road - I doubt if there is any point on it that is much more than two miles from an existing road or trail. The Williams area was crisscrossed by logging roads and narrow guage railroads. The Riordan Mansion State Park has some good info on the early days of timber harvesting on the Rim.

(http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/riordan.html)

[articulate]

Interesting stuff, guys. Thanks.
I will just be patient wait for the article to come out before I ask more questions. :) I think I'd like to do this trail sometime - it looks like a cool way to incorporate a full team of people for hiking, navigating, and driving.

[fourstringfletch]

Great trip guys! I hope we weren't too rambunctious. here are a few of my pics.

2722

2723

2724

2725

[BajaTaco]

Hey Fletch, glad you joined up and thanks for the pics :victory:

Welcome to ExPo :beer:

Rambunctious? I don't think so. Although that mattress of yours... :D

[crawler#976]

Ah, Yes - the mysterious loss of air :box:

[fourstringfletch]

yeah yeah, spare me. you'll be glad to know that I've devised a new system that does not have the potential to spring a leak.
Thanks again for a great trip fellas!

[BajaTaco]

yeah yeah, spare me. you'll be glad to know that I've devised a new system that does not have the potential to spring a leak.

Are we still talking about the air mattress? :sombrero:




Thanks again for a great trip fellas!

You bet! BTW, very nice truck you have there.

(hint to everyone.... it's white and has a badge on the side with the letters t...a...c...o... :) )

[crawler#976]

We were lucky to do the lower section (specificaly the Hells Canyon area) when we did. Last weekend the area between Paulden and Perkinsville received localized rainfall in excess of 4", and had hail up to golf ball size...