Second Failed Try to Find the Ridge Top Trail Off Queen Canyon

Thursday March 22, 2018 Kofa NWR Queen Canyon Arizona

Headed back to the Kofa

Yesterday as I was driving to the Kofa, I got on the dirt road and I could hear a clunk from the left front tire area. It sounded like a shock mount was loose. As soon as I  turned onto the Queen Canyon Road I  looked for  a nice place to pull over so I could have a look.

The shock mount was loose on the bottom so I got the wrenches out and tightened it up.shock1

 

I also noted that shock was leaking oil and not any good any more. I continued up the Queen Road to about a half mile past the Skull Cave to a place I think they call Indian Canyon where there is a trail that goes to the ridge top that I’ve been trying to find the trail at the top. I made camp here in my same old spot.

The next morning as I was getting it going I noticed this bird eating something in a bush just outside the van. Looks like some kind of jay to me.jaw2

 

Up the trail

Around 11:30 I started up the ridge top trail here.trail3

 

I know the trail goes up to the ridge top somewhere here, but I haven’t been able to locate the trail.trail4

 

There weren’t many wild flowers blooming, but I did see this one.flower5

 

I looked real hard

When I got to the end of what I could find of the trail I rechecked every way I checked last time looking harder for the trail, but I couldn’t locate it.

I even crawled under the palm looking thing, but no trail.trail5

 

And I looked again

I went about a 100 yards down the main trail and turned back to have a look at the hills to see where the trail might need to go. Then I hiked back up the trail and looked even harder.

I did go up this rocky slope but no trail.notrail6

 

And I looked one more time

So I was giving up and started down the trail again going further down than last time and looked back again. I wasn’t planning on going back up again, but I thought the trail had to go through a place I saw back up the trail so I started back up again.

I went through this area and climbed around the rocks, but no trail.notrail7

 

Pile of rocks

Then I saw this spot that I’d looked at before. The difference this time I saw a little pile of rocks up it which I hadn’t seen anywhere else. My only problem now was I’d gone up and down and around and around the hill looking for this and now I was too tired out to tackle it so I sat down for a break to contemplate what to do.

The trail goes pretty much up the center, you can see a couple rocks stacked there.trailup8

 

Back down the trail

I was still quite a ways from the ridge top and was pretty beat, so asked my legs and feet what they thought. They said we can get you back to the van, so I decided I better head on down the hill so I headed back down the trail going through here.traail9

 

On down the trail, some nice cactus here.trail10

 

I had to walk on down this wash to the van way down there near center of the picture, but you can’t see it.trail11

 

Back at the van a cup of coffee was  made and drunk while I thought about things.coffee13

 

One more try to the ridge top

Tomorrow I planned to have another look at the bad shock and was planning to drive over to the Palm Canyon area, but instead I will work on the shock tomorrow and try to get up the ridge top trail the next day.

That was my day. Lots of exercise.

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