We Go to Congress and Get Things Done

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With the fireworks show wrapping up on Sunday, Chris was concerned about the traffic getting out of here Monday morning. Turned out to be a non-issue. We actually saw quite a few people heading out Sunday afternoon - maybe those with jobs Monday morning? There was a constant stream of rigs pulling out the next morning ahead of us. There is a dump station at the rodeo grounds and it might have been busy if we had to dump. But we have full hookups at our next stop and figure it isn't worth the aggravation of waiting in line to dump. We are headed to North Ranch, an Escapees park in Congress Arizona. We have heard all sorts of good things about the place so we figured we owed it to ourselves to see firsthand. It is about 175 mile drive which isn't terrible, but it was going to be a bit windy which can make driving a tad more challenging.

We decide to follow Arizona 95 south to Quartzsite and then over to Congress. This will allow us to get reasonably priced diesel at a station we have used several times now. Congress is at a higher elevation than we have stayed recently at just over 3000 feet. Our route proved to be a good one since there were no real obvious grades along the way. The wind was doing its thing and tumbleweeds were whipping across the road. At one point, one crossed our path with little warning. Maneuverability is not a word used when driving a 30,000 pound rig pulling a Jeep. The sounds wasn't great and I could see twigs emerge from the rear in the camera, but upon investigation after arriving, there was no obvious damage other than a now dead tumbleweed.

Good thing we had made a reservation a month or so ago since the place was full. We got situated in our site in pretty cold weather. Cannot recall the last time my fingers got cold while setting up camp. One other goal for us while staying here was to get our motorhome weighed. We had it weighed back in 2015 shortly after we bought it. We were well under the various recommended weight limits at the time, but we are now full timers and I'm pretty sure we (our rig and us) have put on a few pounds since then. There is a Smart Weigh program that is associated with the Escapees parks. Unlike the typical Cat Scales you sometimes see at truck stops where they weigh each axle, this system weighs each corner of the rig allowing you to know how you are balanced side to side. They had offered the service at the Escapade rally last year, but hadn't got around to signing up for it. We called the man in charge and he stopped by our rig to discuss options. He was very accommodating with our schedule and will weigh us when we head out on Saturday morning.

Just up the road from the campground is the town of Yarnell. Back in the summer of 2013 a wildfire was started by a lightning strike. The fire, called the Yarnell Hill Fire, started to head toward town. The 20 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew were called in to help contain the blaze. During their work, the winds switched direction and killed 19 of the members. Most people likely had heard about the tragedy but I'll admit, I wasn't aware of all the details nor the fact that this occurred just a dozen miles away. There was a movie about this event that came out in 2017 called "Only the Brave", we will need to put this on our must see list.

One of Several Benches Along Trail

Winding Road Towards Yarnell

View Back Towards Congress

The state of Arizona has set up a memorial at the site and opened it as the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park at the end of 2016. We drove there on our first morning. It was a chilly but sunny day. There are only a dozen or so parking spots at the trailhead with a couple port-a-potties. The park consists of a trail that climbs up and over a hill to an observation area that overlooks the location of the tragedy. That portion of the trail gains about 1200 feet in just under 3 miles. All along the trail are memorial plaques dedicated to each of the men lost that day. We stop at each plaque and read the dedication for each man. It turns out to be quite a somber hike unlike any hike we have experienced. Stopping along the way allows us plenty of time to catch our breath before continuing on.

One of 19 Memorial Plaques Along Trail
This One Honoring Wade Scott Parker

Some of the Mementos at Observation Area

Overlooking Memorial Site - Circle Near Middle of Photo

From the observation deck, the trail goes just over half a mile back down about 400 feet to the memorial setup at the site. From up top, it seems almost too steep of a descent since the trail disappears from view, but they have put in numerous switchbacks making for a reasonable hike down. There are 19 monuments at the fatality site and each one is adorned with numerous mementos. Many of them being pins, painted rocks, hats, or shirts from other fire districts left by previous visitors. Burned trees and bushes remain all along this area although Mother Nature had done wonders in restoring the vegetation here. We sit on one of the four benches and reflect while having a snack before we start the 3.5 mile hike back to the car. At least most of it will be downhill. In a way, it's sad that this memorial will prove too difficult for many people to visit but it makes it that much more moving for those of us that do so.

View of the 19 Monuments

Nicely Painted Rock Honoring Hotshots Lost

Crosses in Middle of Memorial Area

Sign Detailing the Fire Events and Timeline

The View of Road While Heading Back Down

The next day we head the other direction from camp to the town of Wickenburg. A stop at the visitor's center gets us some additional info on things to see and do in the area. We walk around town to check it out. It definitely has a cowboy theme going for it. As we walk across a pedestrian bridge over the Hassayampa River, there is a no fishing sign that seems to be unnecessary based on the lack of water. Although the sign does work, we saw nobody fishing! Next we drive to the south end of town to the Hassayampa River Preserve. Owned by the Nature Conservancy, this nearly 800 acre reserve is along the river at one of the few points where the river runs above ground. That might explain the lack of water in the river back in Wickenburg proper. They do get heavy rains each year which floods much of the preserve. Maybe at those times the river flows through town and the "no fishing" sign is more of a "don't bother trying to fish" sign?

Train at Wickenburg Visitor's Center

Train Closeup

No Fishing? No Kidding!

Sculpture Next to McDonalds!

The preserve does have an entrance fee, but only $5 per person. They have a small visitor center with a variety of displays but the real draw for us were the handful of trails they have. None of the trails are over a mile long and most are under half a mile. But they are nice in that they run through a lush riparian area with lots of birds and other animals. It is quite a departure from the desert hikes we have become used to in this part of the country. By following several of the trails, we end up with quite a nice hike. Along the way, there are plenty of "birders" walking around with their binoculars and long telephoto lenses. Although we hear plenty of birds, we don't see many. As we come  around one bend, we see a guy intently watching something. We approach quietly and spot the heron walking in the grass looking for something to eat. As we continue our walk, we keep looking for other animals. We hear, then see something unexpected - several large cattle grazing on the grass in the preserve. One of the shorter trails is also a fairly steep one. Lyke's Lookout heads up a hill which gives a great view of the surrounding area. The climb is enough to get back to dry conditions and cacti abound while overlooking the cottonwood trees below.

View of Palm Lake at Preserve

Stealthy Heron

Real Trees If Only Cottonwood Trees

A bit of Water in Hassayampa River

View from Lyke's Lookout with Cacti and Cottonwood

The weather forecast calls for colder weather as a front moves in. We still have one day of sunny and cool left so we decide to head up even higher in elevation and go to Prescott before they get blanketed with snow. Besides just wanting to check out the town, we do have one very specific thing to do - a geocache! No surprise in that statement, but from the description and previous found it logs from other cachers, this one is quite special with over 500 favorite points awarded to it. Prescott is just over a mile high in elevation, so we have some climbing to do on the drive. We had a very pretty day to do all the switchbacks and it was nice to see "real" trees again.

By the time we get to James S Acker Park where the geocache is located, the temperature was right at freezing. Fortunately we had prepared and brought along what warm clothing we still own. As we approached ground zero, we found a small shelter with a kiosk for maps and the trail sign in book. We weren't positive what we were looking for other than the hint referenced a locked key box and needing to know when Prescott was founded. The kiosk itself had several locks on it but we eventually spotted the lock box. We had two dates to try from two different sources. Fortunately one of the worked and we were presented with a key which opens one of the locks on the kiosk. With that lock undone, the top of the kiosk can be tilted up on its hinges revealing the puzzle that must be solved to get to the log book.

Kiosk Containing Puzzle

Upon opening the top, a recording plays a fairly length set of instructions on how to use another key to open up the other two locks which allow the use of two knobs. Each knob is used to tilt the table beneath the glass top. One knob tilts the table left to right while the other tilts it from to back. A button is pushed to release a metal pinball. You need to tilt the table to get the ball through a wire track before it will drop on the table which is a maze of sorts with holes all along the well marked path. The ball needs to be manipulated through the maze avoiding the holes. Once you work the ball to roughly the 1/3 point, it contacts a metal pin which completes a circuit and the side door opens up allowing access to the log book.

View of  Puzzle Maze

Chris Tries Her Luck

It took me some time to get the feel for the knobs and how to rotate them to get the table to tilt properly. It took me about a dozen attempts before I made it to that first stage. The freezing temperatures were not of any help since my fingers were getting numb but my gloves would not permit the touch needed to control things. After signing into the cache, I attempted to get to the second stage only to have the ball drop in the very next hole! Only 24 of the over 600 visitors have made it to the second stage and only 8 to the third and final stage. I suppose if we lived in the area, I would be compelled to come here often to see if I might be able to improve my standing.

The Side Door Pops Open Upon Successful Stage One

We did a couple miles of trails in the park to get the blood flowing after standing still for so long. We eventually worked our way to the downtown area and found a good place to eat - Prescott Brewing Company. We were close to a cache in the library so we stopped there as well which allowed us to update apps on our devices. We discovered there are lots of trails in Prescott National Forest as well as many geocaches. It looks to be a nice area and will need to put this on the list of places to make it back to on some future trip.

Peace Sign from Painted Rocks

View of Prescott from Acker Park

View of Prescott National Forest 

The next day the front moved through and it was a bit colder. So far we have needed to run the furnace at night but not during the day. There was a bit of graupel that fell during the day but didn't amount to much. It did get well below freezing that last night. It wasn't until 3 AM that it dawned on me that I probably should have disconnected the fresh water line. I really didn't feel like going out at that point so I simply turned on the faucet for a minute to confirm things hadn't frozen and went back to bed. All was well in the morning. It has been quite some time since we have camped in that cold of weather so I guess I am out of practice. You would think someone from western NY would remember something so basic.

The guys were waiting for us by the recreation center at North Ranch Saturday morning. They have a nice concrete pad in the middle of their gravel parking lot. They direct me onto the pad and then slowly onto the scales. After the front wheels are weighed, I pull forward onto the scales so they can weigh each set of duals in the rear. Next one guy takes a tall L shaped gizmo to measure our height at the tallest thing on the roof. One guy stands back to get a better view of the roof and directs the guy making the reading. After checking the two rooftop air conditioners and the satellite dish, they have their answer. We chose not to weigh the Jeep. It is well below the 10,000 pound limit the Dutch Star is capable of pulling. That saves us $10. It was only $45 to get weighed.

Afterwards, they go over all the figures with us. I was a bit nervous about what they might tell me. In fact that nervousness is likely why we didn't have this done at the rally last year. We have heard from a couple different safety experts that more than half the rigs on the road are over one or more of their weight ratings. In our case, the front tires are balanced to within 200 pounds of one another and well under the gross axle weight rating by 2000 pounds. The rears are slightly less balanced being 450 pounds different. Combined, the rear is only 250 pounds below the gross axle weight rating. Of course we filled up our fresh water tank with 105 gallons of water and had about 80 gallons of diesel fuel as well for this weighing to make it be as extreme as we could expect. We almost never run with a full tank of water usually only keeping 1/2 to 1/3. The fresh tank is just ahead of the rear axle. A full water tank weighs 870 pounds, so our weight would likely be lighter by about 500 pounds under normal conditions. All in all, we are doing pretty well. I suppose if Chris wants to start a rock collection, we just need to make sure they are stored near the front of the rig.