Apache Trail

Kerri loves to find random dirt roads to direct me down. Normally they do not need to be historic in any way, but this one had a bit of history. The Apache Trail was once used by the Apache Indians (can I still say Indians or is that offensive now?) to migrate to and from warmer weather. It tracks down the Superstition Mountains into Apache Junction just outside of Phoenix and is mind-blowingly beautiful. The road itself, though washboard and rutted the entire way, is fairly tame. Any vehicle can make the drive without four wheel drive, and Big Blue took it like a champ.

We both agreed that the trail would be better if it were not a dirt road and instead left as a backpacking trail. What an amazing trip it would be to backpack this historic path. One still could, but the ever present cars passing by would really ruin the experience. Still, the views and the solitude (at least in early rainy mornings) were amazing.

There are ample opportunities to boondock along the way, although some spots require a Tonto National Forest recreation pass at a few dollars a day. These are primarily required at the established free-campgrounds along the trail and at the top – around Roosevelt Lake. But as luck would have it, we did not stay in any of them, instead choosing to stay at Tortilla Flat – a paid campground – about a third of the way up the trail. The campground is nestled in a valley, surrounded by the Superstitions in all directions. Right outside the campground is a small tourist-town, complete with a gift shop and restaurant/bar, neither of which we visited. Tourist shops just aren’t our thing.

Instead we continued the drive in the morning, looking for a nice quiet place to spend another night before coming out at Roosevelt Lake where civilization (and cell signal) would keep us pinned down for the work week. It didn’t take long for us to find an ideal spot, but we passed it by as we came upon it at 11 AM – too early. We regretted that decision a few hours later when we arrived at Roosevelt Lake where we have stayed before in our early days together – four years ago. So unimpressed of the area from our last visit, Kerri was not wanting to stay there again, so we motored past on our way to Payson, AZ.

Not far past Payson is more National Forest, where we thought we would settle down for the week amongst some pines along a creek. Unfortunately, neither of us reviewed the elevation of the area which turned out to be well over 5000 feet, and we had this crazy cold front moving in. The weather was going to be bringing snow and sub-freezing temperatures in the following days, and though we could manage those temperatures ourselves, Big Blue’s water tank is external… meaning we would have had a 20 gallon block of ice with a few days of those temps. We stayed a single night, ate breakfast at a local diner in the morning, and quickly made a run for lower elevations again. It was good to see the trees again.