5th gen 4Runners in scenic locations

Exactly. Native New Yorker here, and NEVER heard anyone I grew up with ever say, "Let's go hiking." NEVER! NOT ONCE!

 

Decided to play in the mud on New Gingercake Rd after spending a couple of nights in Linville Gorge

 

Packed up Max and attempted to take the 4Runner out to Valley of the Moon (Jacumba, CA) with an optional plan to stay the night if things went well. Valley of the Moon is accessed via a 4wd road. There are two ways in. A blue trail and a black diamond trail. I chose the easier one. Got to use 4hi going up and 4Lo on the way back down to keep from using the brakes too much on the downhill. Tested out the skid plates in a couple areas.

I don't have much (any?) experience on rougher trails (plus I was alone) so I stopped at a spot that looked a bit too hard to me to get through and parked just below and hiked up to one of the sites I had planned on seeing - Smuggler's Cave. Luckily, it was just up the hill.

On the way back, a father and son- father in a full-size pickup and son in a stock Limited stopped at the same place. We brainstormed, they moved some rocks and were able to make it through without issue. They offered to spot me going up, but I would be coming back down alone so I said thanks anyway and drove back down. Ended up going to Desert View Tower just down the road.

Neat place. I'd been there once before a long time ago. The caretaker told me of a nice overlook spot many people don't get out to called Sacatone Overlook so I opted to extend the day's adventure and head out there on the way home. Rough(ish) road about 2 miles off the main road. Neat road just hard enough to make it fun. Did not need 4wd.

Not the adventure we planned, but an adventure nonetheless.

Parked off the side of the trail:




Tough spot:



Smugglers Cave:





Desert View Tower:





Sacatone Overlook: (with views of "The Impossible Railroad")

 

Great picture!

 

Kansas City Southern Lines train crossing at Trans Canada Trail, B.C.
Railways straddle the Fraser River w/ Mt. Baker to the south east

 

ORP stock Dueler tires in Moab? How did those tires do?

 

Buttermilk Country, Bishop CA

 

Runner Garage DEC2023

 

But
Kinda reminds me of Lookout Mountain in NW Georgia. It coupled near the Alabama/Georgia/Tennessee lines. Though there is a marker saying you can see 7 states from the top of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookout_Mountain

 

cool, never been there before! I was near the area and figured I would take the extra trip out to this spot as I have always wanted to go there. The roads there can be pretty sketchy especially in the snow. I went down some of the Utah trails near it and was on a washed out road on the edge of a cliff. I even got it on 3 wheels leaning over the cliff, which is pretty difficult since I have metaltech rear LT, had one side stuffed leaning over the cliff, other fully flexed out and my friend said the flexed out side was still a foot off the ground. It did help me to see the capabilities of the 4runner and that it is probably more capable than I have the balls to push the limits of.

 

I love your custom paint job. Where'd you get it done?

 

My 2023 MGM’s first camping trip in early October. Not that scenic, but I like the sunrise reflection.

 

went to the top of a mountain with no gas! also took the wrong route home.. ended up on wrong side of the river like benny

 

East Phoenix Valley, Queen Creek area. My 3 year olds second ever camping trip, it was a total of six dads and eight kids. It was a good time.

 

I need to get in on this list! Take the 4Runner and my youngest (and the older 2 if I can persuade them) out into nature with actual people! Great work Dad's!

 

I only know one of the guys and he brought me into the group. Where are you located?

 

Mesa (Power/Preston area)

 

India and I went on a 483+ mile loop trip of several intertwined trails of interest. We started out just southeast of Florence, AZ, then drove to Tombstone, AZ, the Chiricahua area, and ended in Mammoth, AZ. While much contented with the trip, I ended up mentally exhausted from traversing west after exiting the Aravaipa Canyon via what some call Arizona’s Rubicon Trail, National Forest Service Road 5015, aka Rug Road Trail (https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/1695-rug-road). The last section took two days to get through some fifty miles of relentless trail, which I would do again, just not in my vehicle.



The sendoff began with something ~2.5’ long laying across the road that caught my attention, it being early winter with lows in the upper 30s. By the time I backed up to see what I thought it was it coiled up and was not happy I interrupted its sunbathing. (32.85740° N, 110.97815° W)



Airing down for comfort south of San Manuel, AZ (32.57238, -110.64450)



Still near San Manuel, AZ, because of gross dumping, someone sent Burt and Ernie to install a huge gate with a chain, padlocks, and a sign to stop the dumping. Luckily for me, Burt and Ernie left the cattle guard bypass gate up, and I was able to get out. Sadly, because of the overlooked bypass gate by Burt and Ernie, recent dumping continues. (32.59417, -110.61102)



Unfortunately, the planned route, which was quite the forest surprise between Chiricahua Wilderness and National Monument, had been eroded and reclaimed by nature (32.00259, -109.27754) thus we had to backtrack to Rustler Park (31.90669, -109.27708) where we had breakfast and noticed BEAR(!) prints during a short hike.



We stopped at the Fort Bowie National Historic Site to appreciate history. (32.15291, -109.47810)



In Bowie, AZ we looked for gas with the help of Google Maps.



After backtracking about two miles, we gassed up and later pulled off State Highway 191 to spend the night. (32.51697, -109.66972)



I woke up the next morning to a huge surprise. It appears a BEAR(!)visited us sometime during the night. A BEAR!



I guess it could have been a mountain lion, too. (From a different trip in Arizona.)



While having brunch west of Safford, AZ, between Santa Teresa and Mount Graham Wilderness, I deployed the portable 400w solar panels to charge the batteries while the water heater was on since we were going to be here a bit. Unexpectantly but quite AWESOME(!), while parked here, an F-16 out of Davis-Mountain AFB in Tucson, AZ, saw us as the impromptu target of opportunity. After a pass over, the F-16 swept down, and just before small weapons fire range tilted vertically to diminish its silhouette and take the shot. Despite a sure kill (of an innocent victim), it was AWESOME! (32.85119, -110.10976)



Aravaipa Canyon (32.89841, -110.41827) WOW! An oasis in the desert. And the tree leaves' fall colors were incredible.



Clueless as to what lay west once exiting Aravaipa Canyon, we continued and spent the night at Table Mountain Mine, where two different sites of fresh BEAR(!) scat were present. (32.81721, -110.48706)



The next day, it took India and me almost eight hours to navigate and overcome obstacle after obstacle after obstacle without a single bypass within some seven miles to spend the night near Boulder Mountain. By the way, this is a two-way trail with limited, if any, shoulder for another vehicle to squeeze by. Or worse, the additional challenge of backing up to do so. Additionally, as if taunting us, as I drove along the trail’s many curves, spurs, and draws, I could see the well-maintained dirt road that would eventually take us into Mammoth, AZ only to be denied with each sighting the already satisfied experience of driving on this trail, aside the persistent trail pinstriping. On a different note, but what was another insisting theme and even subplot on this trip, while a few days older, we came across more BEAR(!) scat on a short walk along the trail. Could it be the same BEAR(!) simply following the trail taken by humans carrying food? Rhetorical, but thanks. (32.78422, -110.50081)



Finally, after what seemed like the last grueling 200-300 meters of trail and eventually driving on a significantly much easier trail for a moment, another obstacle without a bypass. We all know these pictures do not capture the moment and potential catastrophe in front of us. That, instead, is only measured by the vacuum of our pucker factor as our vehicles teeter on the edge of the impending doom of flipping over. The pucker factor, a phenomenon that is exponentially heightened when traveling alone, and an innocent life who simply wants to hang out with you on your adventures. (32.77567, -110.49835)



Another great trip! If you enter from the east, at the west end of Aravaipa Canyon there is ample space to turn around and exit the way you came in. You’ve been warned. If entering Aravaipa Canyon from the west, continue through Aravaipa Canyon and enjoy your well-earned prize. Be safe.

 

That's some of my favorite country. I've been through a bunch of it, but not Rug Road Trail due to lacking a suitable vehicle at the time. Have you ever been to Klondyke, or hiked in the Galiuros?

 

This is a cool shot. Do you mind sharing the location? Thanks

 

The east entrance into Aravaipa Canyon is from Klondyke Road. Other than crossing the town front of Klondyke along the road I have not been to Klondyke. I noticed the Post Office and store and appreciate that Klondyke Road is much better maintained than the road to Crown King, my side of AZ.

Not a hiker, other than short walks. Now that I looked up Galiuros, I see it's a wilderness area, and from what I appreciated in Aravaipa Canyon, Galiuros is likely as appealing for hikers. Have you encountered bears while hiking in the area?

On a different note and benign, with you being a backpacker and not knowing if you will appreciate or dismiss my definition when folks ask me what Overlanding is, I describe Overlanding as similar to Backpacking, where the vehicle is the backpack. It's self-supported land travel where you carry with you your own food, water, bedding, housing, toilet[ry], etc. While backpacking gets you deeper into the wilderness, you cover more areas and carry more creature comforts by driving.

As my definition above, Rug Road can be hiked too and, while likely as appreciated, might even be more enjoyable than driving, especially if alone (which I prefer), considering the pinstriping or, worse, vehicle breakdown. When I pick routes on GAIA.GPS, I set out to go from A to B (sometimes, unknowingly and even unwisely, forcing the route through what may not be prudent), not knowing or seeking to know the road conditions in between. While some route choices have been quite surprising and even daunting, those have been appreciated, as well as skill and moment teaching. Before the trip, Rug Road was unknown to me, and I was surprised it appeared on Trails Offroad and a few YouTube videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmNzMli2gjY&t=853s) on a Google search.

Thanks for asking. Be safe hiking.

 

Galiuros and Aravaipa are excellent backpacking destinations, and the former is full of interesting history (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power's_Cabin_shootout). The Power homestead is a popular bunkhouse for trail crews and hunters, and you can also visit the shootout cabin, the mine, an abandoned miners shack, and Holdout Spring, which has a cave where they hid out for a while. The homestead has a spring as well, and I've seen plenty of bears in there. One walked right through my camp while I was sitting there, on its way to the spring. There are some great fall hikes on the southern end, especially Bassett Peak, which has some big stands of maple that go bright red.

I mention Klondyke because the Power brothers are buried in the cemetery there and I've tried a couple times to visit, but I keep getting chased off. (It's now privately owned). There used to be a general store there which closed for good quite a while ago now. It was up for sale for a long time and I think the owner gave up.

A few of my AZ hiking buddies have traveled Rug Road at least once, including a Jeeper who spends a lot of time down there. I think it's a must-do for a lot of people.

Your definition of overlanding sounds as good to me as any. One of my main reasons for choosing the 4R was to do that kind of thing, along with helping to begin the pedestrian part of my journeys a little further from the pavement.

 

the golden road, maine northwoods

 

WOW! That was an incredible story about the Powers, including the sisters' mentioned death, which made no sense for the era, but I digress (I do healthcare). As I read it on Wikipedia, the story became more captivating. When I drive around I often think to myself, and even out loud, about the absolutely incredible histories tied to the area/region. Just like this one you shared...that ~100 years ago two guys went to register for service (whether they did or not, not the story itself), and a shot out happened, they vacated the area (not like they had a 4Runner), captured elsewhere, imprisoned (in a town known for some 15+ prisons today, 2023), served their time, pardon in my lifetime. ALL CRAZY! WOW! Thanks for sharing.

While I prefer to travel alone, the Rug Road (and others) are not a good choice for taking on alone. When asked, I say that I am a survivalist not because of an apocalypse or end of the world but because I do stupid shit. Thus, when I overland, I am prepared to abandon a disabled vehicle on foot and recover it later. That said, the Rug Road is worth driving on. I would do it again, just not in my vehicle, as the pinstriping was a bit too much. While I purchased the 4Runner, knowing it was going to get abused, the pinstriping was a bit much for a single trip for me to do it again. Initially, I tackled some of the overgrowths, including using the chainsaw, but it slowed me down quite a bit before I surrendered and drove along.

I looked up Bassett Peak on GAIA and saw the many trails in the Galiuro Wilderness and, on Google Maps, the many clusters of trees. As you mention, must be quite the fall hike. I'm not sure why, as I know there could be bears in these areas, but I'm surprised by the number of bears. On this trip alone, I witnessed some five different sites and naively thought it could be the same bear, as black/brown bear home ranges could be 15-70 square miles.

Again, thanks for the incredible story and info. Be safe.

 

Great post! Appreciate the time you took to post the adventures.

 

This documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONi_OPsvLPs&t=1717s) showed up on my YouTube list. WOW! What an incredible story. All because someone else was shot at an unknown world away, and the catalyst of WWI indirectly but directly snowballed into this story in the middle of nowhere in 1917. And still today, 2023, over 100 years later, is still in the middle of nowhere as if time has stopped. WOW! Not to mention, the purpose of history is to avoid its mistakes. Yet, they continue to repeat themselves. Yes, this area has some interesting history. Thanks again.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read it and the kind words.

Like my Pop, a storyteller.