Wednesday - Off Road Trip - part 1

On Wednesday, one of the Hams, Frank, was leading an off-road trip to historic areas near us here in the desert. We asked if our "on road" Jeep would be capable of making the trip, and he assured us that this was one of the "easier" trips, so we headed out to join the lineup of vehicles...

Frank had encouraged participants to reduce the PSI in our tires for better traction and softer ride, so Carl and I worked on that while others were still lining up.

Part of the line-up - there ended up being 59 vehicles on the trip!

Excited to head out!

We started out along a route that follows the buried gas pipeline -- getting there traversed a wash that we had crossed the day before. The lower air pressure in the tires definitely provided a softer ride!

Frank had told us to make sure, whenever we came to a fork in the road, to make sure that the vehicle behind us could see us so they didn't get lost. Usually we were right near the vehicle in front of us, but, at least once, this recommendation ensured that we knew the right way to go!

There were a few places on the trip where we split into two groups -- the more conservative group (which we joined) and the more intrepid group, which would take a more challenging route!

Approaching Tyson's Wash (on the more conservative route)

First stop at Tyson's Well -- the two groups rejoined at this point

Frank sharing with us about Tyson's Water Hole

Everyone brought their portable ham radios so we could be around the area and hear what Frank was saying -- watch the video to hear:

 So Tyson had the first "Big Tent" in this area servicing folks traveling in their homes on wheels!

The hill above the water hole.

We climbed up on that big rock - this is the view of all our vehicles parked in the wash.

Carefully climbing down the rock.

Some petroglyphs on the rock

After leaving Tyson's Water Hole, the more adventurous souls could go up the hills that were along our route...

... while the rest of us stayed on more flatland.

Our next stop was at the ruins of the home and workshop of Joseph Cone, a woodworker of ironwood. (http://wikimapia.org/31908327/Joseph-Cone-Cabin)

More of our trip in a later post!