Playing in the Cactus

Our usual 4-wheeling scenery is much more rocks and pines but this weekend we were on soft sandy trails lined with all sorts of prickly plants. It made us comment to each other how much more painful it would be to have a 4 wheeler accident if you fell off and landed on a cactus instead of rocks.


The Trail began at a place called Sugarloaf Mountain which soon took us to Sycamore Creek, which to the surprise of the locals actually had water in it! (Most of the rivers and creeks in AZ are only river and creek beds.) Being a little too eager for adventure Neil led the 2 vehicle caravan into the river and then turned up stream. In just a matter of minutes the 4 runner with us had sunk in the sand and the Jeep got a bit hung up on a large rock. After carefully negotiating a way back to shore we decided to follow the trail that ran along the river and only cross it when the trail did.


The trail we were on offered a lot of variation in terrain with long sandy washes, dirt packed trails, long narrow stretches of cobblestone, steep climbs, and even some terrain so different from what we're used to it's hard to describe. It made for a very exciting and visually pleasing adventure.


The trail dropped us off at an ATV hot spot called Sycamore Recreation Area. The huge sandy river bed with multiple streams running through it and the maze of trails there made us wish we had more time to stay and play. (Maybe we'll go back next weekend.)

In our group were Jaron (Neil's Cousin) Sarah and Neil in the jeep, and Emily (Another Cousin) and her husband Jimmy in their 4-Runner.