By Denis & Sandi Inman
On our penultimate day of trail runs out of Cottonwood, Arizona, the previously described 4 Jeeps with the same die hard offroaders, set off up the hill through Jerome and aired down just beyond the entrance to the Mingus Mountain Recreation Area. Ed & Janet put together an excellent set of of very scenic trails and Wednesdays run was no different.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
There were no changes to the attendees who met at Speedway mini mart in Sedona on Tuesday. It was decided that we would air down in the parking lot since we were only traveling a few city blocks to the trail head. Schnebly Hill Road is rocky and the drivers really need to pick good lines and keep a good rhythm to prevent severe oscillation that could bring the passengers head in contact with the side window or B pillar.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
Once it was determined everyone was present at the gathering site in Cottonwood, 3 Jeep Wranglers and a Gladiator headed up the hill to Jerome. A short distance past Gold King Mine, we found a spot along Jerome-Perkinsville Road to air down. Our leaders were Ed & Janet, followed by myself and Clark. Mike & Patti drove their pickup in the Tail Gunner spot.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
It had rained prior to our Hypothetical Trail Run, so theoretically our Jeeps would supposedly need to be washed afterward. Since the governor has determined that car washes are one of the few essential businesses in Nevada during a pandemic, on Friday morning I was able to take my rig to one and rinse off most of the mud. In order to dry it, I took a short drive.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
Hypothetically, if our governor treated us more like citizens than subjects, rather than immediately shutting down the entire state’s economy, he would have simply told us that the COVID-19 virus is spread mainly between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6′) through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is also conjectured that a person can get the corona virus by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes (but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads)*, then let us use our own judgement, intelligence and wisdom to avoid getting sick or spreading the disease.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
They haven’t built a home prison that can hold Jeremy, Deanna and I. Since we were going stir crazy from being incarcerated for so long, we decided to go over the wall and do a trail run. We met at Lakeside Casino at 7:00 AM and headed out across the dry lake. Just prior to reaching the paved road, we took Two HK Rd (might be an abbreviation of Two Hawk?) Southeast into the Pahrump Valley Wilderness. There were several side roads that showed potential, but after a little investigation, weren’t quite as interesting as we had hoped.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
When we arrived in Beatty for our 7:00 AM start, we realized that some modification of the first days activities would probably become necessary due to the snow from the previous days storm. One of our goals was to find a concrete structure that Jeremy spotted on a trail ride just over a week earlier. We were unable to get there due to the fact that the vague trail we were following completely disappeared in the snow before we arrived in the vicinity of the monolith. Our 8 rig expedition team consisted of Sandi & I, Jim, Sherrie & Kramer, Don & Linda, Brian & Jeremy, Vic & Yvonne, Selway & Pam and Ed & Mary Lou.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
After leaving Lakeside Casino at 7:00 AM, we crossed the dry lake and took Old Spanish Trail to Mesquite Valley Road. In the vicinity of Donna Loy Talc Mine, our trio of Jeep Wranglers turned South towards the Kingston Wilderness, around the Alexander Hills to an overlook above Alexander Mine. We then proceeded to Acme Mine for some more exploring. It wasn’t long before we were headed down Sperry Wash towards Dumont Dunes. The Amargosa River is above ground in a number of segments of the wash and we made a half dozen or so river crossings.
Your choice of two trail rides, one Mild and one Wild in the Dayton, NV area. The WILD will be on a more difficult trail and the MILD ride will be on a more moderate trail. Open to Jeeps, trucks, ATVs and SUVs. This is a new annual fund-raiser for N4WDA, although the event has been held for many years by Al Lockett.
Meet at Our Park on Highway 50 at the west end of Dayton at 8:00 AM. We will leave promptly at 8:30 AM. The cost is $40 per vehicle, pay at the event. Bring along water and a lunch as the rides should take 3-4 hours.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
We left the Candy Store in Beatty at 7:00 AM and drove to the Goldwell Open Air Museum to air down. From there we traveled West to Cave Rock Spring for a quick break. Continuing on, our efficient group of explorers consisting of Jeremy riding with me, Jim and Vic persevered to get a few miles of trail behind us before sundown. After another short stop at McDonald Spring, we found a dead end trail to cross off our list of places to investigate in the future.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
The coffee was ready in the lobby of Sunset View Inn at 5:00 AM. After a cup of Joe, we drove up the road to Ash Springs and got some breakfast sandwiches at R Place. It was still early and not wanting to hit any animals in the dark on Highway 93, we decided to follow an 18 wheeler to run interference for us. Mormon Well Road is just South of the Coyote Springs Golf Club on the 168 and we arrived shortly after sunrise to begin our trail run. There were sections of the road that could have been muddy if they were not frozen solid.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
I thought with a weeks notice and delaying the run until Saturday that we would get more people interested in the Alamo Road trail run. If I had known ahead of time it was just going to be the two of us, we could have gone during the week to hopefully see some military aircraft on maneuvers over the Nellis Air Force Range and the Nevada Test Site. Brian and I met at the Desert NWR Visitor Center near Corn Creek at 7:45, aired down and left at 8:00 AM. We could have used a little more breeze to clear the dust from the road, but other than that, it was a beautiful Winter day in the wilderness.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
Immediately after leaving the Lakeside Casino parking lot, Mike, Patti and I proceeded South on Homestead, across the dry lake and caught Tecopa Road to Mesquite Valley Road. On the way to Excelsior Mine Road, we took a side trip up to some unknown mines (possibly lead prospects) at just over 5250′. We connected with Excelsior Mine Road a little ways below Tecopa Pass, traversed the pass, then drove generally Southeast until we reached the trail about 2 miles beyond Powerline Road.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
We wanted to finish the trails that we intended to complete on Wednesday, so Jim, Vic and I met at Horizon Market at Mesquite and the 160 at 7:30 this morning to begin our run. Shortly after we turned onto Powerline Road heading North, we ran into the first of several small herds of horses that we were to encounter today. After we made the turn heading Northeast towards Roadrunner, we came to a second group and just before entering the narrow canyon at Santa Cruz Spring, we spotted a third gathering.
By Denis & Sandi Inman
After topping off with coffee and gasoline at the Maverick at Homestead and the 160, 4 of us began our 7:00 AM start to a busy day of trail running. We headed East on Winery, connected with Gravel Pit Road and proceeded Northeast. It wasn’t long before some horses were sighted grazing a few hundred yards off the road. We explored some trails along the bluff Southeast of Wheeler Wash then dropped down into the wash to check out a couple box canyons.
