SOOO the title says it all I finally was able to drive to 4 Peaks all the way. Well rode actually as a passenger in Karla’s, my girlfriend, FJ Cruiser in 4WD. Her having a vehicle that can explore Arizona was definitely a factor in us getting together when we met. We almost didn’t go to 4 Peaks with life and all. It’s easy to make excuses to just stay home, but we got up Sunday morning and I asked if she was ready to go and away we went.
The second attempt I posted on my Behance page titled 4 Peaks 2nd Attempt. It was thwarted by what looked like a riverbed or rocks that had washed over the road during monsoon season. My little Mitsubishi Outlander had the clearance, but not the transmission to deal with such rugged terrain. So I had to turn around. It has since been cleared by a grater.
This was before the Bush Fire burned the area up. The pictures above are the before and after. The Tonto National Forest can be very green when we get rain. Unfortunately in 2020 a car fire on State Highway 87 burned the area up from the 87 to parts of the chain of reservoirs south of Roosevelt Lake. It could have happened naturally from lightning during a monsoon anyway, so just something that was bound to happen. Below are a couple pictures of why. During the 1930’s people used Buffelgrass as cattle feed. Pretty ain’t it?
Well enough crying about the past. Karla, Squeakers, our dog, and I roared up Highway 87 on the crisp March morning to the 4 Peaks Wilderness area just past the Bush Highway. We passed a trailer full of ATV’s entering the area. Before we got there I mentioned there are two paths. One would take us east into the lowlands for some 4×4 fun and the other would take us to 4 Peaks. She chose to go up 4 Peaks. We got in about a mile to find an abandoned campfire still smoldering. We stopped so I could throw some water and dirt on it just in case.
Folks if you are reading this and thinking about going camping up there please be mindful. Leaving something like that behind could destroy an ecosystem that exists no where else in the world. Not to mention hurt people that go deep on the trail if another brush fire was caused from it. In this case it almost wiped out the communities of west of Apache Lake.
One of the first pictures I stopped to take was of a Sugar Bush and the landscape looking back. For anyone feeling bereft this should give you hope life is coming back.
We also saw plenty of wild flowers along the way with lupine, poppies, and Dakota Verbena lining the trail up the mountain and down.
We stopped a few times to take pictures and relieve ourselves along the way up the mountain. It was nice just pausing to soak up the landscape with the sun warming our bodies and breathing in the light crisp air blowing softly through the valleys and draws. Squeakers was loving it too. We thought we got a Tea Cup Chihuahua. He has since proven to be more of a Rat Terrier. Not a dog that rides around in a purse. Here’s a few pictures we coaxed out of him running through the dead wood.
The best part of the trip was riding with Karla to 4 Peaks all the way. The journey may have took a few hours but it’s during those moments together time ceases to exist. A couple people and their dog in bubble of reality far removed from the rigmarole of life experiencing a world less than a hundred miles away that might as well be on a different planet. These are the things we live for, bonding in a deeper more meaningful relationship.
We reached the end of the trail that had a couple spots for camping and a little further down an area to park for hiking. This view almost looks fake, but I assure you that you can pitch a tent and meditate on it for as long as National Park Service will let you. Which I think is about two weeks, might want to do your research before planning.
And finally my favorite picture. A Sanddune Wallflower growing along a grated small ridge of sandy gravel off the side of the road. This was the first time seeing these flowers and my mind was thinking what a wonderful shot it would be to get a close-up with the snow covered mountains in the background.
We finished up with lunch at Butcher Hook, a roadside diner along Route 188. In our quick planning we forgot to pack a lunch and snacks, so this was a welcomed meal after a few hours on the dusty trail. I also was not doing my best thinking and forgot to take a picture of the restaurant and my debit card. The food was awesome!
