Globe North exploration — Higher Ground 4x4

Dec 15, 2009 08:31 PM #1

OffroadAZ and I dedicated a Sunday to just exploring. Printed out a few maps, put a couple waypoints in the GPS and set out to see what we could find. No clear objectives, just some could be points of interest. We were relying on old topo maps so we knew listed roads could be all but erased by plenty of years so we knew some trail blazing on foot might be on the agenda.
We took the 188 North of Globe as the sun was coming up to some old mining areas and camps, traveling under the highway and past countless windmills, some still in commission.
For our first adventure checkbox, we drove in as far as we could and then hiked towards some old ruins listed on the maps. As soon as we left the vehicle, it began snowing on us, pretty big chunkers but it only stuck in a few isolated areas. Interestingly enough while bushwhacking, we found ourselves on an old two track that hadn’t seen tires in longer than the center growth could remember. Almost non-existent in some areas, it brought us closer to our destination faster than it would have through the thick brambles. When the trail ended we hiked uphill towards the sets of ruins. Being that they weren’t cliff set, we didn’t expect much, more like the ones we found above Lake Peasant. There were supposed to be 5 structures on the hill we approached but locating them was tough because of the brush. We did find a few clearly defined partial walls boxing in old one room dwellings but no other remains or relics. Seeing that they weren’t still in very recognizable form, we opted out of climbing over to the next hill for three more mapped ruins. We took the trail back to the vehicle now under light rain, our pants wet from their encounters with the choked and thorny vegetation. We ate lunch and let our jeans warm up in the vehicle while planning out our next destination.
We drove down the roads a bit trying to find a closer launch for our new hike. As the crow flies route measuring becomes tough when the elevation lines start stacking up. One trail we drove down got us closer to where we wanted to be but the tilt of the road mixed with the fresh mud got to be too much work. We had to intentionally stay higher than we wanted on one side to account for the slide back towards the bottom of the hill on the right. We ran out of room for the foot or two of safe slide available so we re thought our strategy (see chickened out and turned around). We found a safer drop zone and began hiking again. Again we also managed to find an old trail that a short horse seemed to think was good enough at some point so we followed it for as long as we could, then began climbing again. It was still raining on and off but when we reached the top we actually saw the sun for a couple minutes. On the other side of the hill, a cloud was dragging through the small valley below us. It looked cool, but the 1000ft hike down then back up did not. We drank in the view then tried to find our way back.
Once in the X, we drove down another series of trails, stopping off and exploring some old mines, and Giacoma Camp. From there we travelled closer to Dixon Camp and then hiked the rest of the way in hopes of seeing some more aged remains. All structures were unfortunately gone there too, with foundations and a few roof pieces strewn about. Old pieces of glass bottle were also everywhere but none were found whole. The sun was beginning to set so we got back to the vehicle and drove out, taking a different route and wash system back to the highway just see if there was anything else out warranting an adventure for next time.

Pictures for reference:

The wash we began driving down during sunrise