PHX - Poor Man's Gulch, Turkey Creek, Crown King

First ride back after a 2 (long) month hiatus of refreshing my 450x motor. 4play suggested a Turkey Creek ride which seemed like a great break in ride. Of course, I felt the need to add a little salsa to spice things up...

Today's riders included:

Paul - KTM 505 - new guy - first Nightstalker ride
Slowred - KTM 350
EsconDeasy - KTM 530
ybracing - KTM 450
RWAZ - Polaris RZR (the limo)
Nightstalker - Honda 450x

Paul, he's a little nervous, but we assure him that he'll have a great time.



ybracing and RWAZ



EsconDeasy and Slowred

The first tricky hill isn't far from the main road to Bumble Bee. It's short, but steep and slippery!



EsconDeasy and Nightstalker venture into this mine shaft along the side of the road.



It was spooky!



Back outside of the mine, EsconDeasy recounts the terrifying journey to those smart enough to remain in the sunlight.

RWAZ negotiates some rocky off camber in Turkey Creek.



Crested cactus along the trail.

First option of the day, Poor Man's Gulch. There's an old road there for sure, but there's little evidence of any recent activity.

Paul's steaming out his 505 in a sandy, boulder filled, creek crossing.



Some more bouldery fun awaits!



EsconDeasy





ybracing





Paul





RWAZ is and ANIMAL in that RZR!!

There's a little step up after the boulder field.





Go anywhere, climb anything!

Approaching Cleator's luxury cabin district.



Favorite watering hole.



And bustling business district.

Option #2 for the day. I saw this numbered route on the Prescott NF MVUM. Well, we should check it out!



I just love Arizona backcountry routes like this!!



The road down to Turkey Creek in the foreground, the road out in the background.



The descent was SO steep and SO loose, I had some major concerns about our exit.

Hey, if you can get a pickup truck down here, how hard could it be??



The end of the downhill and definitely the point of no return. Total commitment from here on out.

A brief intermission to enjoy nature...

OK, back to our story... Second Ptolus Campaign Journal, #61, where did I leave off?

Our hearty adventurers had dropped 517 feet in the past 1/2 mile only to be faced with a 700 foot climb in the next mile. I knew continuing forward would be easier!

In all the pushing and pulling and sweating and profanity, I only managed one picture of Slowred riding Paul's 505 up the nastiest part of the climb. Let's just say, it's not a Nightstalker ride until you break out the ropes, and the ropes were out!



EsconDeasy near the top. Our route down in the background.



Nice flat trail out.

A most unusual feature I spied on GoogleEarth. Turns out to be a catchment to fill a watering tank, ingenious!



We had most of the hard stuff behind us, but some special treats still lie before us. We had pretty much cooked Paul on that long uphill. ybracing took him the easy way out to the Crown King road. The remainder of the troop continued around the back of Desoto Mine to Peck Mine road.



The notorious hill!

On to Crown King for some tasty vittles!



Some 650L riders braved the back way to Crown King.



There was no lack of appetite at this table!



The Mill is a pretty cool place to hang!



And eat!

After lunch, we were on a mission to get back to the trucks! I did sneak in a short Nightstalker bonus section. No pictures were taken, I think we only stopped once!

Ride map. Red is up to Crown King, blue is the return. About 66 miles total.



Elevation profile.

Thx for a great ride and RR Nightstalker!

Another excellent report Nightstalker. Yep, you guys are still insane.

Nice!

Thanks Terry. Another great ride. You are most deserving of your Ride Host Award!

I hate that I missed this one

Nice. Wish I was on this one as well. I was thinking of you guys when I was working.

Poor Mans Gulch and 9210A are both roads I've been wanting to explore. The steep parts look like a bit more than I'd want to tackle on my bike. Perhaps I'll hit 'em from both ends and call it good. Thanks for scoutin' 'em out for me! Cool stuff.
So who had the pleasure of riding last in front of the Polaris RZR? He keeps you moving doesn't he? One of the rides I went on, I didn't dare screw up as I could always hear him right there behind me!