Monday, November 19, 2012

VULTURE PEAK TRAIL

One of the bits of information we gathered at the Wickenburg Chamber was the trial up to the summit of Vulture Peak.

Now, don't get me wrong - we weren't ACTUALLY going to climb to the top. Nope those days are gone - for awhile at least. Yes, Cassia is a good little hiker but not that good - yet. Oh sure - it would all go well for awhile - we'd all walk and have a great time but somewhere along the way Cassia would need a lift - trust me.

And the way things are going, by the time Cassia is ready for such a climb Derek and I seriously have our doubts that we would be up for the challenge.

Today, I THOUGHT that since we were going right by it might be nice to get out on a trail to stretch our legs.

Good idea - right?!

WRONG!

All was going well - we found the trail head parking lot - well actually it was 1 mile in so we stopped and parked in the parking lot just off the highway. We were now about 6 miles south of Wickenburg on Vulture Mine Road.




Derek had Roofous and I was with Cassia.

Once we got to the trailhead with no one in site Derek thought to let Roofous off the leash to let him run a bit.

Ok - so we are bit rusty from a few winters before - we completely forgot about....

CHOLLA!



Nice to look at - just don't go close!

So - here is the scoop! Cholla and dogs don't mix. The cholla are sharp and drop their needles around themselves. It took all of 10 seconds for Roofous to step in them, and another 10 for him to try to get them out with his teeth, only to get them stuck in the roof of his mouth.

A trail walk gone wrong.




Since it wasn't all that much fun watching Derek try to wrestle Roofous to the ground to pull the needles out I quickly turned Cassia around to head back to the van. Sure wish I had gotten at least one picture of that though.

We were back at the van and back on the road in mere minutes.

Note to selves: No more walking anywhere near cholla!


I quite like this area south of Wickenburg and it even offers some boondocking spots. However, it is far  from ideal for Derek. You just get that sometimes - a difference in where we like to spend some time.

This was a pretty quick trip for us from Wickenburg to Buckeye - retracing our drive from last spring. Since it was our first time through this way then I took more pictures which you can see here. This time I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. 

By early afternoon we were pulling into one of our favourite urban boondocking spots - the Lowe's at exit 117 along the I10 at Buckeye. 

Ahhhh - it feels a bit like home.

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: As we traveled south on Vulture Mine Road we passed the Vulture Gold Mine. I've yet to take pictures of it because from the road it is hard to get a good shot. However, if you ever this way and are interested in mines, tours are offered.

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