The arrival of my friend Gary just before Thanksgiving was a great motivator , after catching up on all the outside world news and the folks we know in common , we had a great Thanksgiving meal here at the park . Food beyond expectations and people , literally from all over the world ! One couple from Germany, a couple from Canada , and the rest from all over the U.S. Most of the residents here are travelers so stories flew fast furious about all the places we had all been , the most astonishing thing was the lack of talk about politics or celebrities ! Truly a Thanksgiving ! The crowd thinned out and we all trundled to our own places of rest .
Friday Gary and I got an early start and we went to Portal first , luckily the little store was open and we could grab a snack , little did we know these would be the last people we would see for the next five or six hours ! Up over the small hill to the entrance of Coronado National Forest and then we started UP , the gradual incline and paved road gave way to an dirt mountain road ! Now to be fair there was a sign that said that the road was not well maintained , and it was very narrow , and could be impassable in the winter . Well , it is the end of November but no signs of winter as yet ! Fortunately for us , Gary is an excellent driver and has experience on mountain roads , plus He has a new pick up with lots of ground clearance ! Friends and neighbors , I mean that road went UP ! Switchbacks , sharp blind turns and some very slippery and soft spots made for a very interesting ride ! Of course the scenery is breathtkaing and if you don't feel whatever you believe in hand on you , you are seriously bent in your thinking .We made it over the top[elv 6800ft] to turn off at the other Dirt road leading down and in the direction of Chiricahua National monument . This also was an entertaining ride as the swichbacks , etc, were now going the other direction ! Rough is a vast understatment for this road I would still reccomend this trip to anytone if you are a good driver and have no problems with heights ! Some drop offs were as much as 800 to 1500 ft sraight down , and there are no guard rails ! This is a mountain road , at the begining there is a sign that warns you NO VEHICLES OVER 29 FEET , yet at least once or twice a month some dipstick truck driver trying to avoid the scales or whatever attempts it and they close the road until they can retrieve all the pieces ! The roadto the National Monument is somewhat better and inside the park the roads are paved and well maintained . However our destination was the Masai point that overlooks the Apache stronghold , and again it was UP ! The arrival at the top , again left me virtually dumbstruck ! How did these people exist in this place ? ANYONE who could find a way rto live in this should be left alone ! I'll let the pictures do the explaining , I was shaking my head in wonder all the waty back home . Leaving the Monument we decided to go to Willcox AR. to get a bite to eat and then head back to Rodeo . Distance to Willcox , about 40 miles , back to Rodeo about a hundred miles . We traveled this in less time then it took us to go over the mountains to the monument ! Distance from Rusty's to Portal , 7 miles , over the montain to the monment , about 45 or 50 miles ! But what a ride !!!
Gary had to leave to take care of business today [Sunday ] but He'll be back ! This area infects you worse than any disease , you can't get enough of it ! Here are a few of the hundred and some pictures I took on Friday ... By the by Masai Elev 8000 ft plus it was right nippy ...34 degrees !
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