7 Days in the San Rafael Swell

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WestCoast Overlanders

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Enthusiast I

My wife and I are planning a quick trip to the Swell in March. We'll have 7 days to explore and relax from March 11-17th. Any locals interested in joining for some or all of this trip? We have a good base of knowledge of the area but local knowledge is gold, not to mention expanding our contacts in the overlanding community. Our rig is fairly well set up and being solo we would love some company to give some of the harder tracks a go.
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Neal A. Tew

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I hate to see that you received no responses to your post!

So, how did the trip go? I'm headed there in a couple weeks.
 

Neal A. Tew

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And so they did. Thanks, Neal. In that case, I'll look forward to your photos and trip report. :smiley:
You're coming all the way from NC? How about bringing me some boiled peanuts if you pass any fresh ones along the way? ;)
 

huachuca

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You're coming all the way from NC? How about bringing me some boiled peanuts if you pass any fresh ones along the way? ;)
You'd never get me away from our coastal barrier islands or hardwood covered mountains on a permanent basis but I do love some rocks, desert, cactus and conifers from time to time. I was able to spend a lot of my time at Ft Huachuca roaming around the boonies, really fell in love with the southwest and have returned often over the years.

It so happens I grew up on a two mule tobacco/cotton/peanut farm in northeastern NC. Still live on it and have ready access to all the peanuts (raw, boiled or parched) you could ever want but it will be a few months before this year's crop is ready. Although some folks (likely transplanted yankees) will boil dried peanuts, that's just wrong. Only green peanuts, dug a week or so before maturity and boiled immediately are acceptable. Remind me in Auguest and I'll be glad to send some your way.

Al
 

WestCoast Overlanders

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Hey Neal, nice to see that someone replied on this post. Never did get any response on this one but hey, this coming September will see us going to Sedona, one half of the Arizona Peace Trail, Kofa Wilderness, Trona Pinnacles, Mojave Rd, Death Valley and as many hot springs as we can find along the way. Still hoping to hook up with some like minded adventurers on any part of this trip.
 
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Neal A. Tew

US Rocky Mountain Local Expert
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3,817
Pueblo West, CO
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Neal
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Tew
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Hey Neal, nice to see that someone replied on this post. Never did get any response on this one but hey, this coming September will see us going to Sedona, one half of the Arizona Peace Trail, Kofa Wilderness, Trona Pinnacles, Mojave Rd, Death Valley and as many hot springs as we can find along the way. Still hoping to hook up with some like minded adventurers on any part of this trip.
That sounds like a great trip!

Do you have any suggestions for the Swell? Travel quarantines aside, we're supposed to head that way Saturday.
 

Neal A. Tew

US Rocky Mountain Local Expert
Mod Team
Member
Member

Member III

3,817
Pueblo West, CO
First Name
Neal
Last Name
Tew
Member #

12384

Ham/GMRS Callsign
N1TEW
You'd never get me away from our coastal barrier islands or hardwood covered mountains on a permanent basis but I do love some rocks, desert, cactus and conifers from time to time. I was able to spend a lot of my time at Ft Huachuca roaming around the boonies, really fell in love with the southwest and have returned often over the years.

It so happens I grew up on a two mule tobacco/cotton/peanut farm in northeastern NC. Still live on it and have ready access to all the peanuts (raw, boiled or parched) you could ever want but it will be a few months before this year's crop is ready. Although some folks (likely transplanted yankees) will boil dried peanuts, that's just wrong. Only green peanuts, dug a week or so before maturity and boiled immediately are acceptable. Remind me in Auguest and I'll be glad to send some your way.

Al
My boiled peanut request wasn't all that serious. I grew up in south Alabama. The boiled peanuts are one of the few things I miss. My grandparents grew peanuts, corn, cotton, soy, etc. For years they actually operated driers for the community that hooked up to the grain trailers.

I was wondering about your usage of Huachuca. My only experience is with the Army MARS gateway station there. I was a MARS operator for a number of years and connected to them many times..
 

WestCoast Overlanders

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Enthusiast I

That sounds like a great trip!

Do you have any suggestions for the Swell? Travel quarantines aside, we're supposed to head that way Saturday.
What kind of rig are you driving? We have a Tacoma OffRoad, no lift, slightly larger tires so you should be good. There's just so much to see there so it depends on how long you have. You can't beat the camping options and views almost anywhere at The Wedge. Driving from The Wedge down in to Buckhorn Wash Road you have the pictograph panel, not to be missed and a short drive past there (1.9 miles) is a small track on the left that will take you in to Calf/Pine Canyon. You will see it on google maps. Once past the gate (please leave it the way you find it) you will come to a fork, take the track to the left and go approx 400 yards and you will find a wonderful camp on the left nestled in the trees. This canyon and Pine Canyon to the right offer several dispersed options for camping. We drove Cane Wash to do the upper part of Fix It Pass trail which will bring you out by Locomotive Point (more pictographs) and Dutchman Arch. Fix It Pass Trail is rough with large rocks, just air down and go slow. If you head towards Jackass Benches you can do Black Dragon Wash, a spectacular track that will bring you out on the I70 44.5 miles west of Green River. South of I70 is full of options. Swasey Cabin, with routes back to Temple Mountain and the Temple Mountain Pictograph Panel. There's a great route from Goblin Valley down Wild Horse Rd/wash to cross Muddy Creek and take you all the way to Cathedral Valley. These are but a few and for this area I used a combination of google maps, Trailsoffroad and Gaia for my research. Good luck and let me know how it works out for you. Anything else you want to know ask away and I'll do my best to help you out.

Derek
 

huachuca

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1,421
tarboro nc
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Al
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My boiled peanut request wasn't all that serious. I grew up in south Alabama. The boiled peanuts are one of the few things I miss. My grandparents grew peanuts, corn, cotton, soy, etc. For years they actually operated driers for the community that hooked up to the grain trailers.

I was wondering about your usage of Huachuca. My only experience is with the Army MARS gateway station there. I was a MARS operator for a number of years and connected to them many times..
I was a 72F40 buck sgt with STRATCOM, Hdq. Co., 11th Signal Brigade at Ft Huachuca from 8/69 - 11/70. Officially, I was assigned to the Comm Center but, as the most junior non-com on the Post with a TS clearance, I trained with the S&R team (We had a Mohawk OV-1 wing that carried crypto gear and the Army required a high security clearance NCO to be on site if one of those went down). Fortunately, I was involved with only one actual recovery but I did get to play in the rocks fairly often.

I never dealt directly with any of the MARS folks but had a working knowledge of their function. - thanks for your assistance.

I was at Ft Gordon for AIT where we had about six guys in each class graduating weekly. Everyone in every group ahead of me was sent to Schofield Barracks, HI and then, in all liklihood, to Nam, My class got orders for Huachuca which no one, not even my 1st Sgt who'd been in for twenty plus years, had ever heard of. Turned out to be more than OK.

Al
 
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