Old Roads

The weather people are threatening triple digits which shouldn't come as a surprise but first they called up a day that was cool and threatening rain. Just right for a short road trip.

We drove out past Canyon Lake,

including a stop to check out water levels and water conditions. The water was way too green right now to be conducive to what I was thinking about so we kept going past the marina, past the now closed for the season campground, and past the store and saloon at Tortilla Flats.

Our goal for the day was to check out a mile long section of the original Apache Trail road, used for wagon and truck traffic when the Roosevelt Dam was built.

Most of the flowers had dried and blown away but the brittle bush still had color

and the ocotillo and other types of cactus were blooming or at least starting to create buds.

We drove about 1/2 mile but started getting concerned about the high dry grass in the center of the road, not wanting to park the truck where the muffler might be touching the dry grass. When we found a safe spot, we parked and walked the last 1/2 mile, only to find a clear small turnaround at the end of the road. No worries, the walk gave us a chance to observe the old road route on the other side of the wash.

At one time there had been a bridge across the wash, but now the drivable portion of the road ends at one of the bridge abutments while the geocache we were seeking was on the other side.

The cache was neat & clean, but the best part was that it was an excuse for us to see some history we'd driven past many times.

Our timing was right. We got back to the marina at Canyon Lake in time to have lunch and watch the Dolly depart on its half of a three hour cruise.