Feb 17th 2016 Windy Hill Roosevelt Lake

February 17^th Windy Hill Campground/Coati Loop/ Roosevelt/Lake Tonto National Forest (N33° 39.445’ W111° 04.877’)

A very sad and shocking occurrence - My friend Dick Forer, part of our golfing crew at Salmon Arm, was discovered dead in his trailer in an RV Park in Casa Grande, south of the Phoenix area. Only a few days before, he had stayed with me in his fifth wheel trailer up on Plomosa Road where I was camped. We hiked the desert and spent two days wandering around the Quartzsite RV Show. To all outward appearances, he was fit and healthy, so to suddenly die came as a real shock. An autopsy is being done but I have no idea of the results or cause of death. His daughter, Annette and her husband Frank flew down to deal with matters and take the truck and trailer back to their home in Airdre, Alberta. I came over from Plomosa to assist them in preparing Dick’s trailer for the trip.

 

After my week-long stay at Val Vista RV Park in Casa Grande, I went over to visit the Obornes, Darch and Catherine, in Apache Junction. Squeezing my coach into their curving driveway was quite a challenge but, with guidance from Darch and the loss of a few prickly pear cacti lining the drive, I made it. There I stayed a few days and enjoyed some hikes and a bike ride in the local desert, always uphill with Darch but, since every uphill has a downhill to follow, there must be a balance. I enjoyed the thought that I must be getting fitter by the minute.  

At the time of this writing, I have shifted camp to Roosevelt Lake.

East of Apache Junction/ Phoenix and North of Globe AZ, Roosevelt Lake is a reservoir formed by the Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River.

 There are over 1000 campsites spread over several campgrounds here. Windy Hill is very attractive with trees and shrubbery plus ample space between different campsites. Water is available at various spigots located throughout, there is a central dump station down the road a few miles and no power means that solar users like me are right at home. Unfortunately, generators are allowed to run 24 hours and there is one guy who actually does run his generator all night. What he is up to other than falling asleep in front of his TV or running an oxygen machine is beyond me but I can hear him in the distance. The noise doesn’t really bother me but his closer neighbours must be unhappy and “Handy Bob”, were he here, would be apoplectic. Also, cell reception is marginal at Coati Loop whereas other loops have quite acceptable signals. Washrooms with solar heated showers round out the facilities and are nicely hot in the afternoons. Every day is a sunny one here and temperatures this week are climbing into the mid to high F 80s (C 30s) (low 90s in Phoenix, according to the radio). I shall be hiking at a slow pace – if I can slow it down any more than I plod already, wearing my sweat band and carrying plenty of water.

 

From Roosevelt, a number of back roads and hiking trails spread out (perhaps I should say “up” since everything goes up from here). I am camped with Lyn and Linda Michaud, who are avid hikers. They drag me up a selected trail every day, sometimes accessed by their truck, sometimes, if access roads are of the “unimproved” variety (really rough), we go by Jeep, which can travel pretty well anywhere. I think this activity is good for me though there are moments on the uphills when the heart palpitates and I feel as if I might gasp myself to death. On steep downhills, the hips remind me that my operation was only months ago, not years. Anyway, the complaints disappear overnight and I am usually ready to roll the next morning. Some of the outstanding features of the Roosevelt area are the canyons that descend from a high escarpment across the lake. These have been created by water erosion over the centuries. Comprised mostly of reddish brown quartzite (no relation to the town which added and “s” to distinguish itself from the rock), some of the walls must be close to 1000’ of sheer rock. A few of these canyons are popular with “canyoneers”, people who slide and hike the smooth rock surfaces underlying water in the creeks, swim or wade across pools, and rappel down waterfalls as high as 80 feet. We were just sightseeing from the outlooks above but I could see this as having been a sport for me 40 or 50 years ago. We met some guys who had biked to the bottom of ‘the Jug” trail and back to the trailhead. They said that the water flow was a little strong for safety and postponed for another day. At least their single track descent (600’) to the canyon floor must have been entertaining.

As of today, Lyn and Linda have moved off to Deadhorse State Park in Cottonwood, thenceforth back home to Turner Valley south of Calgary.

 

My mom has had some difficulty hearing on her telephone this winter, so I have arranged to get her a special phone with a “hearing enhanced” earpiece. The audiologist visited her and delivered the new unit, at which time, we conducted a trial with me and my cell phone. In order to do this, I drove up the road to the Tonto Info Center where there was an excellent signal and managed to speak to my mom. In her present state, the conversation was limited to when I would come to visit. Any talk of Arizona camping or activities here at Roosevelt Lake just confused her. In any case, I’m sure she was glad to hear my voice, as I was hers.

 

This past weekend has been Presidents’ Day long weekend, with quite a few campers, a fishing derby and lots of people around. Now, they seem to have disappeared leaving just me and an older couple across the loop in their motorhome, plus large numbers of gambel’s quail who wander around bobbing their heads and seem to have little purpose in life other than to walk in circles, run across open spaces from bush to bush and cluck a lot.

 

Also on the wildlife front, I had a mouse inside the Jeep passenger area. He/she/it was dining on my paper towel roll that I keep under the seat. One night of hunting and the mouse succumbed to the jaws of my trap. I have noticed that many people in the campground, including Lyn, keep the hoods of their vehicles propped open whenever parked. This is to deter packrats, who, given their druthers, prefer dark, enclosed nests rather than open spaces from which to sortie out and dine on car wiring.

 

As mentioned, there are a lot of attractions at Roosevelt, so I am staying one more week to see if I can cover a few more trails. At the beginning of the week, the snow line was at 4100’. Hot weather has now pushed that up to about 5000’, so there is little fear of getting stuck in a drift.

Pics:

            55 Windy Hill Coati loop Camp

            69 Jug Trail to Salome Canyon

            74 Lyn and Linda at Oak Hill TH

            81 Mystery Canyon

            97 Salome Canyon

            102 Small waterfall and pool

            106 JW living on the edge

            109 Parker side canyon