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| Scenic Drive | 135.13 Miles |
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| | Scenic Drive | 135.13 Miles | | | |
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| no partners | | | Mom and I took a trip that My Dad always loved. We headed down to the Petroglyph site at the South end of the Estrella Mountains. This site is located on the Gila River Indian Reservation. I was waiting for my check from work today (which didn't come) so we got a late start. By the time we got there at about 1:00 it was a barely bearable 105 degrees. The road South from Komatke is a bit rough. I wouldn't recommend doing it in a sedan but my stock 4X2 Ford Ranger made it just fine. I had to keep the momentum up in a couple sandy stretches but other than that, getting to the glyphs wasn't a real problem. I haven't been here since the 80s and the glyphs aren't quite as I remember them. There was a lot of thievery and damage to the glyphs. Before I decided to go, I checked out the Description, Officially called Patio Area Petroglyph Site. The description stated that there was a lot of trash at the site but I found it to be relatively clean except for all the broken glass and spray paint. After viewing the glyphs, we decided to continue on around the Estrellas to Rainbow Valley. We turned North off of SR 238 on to 99th ave. A short while later we found the gas pipeline road that I was looking for. This road is not recommended for sedans either. I had my little Ranger acting like a Bronco! A couple times only the two front wheels or the two back wheels were on the ground and I wasn't going very fast. I worked the full range of it's stock suspenssion. As we got deeper into Rainbow Valley and civilization, the roads smoothed out quite a bi. I was able to do about 50 MPH and make some time.We came home through the community of Estrella, Goodyear, Avondale, Litchfield and Glendale back into Phoenix. My Dad would have loved this trip again. |
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Understand, when you eat meat, that something did die. You have an obligation to value it - not just the sirloin but also all those wonderful tough little bits.
Anthony Bourdain |
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