Signal Peak
June 22, 1997
(Trip Report by Deano)
Signal Peak is about 20 miles above Globe, Arizona with the radio towers, fire lookout tower, and camp grounds all located along a good, but dusty, dirt road.
We met up with trip Leader Todd Zuercher and the other club members at Florence Junction, about 40 miles east of Phoenix on highway 60. There were seven early Broncos in attendance.
My daughter and wife in front of Todd Zuercher's Bronco
My wife Bonnie and your youngest daughter, Denise, came along for their first run with the club. Dec Thackston and Marj Turley were there with their very sharp turqoise and white Bronco.
Dec & Marj's Bronco in front of Jamesa Treadwell's
Mike Darner and his family were there and I quizzed him about the neat cargo carrier on top of his Burgandy colored truck.
Mike & Donna Darner's Bronco
New members Bart and Cheryl Park and family came along, also with a Burgandy Bronco. Kevin and Jamesa Treadwell and family had their red '77 with white stripe. Also Frank and Jay were along in Frank's Bronco and Todd had some friends riding along with him.
Frank Hoadley's red Bronco and Todd Z.'s
We set out from Florence Junction and ran to Globe where we regrouped in a cookhouse parking lot with view of the mountain to plan our final assault.
Getting ready to leave from Globe
The CB's came in handy as some of us missed the turn and had to be talked in. Once underway again, our small convoy traversed the back streets of Globe without incident and soon struck the well graded gravel road that would lead us toward destiny.
Frank's motor died at one point, but I think he just needed to switch fuel tanks, as he was soon rolling again. On the uphill washboard road sections I was hearing some unpleasant 'clunks' in my front end and stopped to check it out, but couldn't find the cause.
Before long we reached the Signal Peak turn, but it had a locked gate so Todd said we would try Pinal Peak about a mile further down the road. This worked out fine as the camp area was almost vacant and we settled in for lunch and plenty of BSing for the adults and running around for the kids. In the cool, fragrant mountain air more than one of the party considered mutiny on the subject of returning to Phoenix.
Kicking back at the campgrounds
Still worried by the sounds I'd heard during the ascent, I again ventured under the now-filthy-with-dust machine to look for trouble.
My truck at campsite
Remembering some sage advice I had seen on the Early Bronco Email list I had Bonnie turn the wheel back and forth while I watched the steering box and linkage. Linkage looked fine, but WAIT! The steering unit was leaning back and forth each time direction was reversed. Closer examination showed a crack in the frame alongside one of the mounting bolts. Two of the three bolts looked okay so I decided to just take it easy on the way home and hope it held together. If it would make it to Globe, and pavement, without getting any worse I was sure it would make it the rest of the way home.
After we ate, Todd wanted to drive back to the Signal Peak gate, park, and walk up to the towers from there. So, Todd, his friends, Dec, Marj, and my bunch all hiked up to the top, took a few pictures, went partway up the fire lookout tower and took more pictures, and eventually started down the road again.
The 'Forbidden' tower
About the time we noticed a sign saying "NO VISITORS ALLOWED ON
TOWER" one of Todd's friends noticed that there was someone up in the
observation room at the top of the tower beckoning him to come back up. I said
"He probably wants to give someone a ticket and doesn't want to come down, he
he!"
The rest of us went down to our trucks and waited. While we were there some guys in a blue Jeep came roaring by, raising a lot of dust. Todd and his friends returned unscathed and we all headed for Globe. I wanted to stick close to Todd on the way back in case I did break down but I managed to miss a turn and Todd had to talk me back by CB, meanwhile the police were giving him the third degree thinking he and his friends might be the guys in the blue Jeep who had been racking up complaints in the area. They even wanted to know who he was conspiring with by radio.
But we were soon on our way again. We stopped for a treat at the Dairy Queen in Superior and the marked rise in temperature from where we had been made the place very popular, crowded in fact. There was more talk about putting air conditioning in EB's during this trip than I can recall from previous excursions.
- deano