Salt River

June 1999

(Trip Report by Doug Schulz)

Due to all the things going on in and out of the ACB this month, selecting a trip for the June run was kind of left until the last minute. I had thought of leading the gang up to Flagstaff where it's cool, then taking them to the ice cave there known as the Lava River Cave since the inside temperature is always about 40 degrees. I thought it would be a nice cool off after our hot June weather, but when our illustrious newsletter editor suggested we stay local and maybe go to the Salt River, it occurred to me that we could save a two and a half hour trip by taking his suggestion. It turned out to be a nice, short, relaxing afternoon.

For those of you not familiar with Arizona, the Salt River is the main river that flows down from the string of lakes that is our water supply. It gets split into canals that go across the Phoenix metropolitan area to water our lawns and when treated, comes out our faucets. The river bed still bisects Phoenix and only flows through Phoenix during flood times, but above the canals, it's still a pretty big river and a haven for locals to swim, tube, and fish in during the hot summer months.

The area surrounding the Blue Point bridge on the Bush highway has become the main spot for 4 wheelers (and a lot of adventurous two-wheelers) to come and park along the shores, and watch the tubers go by, get some sun, and generally hang out with their friends. The water is cold, coming out of the bottom of Saguaro Lake, so it's a good way to cool your heels in the desert heat.

There used to be quite a bit of 4-wheeling there, but it was closed off this year due to excessive damage to the local vegetation. That seems kind of odd to me, since the river bed gets completely washed away every wet season, but evidently, somebody cares about the temporary brush that surrounds the river between floods. The local sherriffs who patrol the area say that the area is only temporarily closed until the vegetation regrows, then they will evaluate how to open up sections of it for off road vehicles later. I still got to use the hubs to pull some of the 2WD folks out of the loose rocks. Sorry, I'm an addict- gotta play with the toys...

This trip was a pretty laid back one. I think most people were getting into the summer vacation mode- I know I was- and we dispensed with the usual meeting and raffle and just kind of relaxed and shot the bull while wading in the cool water. About 10 or 11 Broncos showed up and we all backed up to the water and dropped the tailgates, popped a cool one and lazed around. A couple of the newest members showed up and were introduced, and a couple of prospective members dropped in to see what we're all about. We had to assure them this wasn't a normal run for us, since we barely needed the hubs, but with the temperature over 100, nobody was in a real mood for crawling around in the desert, anyway.

It's always good sport to watch the tubers float down with their vast assortment of equipment, ranging from inflatable kayaks to armies of inner tubes with floating 500 W stereos and cooler chests. It's basically a floating party, so there's a lot of people putting on a show for those on shore. Scuba divers were in the area collecting aluminum cans off the bottom- a lucrative business, considering the amount of beer consumed by the tubers.

New member Julio Ramos brought his beautiful '71 which has undergone quite a transformation in the last six months. It was nice to finally meet him and see the results of all his hard work. Randy Harral broke out the gas grill and cooked up hot dogs for the gang and the kids kept busy splashing around and chasing minnows while we lounged around in the water like a bunch of water buffaloes. It was a great way to relax while looking forward to the Stampede where the roar of engines and cool air is more the norm. Broncos, beer, and bikinis- these are a few of my favorite things...