Peck Canyon

May 20, 2000

(Trip Report by Todd Zuercher)

The name for the trip was actually a bit of a misnomer, since we didn't actually get into Peck Canyon on the trails we traveled on Saturday, May 20th. Regardless of the names of the trails that were traversed, seven Broncos, two Jeeps, and a Toyota pickup headed out on Saturday morning for what would prove to be a fine day's worth of four wheeling in central Arizona's beautiful Bradshaw Mountains.

Behind the wheels of the Broncos were Tom and Anna Alexander, Greg and Dodi Banfield, Winston and Margaret Brown, Dean and Bonnie Hathaway with a guest named Fred Bierma, Mike McCarthy, Doug and Jean Schulz and the girls, and Todd Zuercher with Kent Yoder and Ben Fagan.

 

 

Fred Bierma, an EBML list member visiting from Omaha, Nebraska, rode with Deano and Bonnie.

Joe Cayer joined us at Burger King but had already promised to help a friend with a clutch and so was not able to join us. I did not get the names of the Jeep drivers or the Toyota truck owner. On a technical side note, all but one of the Broncos on the trip sported fuel injection.

Meeting up with "Motoman" and his crew

Our trip north from Burger King to the Bumble Bee exit on I-17 was non-eventful. We met Greg, the two Jeeps and the Toyota where the paved road turned to dirt. Greg's truck sports Swampers and he prefers to trailer it on the longer road trips for that reason. After airing down and locking hubs, we headed north and west through Bumble Bee and towards Cleator.

Greg "Motoman" Banfield

As the road descended toward Turkey Creek and the Golden Turkey Mine, I felt my rear end "go soft" and heard the unmistakable growl of a flattened tire. Out came the jack and with the assistance of "Motoman" Greg's on-board air and impact wrench, the tire was quickly changed. It was a bit embarrassing to find that the center hole of my spare wheel didn't fit over my Warn hub on the rear axle. Thankfully Doug's spare was the correct size and fit over the hub. Thanks again Doug!!

After this slight delay, we were soon again on the road headed towards Cleator. After passing through Cleator, we continued towards Crown King for about a mile until turning off to the right on an unimproved road to the DeSoto Mine. We climbed and climbed and finally reached the DeSoto Mine, one of the largest copper mines in the area at one time.

The Rush is ON again!

(but for cool air this time)

It was boasted that the output of the DeSoto would one day reach that of Jerome, but obviously it never met those expectations. However, up until the time of World War I, the mine produced a large amount of copper ore that was carried via an aerial tramway down the rugged mountain slopes to the town of Middleton far below.

Remains of Tram Way Towers

The ruins of several tramway towers can still be seen below the mine. Apparently the mine tunnel structure is quite extensive. One member of our party told how he had explored the mine and found at least 5 different levels of tunnels inside the mighty mountain. We were all very impressed with the steady stream of cold air blowing out of the mineshaft-nature's air conditioning at its best!

After our break at the DeSoto, we continued over the top of the mountain and with good-natured teasing about the lack of four wheeling ringing in my ears, we continued on our way westward. It wasn't long before the comments stopped and people started paying more attention to the challenges on the trail. The narrow trail had several spots where drivers were forced to climb out and look over the edge to see where the trail went! The trail climbed over high ridges and dove into narrow drainages, with some offcamber sections, tire lifting turns, and steep climbs thrown in for good measure. A short time after noon, we reached Trail #89, which comes in from Peck Canyon and the Swastika Mine and runs to the Goat Ranch.

 

 

 

Winston and Margaret Brown

While descending the trail towards the Goat Ranch, I almost picked up a very surprised motorcyclist as a hood ornament when rounding a sharp corner in Broncitis. I'm sure the eyeballs of both parties concerned were about the same size when we rounded the bend and saw each other. In a few minutes, we were all safely parked in the shade trees of Tuscumbia Creek, munching on sandwiches.

Several of us walked downstream from our lunch spot to the site of the Goat Ranch, where two flattened buildings, some old cow bones, a corral, and a herd of nervous cattle now reside. Our group of humans triggered a mini-stampede of the cattle in the area, much to the delight of the kids in our group.
You meet some strange critters out here!

We packed up our lunch remains and hit the trail again as I knew we still had some good 'wheeling ahead of us. Our lead Bronco came across a diamondback rattlesnake in the trail at one point. I was glad for the safety of our truck as the critter hissed and rattled at us. We then climbed over a high ridge and entered a rocky area along Bear Creek.

Doug Schulz enters one of the rougher parts

Mike McCarthy with his High Tech Bronco

Mike McCarthy spotted most of us through the section with little difficulty, but the Toyota's long wheelbase and smaller tires proved to be a real handicap. It took a lot of jockeying, a few dents in the bed, and moving a large boulder, but we finally got him through. The boulder was moved tug-a-war style with about six guys and a tow strap. In the interest of keeping the challenge in the trail, McCarthy suggested we return the boulder to its former position. Several men helped Mike move it, but as it settled, it split in two, jamming three of Mike's fingers quite nicely.

Toyota collects some damage in here

The last report is that the fingers are still sore and the nails will be saved!

The rock splits at a bad time

Deano

 

The next section of mighty Bear Creek proved to be a fun little crawl as well. The Toyota again took a little longer to get through, but emerged unscathed this time.
Motoman motors through and makes it all look easy

Who needs a bumper anyway?

After clearing the last obstacles on Bear Creek, our four wheeling was over as we entered Battle Flat. Tall pine trees guard this pretty spot in the Bradshaws that would make a great camping destination.

Airing up for pavement

We aired up the tires again as soon as we reached the Senator Highway. Surprisingly we heard some cracks of thunder as we were ready to take off and a few miles down the road we were treated to one of those freak Arizona rainstorms. It rained enough to require the windshield wipers and enough to keep the dust down a bit too, which I'm sure the folks in the back were thankful for! At Goodwin we turned right and drove the quick 10 miles to Mayer where we shook the dust from our boots and topped off the tires for good. Nearly all of us ended the run around several tables at the Rock Springs Cafe . Their food always tastes extra good after a long day on the trail.

Another good trail run has gone in the record books for Arizona Classic Bronco. We hope to see you out next month for the camping trip.

- Todd Z.