Hurricane Draw, AZ

I went down to Hurricane on Friday looking for some time off the pavement, off the grid, off line, and off the air. I left the pavement near Sky Ranch and made it all the way to the power line south of Cottonwood Canyon without incident. It was late on a winter day and the sun was low in the sky ahead of me. I crossed the power line road, crossed a steep gulch, and started into Black Rock Canyon. That was probably a mistake. On the map the road looked like the main route south along the base of the Uinkaret Plateau; plus, it was the Temple Trail. It was, unfortunately, as rough as anything I've ever driven, more of an ATV trail than a road. There were a couple places so narrow that I wasn't sure the Chev would fit. Of course, once you've started, it is almost impossible to turn around, and you ain't gonna be able to back all the way out. I passed the parts of three other vehicles that had been abandoned along the way (fortunately they seemed to be many years old and were not accompanied by human skeletons) and stopped often to move bowling ball sized chunks of basalt off the "road."

By the time I reached the Lower Hurricane Valley near East Mesa, it was dark. At least the road was better and the Chev had, once again, proven itself, but now I needed a place to camp. In the end, there wasn't really a camp. I pulled off the road beneath the East Mesa and went to sleep on the seat of the truck. The forecast of pleasant lows in the 30s and 40s had been incorrect and it was in the 20s with a biting wind. When I woke at 6a, the inside of the truck was thick with ice and daylight was still two hours away. This is, of course, one of the problems with sleeping rough during December: There are 14 hours of darkness each day.

I made some coffee before the sun was up, got the truck started, and headed down the Hurricane Draw. By 10a, the ice was gone from the windows and the road was smooth and straight. The big open end of the Lower Hurricane Valley was before me, with Mt. Logan and Mt. Trumbull in the distance. I reached the Navajo Trail by 11a. I stopped there to brew more coffee and eat a Poptart. I had left the pavement on the edge of Hurricane about 19 hours (and 35 miles) before. I got going again headed west and, after a few miles, turned up the Sunshine Trail. This "trail" was much better than the one for reaching the Temple, though I am not sure why. I made it all the way to Yellowhorse Flat before I stopped for some more food.

This wasn't intended to be a two night trip and I wanted to reach pavement again before the sun set. Fortunately, it wasn't long before I came out on top of the mesa above the Well. I could see Warner Ridge and St. George in the distance. I drove down off the mesa and across the flat. When I reached the outskirts of Washington, a yuppie driving some kind of silly Toyota passed me headed south. It was the first person or vehicle I'd seen in 24 hours. I hit the pavement again after 80 solo miles on the Strip and drove up through Washington to the freeway. I was home before dark.

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