Red Creek, 2/1/19 (1 Viewer)

[richardlillard1]

I debated where to post this, and if it would have any merit, but I know you guys have always been fond of this trail and I feel it doesn’t hurt to remind anyone that now is a great time to get out there and enjoy it. If this isn’t welcome here or is otherwise out of place, please let me know and I’d be glad to delete, edit, or whatever is necessary to amend it.

Since I was busy through early afternoon and Kyle had an appointment to get his tires balanced at 9am in Fountain Hills (or at least he was supposed to, the chud ) we decided to make this a late afternoon run with some camping at the end.

We figured we would be running at least some of the trail in the dark, but also decided to make this kind of a speed run to keep the challenge up.

Total trail time from first hitting the creek/canyon area to the end was almost 50 minutes.

Probably could have shaved some time if we hadn’t bothered with any pictures and the couple poser shots here and there, but so it goes.

Overall it’s largely the same as it’s been; a couple sections have more sand, the off-camber weird spot with that tree stump has plenty of space, the tubs had a pretty good amount of water (but not the most I’ve seen), and the last wash section seemed somewhat rockier than in years past which was kind of annoying.

Time for some pictures!

Pretty cute:

Kyle playing in the rocks:

My big chungus (actually it’s name is Old Baconsides) making some love to the rocks in the slot:

I got a big wheel lift in that one up & over rock, but it worked out alright:

 

[richardlillard1]

Kyle drove it a bit cleaner than I did, but then again he has the fleecy “Collector’s Edition” so that must be why:

Then we ran the tubs and it was fine except for the wet brake noises.

Poserrific:

Seriously, worst poser positioning ever, we didn’t even flex them out completely. Sad!

I’m pretty sure these pictures could be used in a Gillette commercial.

We decided to quit screwing around and tried to make the river before it got too dark., so no pics past this point. The last section took us about 15 minutes and it’s kind of annoying because it’s this rocky mess and whenever you try to get some speed there’s like weird off cambers and stuff and some diff grabby rocks. But pretty darn worth it.

 

[richardlillard1]

The scenery at the end is great!

Then we made a campfire and that worked out alright after a lengthy search for firewood (we didn’t want to cut any off the surrounding trees).

After a great evening around the fire (insert Dutch rudder joke here), we awoke to a busy air strip. I could continue if there’s interest, hope you enjoyed this first part!

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Thanks for sharing and for the reminder of one of many great trail in the area.

 

[05Tacorunner]

Thanks for sharing. This is one trail I have not yet ran but want to more and more as people post about it.

 

[DSRTRDR]

yeah, it's fun to watch them check out and circle the airstrip - some even dare to land

we have gotten to Red Creek from the water side by canoe several times, and with trucks from the trail as well - always liked it (except the one time some years ago when the area was overridden by trash )

 

[murf]

I’m pretty sure these pictures could be used in a Gillette commercial.

 

[GBinAZ]

Thanks Richard !

 

[richardlillard1]

Thanks for sharing. This is one trail I have not yet ran but want to more and more as people post about it.

I can’t recommend it enough! Great scenery and the potential for added fun from the planes is worth it at the end. From what I remember you don’t really need sliders, but bumpers are somewhat recommended. That said if you’re looking for an excuse to upgrade your rear bumper, there’s a spot in the tubs which can hook you up!

yeah, it's fun to watch them check out and circle the airstrip - some even dare to land

we have gotten to Red Creek from the water side by canoe several times, and with trucks from the trail as well - always liked it (except the one time some years ago when the area was overridden by trash

It was quite busy this past weekend. We even got buzzed! So cool!

Well, I’m not wrong.

Thanks Richard !

For sure, thanks for taking the time to read it!

Like I said, if you guys are interested I could go on, here’s a teaser of the next day’s entertainment!

 

[richardlillard1]

yeah, it's fun to watch them check out and circle the airstrip - some even dare to land

we have gotten to Red Creek from the water side by canoe several times, and with trucks from the trail as well - always liked it (except the one time some years ago when the area was overridden by trash

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the area trashed, but one year I went in there on Christmas Day and a bunch of people had setup a small village just before the gate in the trees. They had even cut up a bunch of Dorito bags and other stuff to decorate one of the trees. So weird.

They cleaned up after themselves, so I guess whatever floats your boat.

 

[tls3601]

Very nice write up, interesting area.

 

[DSRTRDR]

For those who may not know: this trail is on the list of trails to be closed when the new Tonto National Forest travel management plan is finally passed - so if you want to run it, you ought to visit before that happens

 

[05Tacorunner]

For those who may not know: this trail is on the list of trails to be closed when the new Tonto National Forest travel management plan is finally passed - so of you want to run it, you ought to visit before that happens

Do you know when this will take effect?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Do you know when this will take effect?

It has been TALKED about for some time

 

[05Tacorunner]

It has been TALKED about for some time

Wanting to make it out there possibly the weekend of the 13th! Just wanted to make sure it was still open

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Wanting to make it out there possibly the weekend of the 13th! Just wanted to make sure it was still open

Reach out to @-Spike- or @richardlillard1 they are both very active with TRAL, local, and up to date.

 

[-Spike-]

Travel Management is in its 'final stages'.

We're hearing about a year.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Travel Management is in its 'final stages'.

We're hearing about a year.

Does that mean it is set to be closed when the Travel Management finalizes?

 

[-Spike-]

Does that mean it is set to be closed when the Travel Management finalizes?

Short answer- I don't know. Sometime around then, not before, if I understand correctly.

Long answer- The closure is part of Travel Management. Quoted from the March TRAL meeting notes: "Travel management update – The Draft SEIS will be released April 5th for public input during the 45 day comment period. Final approval is expected before the end of the year." However, this song's been on replay for about 10 years now, so we'll see. I don't know when any part(s) of the plan will actually be implemented- they can't just expect people to know what's going on. They'll probably be publishing a map at some point, I'd guess that's when the closures will take effect, unless they post something on the trail itself at some point.

 

[DSRTRDR]

the "preferred" Travel Management plan depicts FR18 for closure - they call it "decomissioned"

unfortunately, the Forest Service file is too big to attach here - but you can find it on the interwebs by searching with this term "59232_FSPLT3_1653481" - until Travel Management is in effect, it's a draft