Turkey was finished. And not being much of a shopper, we took advantage of the long weekend to bolt out of town towards western AZ, and its unknown (to me) deserts. Our trip was intended to be my wife, my brother, and myself. But, with a case of bronchitis brewing, my wife stayed behind. She was kind enough to pack up the best d@%n collection of camping leftovers ever, which provided our sustenance for the Fri-Sun weekend.
I had just finished a front axle partial-rebuild (my first foray into the 80's front axle guts). 5.29's on an ARB front end were just rebuilt by Zuk, along with rear 5.29's to complement the Aussie locker already inside. Front end wheel bearings were retained (Koyo, only 25K old), but cleaned, repacked, etc along with all new Cruiser-Outfitter seals and gaskets from the knuckle balls out. With only 45mi on them since the rebuild… lets break in the new gears with a 500 mi road trip!
Leaving Flagstaff as the sun rose, we headed south through Sedona, Cottonwood, and over Mingus Mtn into Prescott. We stopped for a coffee and breakfast at the Raven Cafe, just off of Gurley St, and then avoided the Black Friday shoppers by heading towards Iron Springs Rd. Traffic had been light all day, but really thinned out by the time we got to Skull Valley and Kirkland. Here, we turned towards the mining town of Bagdad on Hwy 96. It is rumored to be the last "company town" in America. We gassed up in Bagdad, then headed south on Hwy 97, and turned R onto Burro Creek (Six Mile Crossing) Rd. A fantastic, undulating trip through transitional Sonoran-Mojave Desert lands eventually brought us down Suicide Wash to the riparian Oasis of Burro Creek.
We ventured several miles upstream, checked out several old ranching homesteads, and found a fantastic creekside campsite under the cottonwoods and sycamores, serenaded by waterfalls. Fishing ensued, several small sunfish were landed, but the 18" monsters we saw eluded us. Perhaps they were descendants of the long-lost Colorado salmon. After several red Pepsis, and a great night's sleep, we packed up and headed across the creek and remained northbound towards Signal Rd. We traveled about 25mi on dirt so far, seeing only 2 other vehicles… as expected, the place was empty. Eventually we crossed Hwy 93, and headed further west towards the ghost town mining camps of Signal and Virginia City.
I had just finished a front axle partial-rebuild (my first foray into the 80's front axle guts). 5.29's on an ARB front end were just rebuilt by Zuk, along with rear 5.29's to complement the Aussie locker already inside. Front end wheel bearings were retained (Koyo, only 25K old), but cleaned, repacked, etc along with all new Cruiser-Outfitter seals and gaskets from the knuckle balls out. With only 45mi on them since the rebuild… lets break in the new gears with a 500 mi road trip!
Leaving Flagstaff as the sun rose, we headed south through Sedona, Cottonwood, and over Mingus Mtn into Prescott. We stopped for a coffee and breakfast at the Raven Cafe, just off of Gurley St, and then avoided the Black Friday shoppers by heading towards Iron Springs Rd. Traffic had been light all day, but really thinned out by the time we got to Skull Valley and Kirkland. Here, we turned towards the mining town of Bagdad on Hwy 96. It is rumored to be the last "company town" in America. We gassed up in Bagdad, then headed south on Hwy 97, and turned R onto Burro Creek (Six Mile Crossing) Rd. A fantastic, undulating trip through transitional Sonoran-Mojave Desert lands eventually brought us down Suicide Wash to the riparian Oasis of Burro Creek.
We ventured several miles upstream, checked out several old ranching homesteads, and found a fantastic creekside campsite under the cottonwoods and sycamores, serenaded by waterfalls. Fishing ensued, several small sunfish were landed, but the 18" monsters we saw eluded us. Perhaps they were descendants of the long-lost Colorado salmon. After several red Pepsis, and a great night's sleep, we packed up and headed across the creek and remained northbound towards Signal Rd. We traveled about 25mi on dirt so far, seeing only 2 other vehicles… as expected, the place was empty. Eventually we crossed Hwy 93, and headed further west towards the ghost town mining camps of Signal and Virginia City.
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. Maybe it was in my head, but the driveline vibes increased after this.
