Post #1 of 4 ~ Summer 2024 ~ Idaho Off Roading & The Pacific Northwest

It’s time to go again!

The plan was to meet our off-road group in Nevada on July 19th for an off-road adventure continuing into Idaho. After breaking from the group at the end of the planned 9 days, our plan was to continue on our own up into Montana and the Pacific Northwest for several more weeks.

We’re done climbing up into the rooftop tent (for now), and have come up with a new off road sleeping/ living arrangement. We just barely finished a pretty ambitious 3 month project converting our little homemade Mini Max off-road trailer into more of a off-road sleeper.

The trailer will need more work when we get home. The slide out kitchen and interior drawer storage system will take some careful planning. We just ran out of time.

---

We had several Arizona and Utah stops on the way to the meet our group at Great Bend National Park in Nevada.

Montezuma Castle, Camp Verde AZ

The main structure comprises five stories and about 20 rooms and was built over the course of three centuries. Several Hopi clans and Yavapai communities trace their ancestries to early immigrants from the Montezuma Castle/Beaver Creek area. Clan members periodically return to these ancestral homes for religious ceremonies. 

Tuzigoot National Monument

“Tú Digiz/Tuzigoot″ is a Tonto Apache term for “crooked waters,” from nearby Pecks Lake, a cutoff meander of the Verde River. The pueblo was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE. Tuzigoot is the largest and best preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley. The ruins at Tuzigoot incorporate very few doors; instead, the inhabitants used ladders accessed by trapdoor type openings in the roofs to enter each room.

First night camping, Pine Flat Campground in Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona

Walnut Canyon National Monument, Flagstaff AZ

The canyon rim elevation is 6,690 ft and the canyon’s floor is 350 ft lower. A 0.9 mile long loop trail descends 185 ft into the canyon passing 25 cliff dwelling rooms constructed by the Sinagua, a pre-Columbian cultural group that lived in Walnut Canyon from about 1100 to 1250 AD.

---

Vermillion Cliffs on the way to Jacob Lake

---

Pipe Springs National Monument

This little monument was in my passport book, so we couldn’t pass up that stamp! We were very much surprised by this little gem. The sight has been beautifully restored and maintained. The buildings and grounds are amazing.

Beneath colorful sandstone cliffs in northern Arizona, Pipe Spring National Monument preserves the story of human life, settlement, and struggle in the heart of the southwestern desert.

For thousands of years, native people, plants, and animals relied on this spring for its life-giving water. Beginning in the 1850s, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints began settling the area that the Kaibab Paiute called home.

---

The Coral Pink Sand Dunes

The park features uniquely pink-hued sand dunes located beside red sandstonecliffs.

The dunes are formed from the erosion of pink-colored Navajo sandstone surrounding the park. High winds passing through the notch between the Moquith and Moccasin Mountains pick up loose sand particles and then drop them onto the dunes. The dunes are estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old.

---

The Fab Rats YouTubers Paul Cox’s aunts run this great little drive in diner in Glendale, Utah. We stopped for burgers.

---

---

Navajo Lake Campground.

---

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Cedar Breaks is a natural amphitheater 3 miles across, with a depth of over 2,000 feet. The elevation of the rim of the amphitheater is over 10,000 feet above sea level. Rising above the rim is the prominent Brian Head, the peak of which lies a short distance outside of the National Monument boundary.

The rock of the amphitheater is more eroded than, but otherwise similar to, formations at Bryce Canyon National Park.

---

Great Basin National Park and The Lehman Caves. Meeting up with the 4×4 Overland expedition group.

It’s time to seriously hit the trails, 9 days off-road planned.

The Ward Charcoal ovens.

The charcoal ovens are associated with the silver mining ghost town of Ward, Nevada,established in 1876. The town at its peak had a population of 1500, two newspapers, a school, fire department, two smelters, and a stamp mill. The town declined after 1880, with a fire in 1883 destroying a third of the town. The post office closed in 1888. Mining revived briefly in the 1930s and 1960s. The town has been mostly destroyed by repeated flash flooding due to its low-lying site. Only the smelter, mill foundations, and cemetery are left.

---

Ely Nevada

We came for the train! Coal fired and still in operation!

---

Time to seriously hit the trails. It wouldn’t be an off-road adventure if you didn’t get dirty.

Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge lies at the southern end of Ruby Valley in northeast Nevada. Flanked on the west by the rugged and scenic Ruby Mountains, it is one of the most remote refuges in the lower 48 states. The refuge encompasses 39,928 acres of marsh, meadows, grasslands, and brush covered upland habitats. The Ruby Valley is at an elevation of about 6,000 feet.

Camping in Lamoille Canyon

---

Idaho!

Twin Falls, Idaho, Shoshone Falls

A park worthy of national recognition is the site of the famous Shoshone Falls waterfall, with a vertical drop of 212 feet and spanning 900 feet wide. Shoshone Falls is often referred to as the Niagara of the west

---

And here’s where the trouble started and our plans changed.

We’d been having some issues with our Australian Arc off-road trailer hitch allowing too much play for the little trailer. It works great as designed off road as it has 2 axis 360 degree rotation that tends to cause two much sway at highway speeds. We always prefer to take the two lane backroads vs. freeways. This trip had several stretches of freeway at 70 MPH. Rather than take a chance and not wanting to hold the others up, we decided to stop in at Bish’s RV in Twin Falls to buy a different hitch setup. The Bish crew were great and jumped through hoops to source the right combination of parts to solve our problem. We had our group go on ahead with the trip figuring we could catch up.

While we waited the second day for the install, a heavy haul driver towing a large wrecked travel trailer on a flatbed backed into our little camp trailer. Yes, Maxine was involved in a hit and run. There were eye witnesses in the yard and it was all caught on surveillance cameras but the driver and towing company are fighting it. Sigh…..

It’s not major damage, but it’s going to be a costly repair. The point of the dove tail scraped against the rear generator rack and plunged perfectly into the left rear corner and severed the corner upright frame post. It is cut clean through to the inside of the trailer. It’s been filled with black silicone and the corner trim piece is taped back on up to the roof line.

We’re going to continue on. We’re not going back out onto the rough trails but will just continue on with our plans in the Pacific Northwest. The frame should hold for now and we’ll have to strip the back off of the trailer when we get home to weld and repair the damage. Fingers crossed we’ll get some insurance $$ for our troubles.

---

---

Luckily, we’ve got relatives a couple of hours from here! Let’s go spend some time with them to regroup.

We did some exploring in their new air conditioned Polaris Expedition. Beautiful country and a nice ride.

---

Back on the road. Craters of the Moon National Monument

Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. Weird is the best way to describe it.

---

Heading north to Challis, Idaho.

Take a quick tour inside our tiny abode.