10
March 2020
www.GlobeMiamiTimes.com
DEVIL’S CANYON: ROUGH RIDERS
Steve Giles, Doug Brannan, Bill Monson, Clarence Rice ‘Tige’, Jane Hale, John Jaeger, Mary Lou Monson, Kathy Rice and Jan Jaeger. The Monsons are from Nebraska and the Jaegers from Colorado, but both spend time in Apache Junction for part of the winter. This was their last Arizona adventure before heading back home. Kathy and husband Jim (not in the picture) live in SanTan and the rest were local.
Story and photos by Linda Gross
Steve said ominously after checking his tires at the top of our climb out of a canyon. The valve stem of his Razor had been shorn off somehow on the last hill climb, and now air was leaking slowly out of his front tire. We were miles from any civilization, having started that morning from the bottom of Devils Canyon west of Globe-Miami. We had met up with a hardy band of friends who had come from the Valley and Globe that morning, ignoring the dark storm clouds on the horizon and temperatures in the 40s, to ride with Jane. Jane Hale, who lives on a ranch in the area with her husband, Tommy, 40 cows, and about as many dogs, knows the land like the back of her hand and was leading us through backcountry that included the J1 Ranch and Government Spring Ranch - federal lands being leased by both mining and ranching entities. With no spare among the six vehicles and more than 13 miles to go, our small committee of McGyver Men - Roger, Bill, and Steve – devised a plan. Pump up the tire with Roger’s new air compressor (which, luckily, had come with a variety of attachments just right for this job) and then jam a stick into the valve and hope it held. Steve’s riding companion, Doug, wanting to take any extra pressure off the passenger side tire, jumped in back with Tig, Jane’s cousin. Alas, Steve’s valve-stem fiasco would not be the last vehicle emergency we had that day, which is why the number one rule of off-roading is to go with others. Besides the great company, a helping hand and an extra vehicle come in handy when you get stranded in God’s backcountry.
Bringing up the rear, Tig and Doug noticed a smell of burning rubber emanating from the engine and getting stronger and stronger until, having just completed a hill climb – and just yards before we broke for lunch – Tig’s vehicle broke for good. A check of the engine resulted in a broad diagnosis of “broke,” with no fix in sight. Towed to the nearby stand of trees that was our lunch spot, it was pushed off the road and parked under a canopy of leaves to await retrieval. Luckily, by then we had made it to a spot that a person could get to with the right big truck and trailer. We now had five vehicles and 11 people. Sideby-sides are built to secure two people in the vehicle with cushy seats, seat belts, and a rollbar. The back of the vehicle, with its little “trunk bed,” is used for supplies - like food, beverages, and air pumps. These get strapped in tight if you want them to remain in the vehicle while navigating terrain that includes large boulders, eroded ditches, and steep inclines. The 5/11 ratio meant one person would have to ride in the back of one of the side-by-sides. With Tig’s vehicle out of commission, he now crawled in with Steve, whose tire problem seemed at least to be holding, and Doug did what he could to secure a seat for himself in the back, using jackets as padding for what would prove to be a very bumpy, sometimes airborne ride for the remaining 13 miles before we arrived back home at Jane’s ranch. According to the USDA Forest Service, there are an estimated 380,000 miles of classified Forest Service roads within our National Forest System lands, including those in Arizona. And while most of the existing road system built over the last 50 years was used for timber harvesting, here in Arizona the roads have been used for ranching and mining interests. Culture, Continued on page 11
John and Steve using a stick to replace the broken valve stem on Steve’s vehicle. Amazingly the fix held for the remaining 13 miles back to the ranch.
Manzanitas were in full bloom.
