drivetofive

Odometer:  479,785

You’d think a clean freak like me would lose sleep over taking my pride and joy on a dirt road.  Such is not the case!

I just rolled back into town from the second annual campout with a great group of friends.  We take the opportunity once a year to escape the PHX area’s soaring temps and pitch our tents up on the Mogollon Rim east of Payson, Arizona off Hwy 260.  Rising to about 7,000 feet elevation, the comfortable weather makes it a great place to catch some fresh air and get away from the bustle of the city.

My friend Nick took the “shotgun” seat and we spent 2 hours getting from my driveway to our group’s campsite off Forest Road 300 near Woods Canyon Lake.  The last 8 miles of our trip were on dirt roads.  Aside from some washboard ruts, the roads are well maintained and I was still able to cruise along at 25-35 mph without too much issue.  The real inconvenience was when we’d pass someone coming the opposite direction and breathe their cloud of dust for the next few minutes.  My air filter hates me right now!

The trusty Legend made the trip flawlessly and fired right up first thing this morning when it was time to make the return trip.

This is after we made the last turn off the main dirt road and to creep down a narrow one-laner to our final campsite.  Don’t try to bring a lowered suspension vehicle out here!  Even on stock height suspension I was nervous about a couple dips & rocks in the roadway.

Nick strikes a pose upon arrival.

Last night’s sunset as seen from our campsite.

Off to the coin-op pressure wash I go!

This entry was posted on June 26, 2011 at 7:26 pm and is filed under Arizona, Legend, Road Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.