Mossback Wash Trail, Arizona

[tacoclimber]

Nothing spectacular, but still kinda cool... :D

Last Thursday, a buddy and I went and did some old mining road exploration as well as running the Mossback Wash Trail. I was in the Tacoma, and Sonny was in his FJ. We ended up on route 66 for a bit, going through Oatman, before taking the trail that runs parallel the old narrow gauge railroad bed that ran ore from the mines in Oatman to the smelter in Needles, Ca. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the old railroad bed. The batteries in the camera died. But here's some pics from the trails...

Starting off on the trail.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3225.jpg

I'm sure he wished he was in front before the end of the day... :D
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3229.jpg

A "Bajaesque" pic for you FJ guys... :D
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3230.jpg

Trail:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3254.jpg

And more trail:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3255.jpg

You can see the remnants of this old mining compound. There were at least three different buildings. We think this one might have been the main office. It's old, at any rate.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3260.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3266.jpg

There were a few pics taken of the other buildings, but they came out way fuzzy. Our designated picture taker wasn't used to my camera... :bang:

More to come...

[tacoclimber]

Roxy, the wonder dog. Other than being prone to motion sickness, she's a trooper...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3271.jpg

Fun little section:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3282.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3283.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3284.jpg

Sonny on another step up. These FJ's look mean....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3287.jpg

Another little step up..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3288.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3293.jpg

Still more...

[tacoclimber]

This section was a little tricky. It's hard to see in the photo's, but you had to get your left tires up on a rock, and then immediately bear right. If I had sliders, I could have just climbed up and over the rocks, but I was trying to save the paint... :hillbill:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3308.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3309.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3311.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3312.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3313.jpg

Sonny tried it, but found that he was just a little too wide to be able to do it, so he took a bypass...

This was on the Mossback Wash Trail. Marc P and I did this a couple years ago, and it was pretty tame then. It's changed a bit...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3322.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3323.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3324.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3325.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3326.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3329.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3331.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3332.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3333.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3334.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3336.jpg

A few more on the way...

[tacoclimber]

These last pics were taken just after turning onto the old railroad trail.
There is a rock that was turned into a memorial for the miners that died in the Oatman area. It's very old...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3346.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3347.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/DSCN3349.jpg


Thanks for reading! :bigok:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/tacoclimber/Mossback1.jpg

[rocket]

man i really love Arizona's terrain. Nice pics!
Any info on those crosses?

[tacoclimber]

man i really love Arizona's terrain. Nice pics!
Any info on those crosses?

Sonny told us that it was a memorial that was built for the different miners who has dies over the years. Next time I'm out there I'll try to climb up and get some better pics. It's pretty fun wheeling out here, because periodically you come across the remains of houses or mines, and you can find some pretty cool stuff. This trip I found a grip of old bottles as well as a very old fork. A few years ago we found a cache of jars that were still sealed. You could see the food inside. The food had long since spoiled, but it was still pretty cool.

[Marc P]

Hey, hey CJ......looks like good HOT fun!! Cant believe you dont have sliders on that bad boy yet. I need to come out there again so you can show me more trails.

[tacoclimber]

Hey, hey CJ......looks like good HOT fun!! Cant believe you dont have sliders on that bad boy yet. I need to come out there again so you can show me more trails.


I know, I know... Stuff keeps coming up. I actually had the money in hand last month and then we had an emergency. *sigh*, one of these days...

You do need to head out here, man... I want to take you up Sleeping Princess, you'll love it. I'm sure it's even burlier than when I went up it since we've had all the rain. Maybe around Thanksgiving again? :hillbill:

[slosurfer]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. I need to make it out there one of these days, hopefully when it's not too hot. :D

[04 Rocko Taco]

Looks killer CJ.... I dont know where anything is in Arizona...so, how far are you from, say, The Grand Canyon area?

We were in Vegas awhile back and we drove down the Grand Canyon, and then back up through California in our rental PT Cruiser. lol. I would like to get out there sometime, maybe when I get the '84 built up a bit, I could drive out and wheel with you a bit. :)