Table Mesa to Sheeps Bridge 2020

Jun 9, 2020
2 min read

Another late post. This was an incredible day on the trail. We had logged over 100 plus miles on dirt. It was the first time being around people during the Covid-19 social distancing and pandemic. this made our socializing much different but with the group of Cactus 4 Wheelers we had it was more than we could ask for.

We started out at the I-17 and Table Mesa heading east. After air down we began the trail. Crossing streams and some water was a great way to wash the bottom of our vehicles. We came to our first hill climb which was off camber and full of loose rocks. We kept making our way through some more boulder fields which gave my sliders some grinding. As we stopped for lunch by these large rocks, we began to climb all over them, up to the highest point and taking in the view. Wildflowers were in full bloom as well as all the luscious green covering the mountain sides. After lunch we continued forward and took the views in as we kept going up and over different passes through the mountains. Finally we got to FR 269, which we proceeded on to get to Sheeps Bridge. This road was very rough and took us a couple of hours to make it to the bridge. Once we finally arrived to the Verde River we parked and ventured around the Bridge, crossing the bridge and taking a look at the hot spring. The water was very high, but in the summers its known to be crossed with high clearance vehicles. We grabbed some cold drinks and snacks and made our way back to our trucks. The sun began to set and we were still a couple hours out as the temperature started to drop. As we made our way back to cave creek road, we had enough lights on to see anything in almost any direction. Amber lights work great in times with lots of dust as it does not reflect off the dirt as much as white light. Finally we made back to a spot to air up and say our goodbyes. After almost 12 hours on the trail and 100 miles of dirt we were tired and ready for bed. Overall a great run with lots of different vehicles.