Three Ponds in Redington Pass (near Tucson, AZ)

Three Ponds Potluck, January 17, 2015

Here's the trip report from our potluck lunch trip to Three Ponds in Redington Pass today. If you follow this list just to read about the vehicle carnage or the gourmet mexican food, you'll like this report.

First, recall that on Tuesday Andy told me my truck was significantly crabbing down the road. That will be important later.

Participants in today's (17 Jan 2015) trip were Bob and Amy in their Blazer, Joe and David in a new Wrangler -- Joe says he has only one scratch --, and Steve, Barbara and Roland in a vintage Jeep complete with military tread tires.

We went in via Compass Tank (4417 east) from mile 11 on Redington Road. As it was a sunny Saturday morning there was loads of traffic of all types from mountain bikes to motorcycles to quads to 4x4s. The weather was crystal clear and in the 60s by lunch time -- it couldn't have been better. Having left town at 9:00, we got to Three Ponds by 10:45. We spent a while hiking around the ponds/rocks and enjoying the scenery. Gurgling water is a real novelty for Tucsonans! It was too early for lunch there so we headed back to Tanque Verde wash for lunch (just upstream of where the Chivo Falls route crosses the wash). We built a roaring fire to make some coals for the dutch ovens, and in the meantime preheated the dutch ovens on the propane stove. The menu for lunch included chips and guacamole, homemade pork and green chili, tamales with homemade red sauce, tortillas, homemade carne asada, cornbread, flourless chocolate cake and homemade fruit cake. Too much was eaten by all.

After lunch, the plan was to cruise up the Italian Trap connector trail (4424) and go out by the Italian Trap entrance road (37) to mile 15 on Redington Road. Some went that way, but John (myself) the tailgunner took a wrong turn and wound up on the East Loop trail (4426 connection to 4405) going up above Chivo Falls. Bob called my cellphone and confirmed that we weren't broken down. I told him that we were going to continue the East Loop and go out via Three Feathers, but his side of the cell connection was scratchy so he didn't get the full message about where we would meet him. John and Del had a great time going around the East Loop including a side trip to Anillo Tank. We came down the rocky hill West of Chivo Falls and went out via the Three Feathers route (scene of the Suburban rescue on Tuesday). Del has now driven completely around Chivo Falls without actually seeing the falls themselves. Del has completed her Rock Crawling 101 course with flying colors. She's able to pick a good line over big rocks -- will she get her own truck soon?.

I dropped off Del at her car in the McDonald's parking lot, and we aired up a low tire on her car. At this point, I still couldn't raise Bob on the cell phone or at home, so I headed back up Redington Road to search for them. Steve emailed pictures, so I knew he was out to civilization. Just as I met Bob and Joe on Redington Road at mile 6.7, my right rear tire started rubbing seriously against the fender. That means that the rear axle was no longer well aligned with the fender well (moved about 9 inches back). That crabbing we saw on Tuesday was the first sign that I had broken off the pin that keeps the axle and leaf springs all lined up. All the U-bolts were impressively still intact as we had a lively day of wheelin with the pin broken. We pulled in at the corral at mile 7 and used Bob's winch to pull the axle more or less back into place. We got a bolt into the first two leaves so I could drive back to town. For future reference, it would be better to self-winch the axle from my truck so that the axle motion wouldn't have to fight the brakes. I drove home with no more crabbing than I had in the morning.

A great time was had by all, and everybody made it home before sunset. I apologize for the delay caused by my route confusion, but it was worth it for the winching and repair at the end.

For John, the map can be downloaded at: http://azstateparks.com/ohv/wheretoride.html