January 2001 Snow Run -Trail 42 

Trail Rating - 3.0-4.0

Trip Leaders: Chris Villarreal

Photos submitted by Chris Villarreal

Sure am glad I didn't cancel the run due to the rain.  As you know when it rains in Arizona the ground gets saturated fast, causing runoff which fills the normally dry washes with water.  Most of Arizona's trails ARE washes or cross washes many times.  Becky Hopper called me at 6:00am wondering if the run was still on, we decided to notify everyone that we were still going to meet and would evaluate the situation at the meeting spot.

It was definitely wet.  Those of us with bikini tops immediately saw the need to improvise some additional shelter.  I had pulled out my rain poncho, a universal large size, obviously the designers had a person bigger than me in mind when they made this.  So I took it off and on Jim Well's (Jr) suggestion I stuck one end under my soft top and the other under the seats with a couple bungee cords to hold everything tight, instant roll bar curtain.  Jim Wells (Sr) used a tarp to cover the back of his jeep, though he couldn't do anything about the half doors.  The rain came down harder as we headed for the trailhead, we noticed some really beautiful waterfalls along the Bartlett Lake road, a sight you won't catch unless you come out here while it's raining.  Thankfully the rain died down to a constant drizzle by the time we made the trailhead, it stayed that way for the rest of the day.  

Mud, mud everywhere.

This obstacle is just past "Big Block Beach" (there is a V8 block sitting on the waters edge).  As far as I can tell this small wash wasn't used until the first time Ken, Gary and I tried Trail 42.  At that time there were no tracks and it was a bit narrower.  All the traffic since then has widened and smoother it out so you don't get as much air under the tires as in the past.

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