We went on a run to Sunnyside Canyon on February 10th.  This is located on the back side of the Huachucas just east of Parker Canyon Lake.  11 Vehicles attended with members, guests and visitors to the area.

We had our share of adventure trying to find the road up to gate 7, the termination point of the Sunnyside trail.  The road has ample forks and side roads to provide plenty of exploration on future trips to the area.

Our first obstacle was an unexpected stream bed strewn with boulders that appeared to be an abrupt end of the road.  Not wanting to earn Dead End Dave?s reputation I decided to go through to see if the promise of the trail we?d spotted a few hundred yards upstream was, indeed, the one to Gate 7.  At this point I was fairly certain that we had taken the wrong fork on the main road but my GPS companions assured me that we were right on track.  I questioned my memory, blamed it on aging that nothing looked familiar from the first time I?d been on the run and went through to an uncertain destination.  This is what we live for, after all;  off camber, boulders, water and adventure.

We passed by an old homestead with a rather new, but abandoned, house on the hill overlooking the deteriorating corral and barn area in the pasture where we found cows behaving as though we were an alien invasion.  We stopped to check those GPS coordinates again.  It was at this point where my ability to fend off Dave?s reputation began to slip a time or two as promising paths lead only to campfire sites or cattle ponds.  On our final dead  end (in this area) we made our way back through the cows who, at this point, had quadrupled in number and lined both sides of the road to watch the spectacle.

Somehow we ended up on a trail on the other side of the stream, going past the house overlooking the pasture where we had stopped earlier.  This path also had many forks.  Mark pointed out that I always seemed to make the choice as to which way to go based on which way appeared to be most challenging.  The hard way is always the better choice!

We went through a few gates, straddled a dam, stopped for lunch and continued on the trail figuring that, if it didn?t dead end, it would eventually take us back out to the main road to Parker.

Delighted to have found this road rather unexpectedly, I asked the gang if they wanted to go back down to the Sunnyside Trail head and try it again.  It was only noon so we?d only been wheeling for 2 hours and we had until 4pm to be at the Action Committee meeting.  Everyone was anxious to conquer (ok, even locate) the real Sunnyside Trail so off we went.

At the first fork in the road we went to the left and I began to see through the memory fog to recognize familiar landmarks.  Still, there were a few forks where I remained true to my nature in taking the more difficult path which ultimately lead to The Hill, a sure sign that we were going the right way and weren?t far from Gate 7.

The Hill has 3 possible ways up.  The hard way is rated a solid 4.5, vehicle damage is possible as you are off camber in a giant rut with a rock wall to fall against and boulders to navigate that you can?t see.  Glenn and Bob both saw plenty of air on their way up with Glenn getting the Air nomination for the gasps he caused as his right front tire came 6 feet off the ground.  Bob followed the same path but either didn?t see as much air or we didn?t react the same way due to knowing that Glenn?s jeep had lived through it.  Beau, a visitor to the area in his Nissan monster truck, Leon, Bruce, Gordon, Carrie (girl power!) and I also made the trip up the hard way.   No body damage aside from a scraped up fender flare on my jeep.

The medium way also requires a spotter but lacks the off camber ravine.  It?s a steep hill with trees and boulders that provided a challenge for Dave, also a visitor to the area driving a decked out 4 runner.  The easy way is a shorter version of the medium way without the boulders, just a few ruts.

Because The Hill is the most challenging part of the Sunnyside Trail and has a 2.5 rated bypass this trip can be done in a stock 4 wheel drive vehicle yet provides plenty of action for those who want a challenge.

We picked up CB chatter from Tim Goodman saying he was at Gate 7 on the other side (on post) and had left us a note.  He and Dan Riordan were out wheeling in Garden Canyon and had hoped to meet up with us but, ahem, we were a wee bit delayed in our arrival.

We have Dead End Dave.  How does Somewhat Lost Sherry suit me?