Exploring Arizona- abandoned, wrecked cars & trucks, old hiways, etc

thanks, this thread is kind of like I'm 13 or 14 and out exploring my world again. Vicariously of course.

 

Well,,,Wonder how the guy's are doing today. I had to miss todays trip back to the Salt River canyon area due to some appointments. Hope they got a lot of pictures!!!

 

I am stuck in sedona until this weekend. Then Monday I will be back up here probally for the week. Maybe the 1st week or 2nd week of may of you plan a trip I will join in

 

looks like a Cat engine...

 

I didn't know that you could be stuck in Sedona. I got back from a 4 1/2 week stay there a month ago. Seriously if you have the chance to join these guys DO IT. You will have a ball guaranteed! I was on their Feb. 27 Salt River Canyon area exploration jaunt and it was definitely a blast with a great bunch of guys.

 

Need updates guys....

 

Not much going on right now. With the temps up into the tripple digets, us old farts dont get out a lot. Once the Monsoon storms start rolling through, it will cool down some, we may be able to hit some more spots in the higher elivations then.

 

Most folks outside AZ don't realize that it's time to hibernate for the next couple of months... Easiest way to piss me off this time of year? Sing a bar or two of "Summertime and the livin' is easy"!!! Today is damn nice, but by Saturday it'll be 100 again, and within a month or so, 100 damn near around the clock.

 

I have a 55 Studebaker Champ 2drS that needs a floor and I live in Arizona. If you remember seeing one I would appreciate a heads up on the location. Have torch, will travel.

Thanks, Dave.

 

that's a 49 - 52 Chevrolet

 

We figured it was a Buick,,,It had ports in the front fenders.

 

That is why I moved out of Phx! Guess I can start singing that now...

 

Your one of the smart ones then!

 

Yea I remember when we were down there our house was like a dungeon inside because we had all the drapes closed all day to keep it cool. And the rattlesnakes....can't say I miss those either, they used to come up on the patio ALL the time! If you guys get too hot down there I've heard that there's a 60' Burb up on some old road that used to take you to the top of the peaks or whatever. Although if it was on the side that burned to nothing than its well, burned to nothing....

 

Been in Phx since 1955!

 

And I bet its changed SO much since then....every time I go down something is different. Although I did like where I lived down there.

 

Have you tried to buy T door hinges lately? Those are worth the dig.

 

We have had our next exploratory hike scheduled for some time on our group site, perhaps you did not see it?
We go back to exploring on Sunday, May 20.
Saturday, May 19 is my next car show and it is in the cool high country of St Johns. Because of that, we will start from there and head toward the Phoenix area. we have yet to decide which of 2 places to explore.
option 1.
Coronado trail, hwy 191, heading south down the coolest, and least known of, hwy in the state! Down to the Morenci/Clifton area.
option 2, explore the area above the Salt River Canyon to Show Low.
About 4 years back, I found a '51 Merc 2 dr sedan along that way and want to pay it another visit. There are , at least, another dozen old wrecks in that area that I already have discovered.
I'll be posting pics after our next hike adventure.
Since I have posted here last, we have made 2 hikes. One was to the top of the Supersitition mountains. It was quite a hike with a lot of verticle but, man what a view!
We'll continue to explore through the summer but, will either start much earlier in the morning or, spend our time in the higher, cooler country where I am moving to.
We have also gone back to the areas we have visited last time but, did not make any significant discoveries.

 

Here are some pics of the Superstition hike about 2 weeks back. As said before, it was quite a hike and pretty strenuous for me.



next time, I will make sure I get more than 2 20 minute naps the night before. I was beat before I got there.
For those who live in Arizona, you all may remember a tragedy that happened here the evening before Thanksgiving last fall. A twin engine plane left a nearby airport and, a few minutes later, smashed into these mountains. 3 adult men and 3 little kids died. This is the exact place where the plane hit. Note the black area in the middle of the pic...

We visited this area. There is a memorial there and still plenty small parts of the plane still there. My heart bleeds for the mother of these kids and the friends and family of those lost. I cannot imagine the pain they went through finding out her family was gone.



If you ever take the challenge to hike up here, definately get your picture taken! The view is incredible! You can see forever!

 

Here are pics of a few old cars I found. One appears to be a mid 50s Dodge pick up and other, a late 60s mopar of some sort.





Here is a wreck we found on our last outing. It is pretty far away and appears to be an RV, travel trailer. We also mapped out several other places to explore in the area too.



In the future, some of these explorations will be done partly on vintage Yamaha Enduro trail bikes. I have a few from the early 70s that are being worked on to get running and reliable. One of them, I recently titled, registered and insured so, it is street legal.

 

I know its not politically correct nowadays but......that sumbitch looks like a nice hatband to me. Can't imagine having one roaming my house. Watch yer step!

 

I bet George Barris put those port holes there.

I parted a 51 and cut all those braces out even the ones above the tank and sold them on ebay. too much work for the money..If that is a Buick they sure look a lot like Chevys underneath.

 

Forensic automotive identification.

 

There must be plenty of wrecks in the canyon below the Apache Trail.

We encountered a large motorhome coming down as we were going up the steepest, narrowest and highest part (halfway up, above the Fish Creek bridge) last Sunday. As we passed, we were stopped, practically touching the flimsy guardrail and this traveling building was nearly touching the driver's side. I was very nervous.

 

The 60s Mopar looks to be a 68ish Baracuda.

 

I remember seeing tons of cars down the sides of the Apache trail when I was kid about 35 years ago going down it the very first time. I tool my girlfriend and dogs over it about five years ago and didn't see as many as I remembered. it might have been during a severe drought year that I went the first time and stuff was less over grown, but I'm sure nobody went and pulled all of those things out of there.

 

I went from one end to the other on the Apache Trail in the fall of 09 and saw only a few wrecks. Heck we even saw a tour bus doing the route from north to south when we were at the lookout area north of Tortilla Flats. That road is nothing in comparison to one we drove on the NW side of Maui. It was just a dirt 2 track atop the cliffs along the coast for a good part of the way and if you met another car one of you needed to back up to a wide spot. If you look at a map of Maui it's marked as 340

 

We did our 7th auto acheological exploratory hike last Sunday on May 20. This time we ventured in parts of Apache county in eastern central Arizona where the weather is mild this time of year and found some more interesting things we did not expect to find.
Here is a hood and parts from something appearing from the 20s or, perhaps earlier-



not sure if there is more of this car in the area, this is all we found.



more pics coming of what we found...

Apache County Motorsports Days August 24-5
www.apachecountymotorsportsdays.org

Pontiac Heaven Special AA/Fuel Dragster 6.77 @ 200 so far
’65 Tempest AWB Funny car- blown, injected- under construction
M/T HEMI Pontiac, blown, injected in 72 Hondo flat
www.pontiacheaven.org

 

We also found some what appear to be natural wells. They look pretty deep but, who knows?

 

Cooper looks like he's getting pretty big!!!