Well, since I didn't draw a javelina tag down in Arizona this spring I thought that I would entertain you folks with one from 24 years ago. It seams like it was such a short time ago.
At this time 24 years ago 6:10 pm Mountain time myself and 3 others were headed to Arizona for the spring HAM's hunt that starts on the upcoming Friday. When I left my home I was fighting a snowstorm pulling a 16' trailer loaded with 4 4 wheelers hoping that as I got lower in elevation the better the weather would be. I had just gotten done with a 9 hour work day like the other 3 so we were eager to get on our way to a warmer climate. I had one other person in my truck and the other two with in a separate vehicle. We planned on stopping in Grand Junction, Colorado and getting a dinner of KFC Hotwings and then head out again.
We hit Grand Junction and it was snowing hard. We got our hotwings to go and put a dozen or so packets of their hot sauce onto them and headed to the west on I-70. Once we got into Utah the storm let up some and there was no snow sticking to the roads, I crossed my fingers hoping that the rest of the trip would be the same way. We headed south on US 191 towards Moab, and Monticello, Utah. My luck didn't hold. About 20 miles north of Monticello we hit the snow and snow covered roads. We fought the snow all the way through Utah to the Arizona line and across it. When I pulled into Keyenta, Arizona I pulled into a parking lot and parked my truck. The other two in the other truck pulled up and asked me what my plan was. I told them that this spot was as far as I planned on driving that night while I was pulling a trailer. I figured that the roads would only get worse. I told them that if they had to be in Phoenix in the morning to take off and that we would push on when the sun came up. They decided to stay.
The next morning the sun came up to a beautiful morning no clouds and dry roads. i could of keep on going the night before but you never know and I was still happy that I had stopped for the night. The other hunters in the truck took off and left us in the dust so to speak. Once we were on US 89 and headed south into Flagstaff we hit the ice on the roads. there were trucks and cars off the road all over the place, I locked in the hubs on my truck and shifted it into 4 hi and pressed on. Once in Flagstaff I had to fuel up, when I got out of my truck I fell flat on my rear from the ice that was on the parking lot. I fueled up and we headed south on I-17 at a snails pace of 30 mph. We must of seen a dozen wrecks as we headed south. Numerous cars and trucks that had ran off of the road the night before and were now abandoned. Then there were those who decided to fly past me only to spin a couple of circles and hit the 2 or 3' of fresh snow and bury their vehicles. We watched at least 2 cars that rolled over ahead of us when they went off of the road. I would slow down to watch them crawl out of a window and just chuckle, we pressed on to Phoenix. It didn't take too long before the ice on the roads turned to water. I took my truck out of 4 x 4 mode and was able to actually pick up some speed.
We stopped in Black Canyon City and got some breakfast/brunch. I can't remember the name of the joint but it is on the north end just a short drive off of the freeway. Now this is the kind of place that you better be hungry. I ordered a platter of briskets and gravy which when it showed up were enough to feed 4 hungry men. Roy my partner ordered a flat stack of pancakes and about passed out when he saw the size of the platter. There were only two pancakes but they were close to 18 inches in diameter. These were meals fit for some hungry folks.
Once we were done with what we could eat and a pot of coffee we headed back on out. We were on our way again on Thursday morning running about 7 hours late. I called Jim who was in the other truck and told him where we were and he said that he would meet us in Apache Junction so we headed that direction. We pulled into the motel parking lot in the late afternoon. Checked in and unloaded the trucks and started to get ready for the hunt that started on Friday. It was nice and warm, no snow and we were ready. Bob our friend from Catalina was going to meet us at the motel the next morning at 6 am and take us out to the hunting area. This was the first time that we had hunted this area so we had no idea of what to expect. But the main thing was that we were in Arizona and we were going hunting.
More tomorrow.
At this time 24 years ago 6:10 pm Mountain time myself and 3 others were headed to Arizona for the spring HAM's hunt that starts on the upcoming Friday. When I left my home I was fighting a snowstorm pulling a 16' trailer loaded with 4 4 wheelers hoping that as I got lower in elevation the better the weather would be. I had just gotten done with a 9 hour work day like the other 3 so we were eager to get on our way to a warmer climate. I had one other person in my truck and the other two with in a separate vehicle. We planned on stopping in Grand Junction, Colorado and getting a dinner of KFC Hotwings and then head out again.
We hit Grand Junction and it was snowing hard. We got our hotwings to go and put a dozen or so packets of their hot sauce onto them and headed to the west on I-70. Once we got into Utah the storm let up some and there was no snow sticking to the roads, I crossed my fingers hoping that the rest of the trip would be the same way. We headed south on US 191 towards Moab, and Monticello, Utah. My luck didn't hold. About 20 miles north of Monticello we hit the snow and snow covered roads. We fought the snow all the way through Utah to the Arizona line and across it. When I pulled into Keyenta, Arizona I pulled into a parking lot and parked my truck. The other two in the other truck pulled up and asked me what my plan was. I told them that this spot was as far as I planned on driving that night while I was pulling a trailer. I figured that the roads would only get worse. I told them that if they had to be in Phoenix in the morning to take off and that we would push on when the sun came up. They decided to stay.
The next morning the sun came up to a beautiful morning no clouds and dry roads. i could of keep on going the night before but you never know and I was still happy that I had stopped for the night. The other hunters in the truck took off and left us in the dust so to speak. Once we were on US 89 and headed south into Flagstaff we hit the ice on the roads. there were trucks and cars off the road all over the place, I locked in the hubs on my truck and shifted it into 4 hi and pressed on. Once in Flagstaff I had to fuel up, when I got out of my truck I fell flat on my rear from the ice that was on the parking lot. I fueled up and we headed south on I-17 at a snails pace of 30 mph. We must of seen a dozen wrecks as we headed south. Numerous cars and trucks that had ran off of the road the night before and were now abandoned. Then there were those who decided to fly past me only to spin a couple of circles and hit the 2 or 3' of fresh snow and bury their vehicles. We watched at least 2 cars that rolled over ahead of us when they went off of the road. I would slow down to watch them crawl out of a window and just chuckle, we pressed on to Phoenix. It didn't take too long before the ice on the roads turned to water. I took my truck out of 4 x 4 mode and was able to actually pick up some speed.
We stopped in Black Canyon City and got some breakfast/brunch. I can't remember the name of the joint but it is on the north end just a short drive off of the freeway. Now this is the kind of place that you better be hungry. I ordered a platter of briskets and gravy which when it showed up were enough to feed 4 hungry men. Roy my partner ordered a flat stack of pancakes and about passed out when he saw the size of the platter. There were only two pancakes but they were close to 18 inches in diameter. These were meals fit for some hungry folks.
Once we were done with what we could eat and a pot of coffee we headed back on out. We were on our way again on Thursday morning running about 7 hours late. I called Jim who was in the other truck and told him where we were and he said that he would meet us in Apache Junction so we headed that direction. We pulled into the motel parking lot in the late afternoon. Checked in and unloaded the trucks and started to get ready for the hunt that started on Friday. It was nice and warm, no snow and we were ready. Bob our friend from Catalina was going to meet us at the motel the next morning at 6 am and take us out to the hunting area. This was the first time that we had hunted this area so we had no idea of what to expect. But the main thing was that we were in Arizona and we were going hunting.
More tomorrow.
