Smiley Rock
9-20-2008
We had a great trip to the Jerome area. Gathering was at the Albertson’s parking lot in I17 and Carefree Highway. In attendance were 7 vehicles consisting of Toni, Patrick and myself, Matthew and his guest, Pat and Donna, Ryan and Trish who were guests of Pat and Donna, Tom, and Phil and Marilyn. We pulled out right on time at 8:30. The plan is to run the trail in reverse direction, as we are meeting up with Chuck and Gina at the Potato Patch campground. Our rendezvous was successful, they were there and ready to go when we arrived.
The first couple of miles outside the campground are just a nice drive through the woods. We passed another Jeep group coming off the trail as we made the right hand turn into the canyon. The trail was excellent, with enough rocks to make it fun. There was concern as to whether or not Matthew’s Liberty would be able to complete the trail, it seems the last trip here with the club they all had to turn around as it would not get through. I had all the confidence in world in Matthew, he has after all been doing this since he was born basically. I little bit of spotting and careful footwork by Matthew and he came through without any problems. There was plenty of opportunity for photos, as can be seen below. We all made our way through the rocky sections and arrived at Smiley Rock. There was another group coming from the other direction, so we have had to do some creative vehicle stashing to allow them to get by.
After a little while at Smiley Rock the decision was made to head into Jerome for lunch. The remainder of the trail is pretty flat. Interesting fact, the last few miles is an old railroad bed back from the mining days. It is actually known as the most winding railroad bed ever build. We re-grouped in town and located a suitable place to park. We split up into a couple of groups to eat. Lunch was excellent. After lunch we officially ended the trip and went our separate ways. Some stayed on in Jerome to do some site seeing, Toni, Patrick and I did some Geocaching for the afternoon.
I want to thank everyone for attending, it was a great day. We could not have asked for better weather or company. Please enjoy the many pictures below.
Kurt Kuhl
