Our excursion into the red rock territory of the
Devils Armchair involved 22 riders. We exited the Main Street Park
and rode west under the freeway, up and around the water tank. The
air felt cool as we climbed up the red mountain covered with
foliage. It wasn't long until I caught a glimpse of the landscape
below as I peeked in between the dense trees along the trail. As we
snaked up the mountain I looked back to notice that there were 10
or so individuals that were following our group up the mountain.
When the twisting road came to a peak, the group stopped to admire
the view before us.
Down below lie a small pond among the lower brush
and trees. Near the pond was the trail cutting its way between the
lower mating edges of the mountains ahead. As I stood staring into
the distance, the lead guide began his descent down to the trail
below. The line seemed to move slower as the plant life seemed to
come to life. There was a corral with horses and cattle, a camping
trailer in a clearing surrounded by tall slender trees, and several
small bodies of water flowing into each other below the level of
our trail.
The trip down into the valley allotted a better
view of the larger trees becoming apparent along the trail. As I
turned around I could see Ed behind me already slowing down,
assuming that I was going to stop to take another picture. When we
talked earlier, Ed told me he had driven here from Chicago, and so
far has put over 350 miles on his quad just this week.
As we traveled deeper into the valley the grade
became steeper until we were at a full climb along the side of the
mountain overlooking a breathtaking view. The trees were dense now
in most areas, and the temperature dropped dramatically in just a
few moments, as wind began to pick up the higher we climbed.
There were forks in the road that looked well
traveled, but only went a few hundred feet, I guess that's why it's
a good idea to not stray too far from the guide. We arrived at the
sign marked Devils Armchair, but no one could seem to locate it. As
J.T. pulled up, he explained to us that we could walk to the edge
of the ridge see it, because standing at the sign was just not a
good angle. A few of us walked to the edge and photographed the
armchair, while J.T. told us about another road below that we could
take to get another view. We all followed him down the hill to the
end of another road and took another look at it. Nobody seemed to
know who came up with the name, but to me it looks pretty much like
an armchair, for a mountain. The sun was behind the clouds allowing
the individual colors in the rock to really stand out. At several
points on the return downhill slope there are conveniently shaped
humps that give the driver a little variety to look forward to on
the trek down, which made the return trip seem too short. As we
returned to the water tank the first guide waved us on as he
counted the riders on their return. The sun was now shining bright,
and it was noon , so we headed to the park for lunch, not bad
timing for a 40 mile roundtrip.
After a short break a few of us were back in the
hills in search of new trails to conquer, the more you see, the
more you seek, I look forward to seeing you someday, on the
trail…
*A big
thanks to the ATV Division of John Deere, sponsor of the
Off-Road.com coverage of the 2005 event.
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