Day 2 at the fool

The source of the name "Fool Hollow" is this: Right after this part of the Arizona Territory got settled, it was mostly ranchers. An interprising young man wasn't interested in ranching. He wanted to farm. He told everyone that he was going to establish a farm in the relative flat hollow where the lake is now. The ranching community considered him a fool. His farm became "Fool Hollow". The history behind the name "Show Low" is this: Two gambling men were interested in a large tract of land that was somehow available after the civil war in this area. The story goes that after an all night gambling session that was supposed to determine which one of these gentlemen would end up with the property, one of them wanted to end it. He said "If you want this land show low" in other words whoever had the lowest cards would win and the new owner of the property would be determined. One of the guys flipped over a 2 of clubs, the lowest card in the deck. He supposedly said  "Show Low it is". The name stuck. I'm sure that's some trivia you will never use. We are about to leave the cool, high elevation, pine trees for the hot prickly pair covered desert. We haven't had to use our AC for quite awhile. That will change tomorrow and it won't change until we get home. Our next stop is still in Az but not by much. More tomorrow.

Fool Hollow Lake

This is a Arizona State Recreation Area in Show Low. There are stories behind the names Fool Hollow and Show Low. I'll explain that tomorrow if I remember. The Fool Hollow Lake is supposed to be 150 acres. It's now just 55. That pic is the boat ramp. The Monsoon has followed us here. I took that picture of the black cloud just before I dashed inside. We are here for 2 nights.

Peach 🍑 Springs day 2

We drove into town to get our permit to drive into the Grand Canyon on the Diamond Creek road and we found out 12 miles of the road is gone. The creek bed is the road apparently. So, that's strike 2 on that adventure. I got on my bike when we returned to the MP and during my exploring I saw a disc golf basket. #5. Very interesting! Disc golf is not advertised or promoted in any way by this campground. After some searching I found #1 and I rode the entire course. Jenny was up for some exercise and I haven't thrown a disc on this entire trip so, you guessed it. I think I have mentioned that I suk at Disc golf. Nothings changed. We finally did the Cave tour. It was beginning to rain and there was a very, very dark cloud approaching. We just ended the tour and we are witnessing what I am sure is a biblical flood. Update: it wasn't a biblical flood. There was a break in the rain and we made it to the car and to the MP. The cave is the largest dry cave in the US. It was outfitted as a bomb shelter during the Cuban missile crisis and all the supplies that were stashed in the cave are still there. Kinda strange but not much surprises me anymore. We move tomorrow but we will still be in Az.

Grand Canyon Caverns RV Park

We are just east of Peach Springs Az. That town is on the Hualapi Indian reservation. We are here to drive on Diamond Creek road. It's a 22 mile dirt road that leads to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. We were going to do the drive last year but an unfortunate series of events precluded that happening. In order to get on that road we need a permit from the Indian tribe. The only problem we have now is the Monsoon has started and the road washed out yesterday. It turns out that river rafters use that road so it's important for the tribe to keep it open. They are working on it as I speak or, as I post. Another problem that has just cropped up is that it's raining right now. That can't be good. The campground has no connectivity so I am posting from the restaurant. Jenny had a fry bread taco. She only ate half of it. We don't do leftovers in the MP. I'm leaving a plate full of fries. Is that TMI? Oh, I almost forgot, Peach Springs is on the old route 66. I'm trying to finish my fries but I just can't. We are here for 2 nights.

last day at Cathedral Gorge

We feel like we have seen this park so we decided to drive a few miles down the road and visit a couple of other parks. The first one we visited had a lake that was so low it was depressing. We kept at it and ended up at Spring Valley State Park outside of Pioche. This park had a lake also but it was nearly full. Turns out the valley has an abundance of springs that drain into the valley and keep the lake full. Since the valley is well watered there is a long history of Agriculture and there are a couple of historic ranch houses that are part of the park. We did a short hike behind one of the ranch houses to visit their spring. That rock is called tuff. It's a type of volcanic ash. It's hard to tell from the pictures but it is pink. We move tomorrow and should be in Arizona.

The Gorge day 2

The reason these weird formations are here is as follows: Many years ago, some time before Trump was born, this area was underwater. A large deep lake. Some long lasting volcanic activity deposited ash 1400 feet deep in the lake. The lake drained or dried up or something and left the thick layer of dried ash. It eroded over time into what we have now. This place has been a park since the '30s. The CCC was involved in making it a park. The campground has 22 sites and only 4 of them are occupied. This place is out there, way off the beaten path. We did a long hike this morning. Jenny thought me climbing that pinnacle would make a good pic. We are here one more day.

Cathedral Gorge State Park

Once you get out of Las Vegas and off the interstate the Nevada roads become pretty lonely. 85% of the land in Nevada is owned by the Federal government and as far as I could tell their doing nothing with it. We did have a scare right before we got here. The Sprinter lost power and I had a hard time getting up hills. The turbos quit. At least that's what I think happened. It's called limp home mode. We had several very long up hills and down hills and I was trying not to brake too much on the down hills so I used the engine brake to control my speed. I'm not sure that was the issue but I had a nice chat with the Google AI and she suggested a reboot. I think it worked. If the Turbos are fried so are we. This park has a number of trails, all of them are bikable. I will bike and we will hike some of them tomorrow.