Went out towards Bartlett last night. Planned on taking 10 (11?) Mile Wash down Camp Creek to Needle Rock but of course I had to explore first.
I first took FR404 S from the intersection of Bartlett and Horseshoe. Road got interesting quick. I used the sliders, bumper and gas tank skid before I called stupid and turned around. That took a while in itself. It would be a fun Jeep trail. Upon looking it up on MyTopo, it looks to continue to Needle but a Motorcycle site showed two heavy bikes giving up shortly after I almost lost a window.
I drove back down to the Camp Creek entrance and took the wash down. First half is boring unless you fly, but the second half was cool with wide and tall canyon walls. This is about where I pulled a second stupid and decided to see where another creek led. The tall slot canyon walls closed in quickly and turning around was no longer an option. I kept going with the expectation of one. Finally it got to the point that I couldn't have even escaped through the windows, I was so walled in. Going another foot forward would have wedged me.
So picture Squeeze Rock. Now picture a large Xterra on Squeeze Rock. Now picture the Squeeze is a curvy .25 miles . Now picture driving Squeeze for .25 miles in a large Xterra backwards until you can do a 10 point 180. 8| Yeah I almost threw up afterwards :lol:
Cleared that trail of branches though. No pics since I could't get out, plus I was pretty shakey
Out loud I said "No More Exploring Dumba$$!" and continued towards the river.
River was great. I got a little in and took some pics. Lots of animal sounds and only 3 camped groups (only one of which was loudish).
Pavement began up the hill and I drove on back to the hot.
I want to go back

Awsome pics mike wow!! Love the last one where you can see the stars.

X2 Fantastic Pictures!:rockon:

Sounds like an interesting time. Great pics.

i love that area out there. i used to ride out there all the time. been out there a few times in the truck exploring. ya going alone not so smart sometimes. sometime i want to go from the west side of pleasant to the beeline highway with no pavement. it is doable too.

Thanks.
Upon looking at my tracks on Google Earth and MyTopo, the 404 I tried first actually ends up in the slot canyon I tried last. It leaves the wash halfway down and hill hops back down into the second.
Definitely doable in the TJ's. Saving the info for when it gets cooler.

Found the 404's trail name is Spare Tire Canyon sposored by the AZ Rough Riders

http://www.rockrats.org/RR/Trails/View.asp?T=16

Spare Tire Canyon is a relatively tame trail for narrow vehicles; anything wider than a Cherokee (XJ) and you'll do no more than wedge yourself in the canyon real good. Rumor has it a Humvee attempted this and wedged in the canyon so bad that a helicopter was needed to remove it.

The trail (FR 404) branches off the main wash and heads immediately into a narrow canyon. Recently the sand has built up enough to allow Cherokee through without incident, however this is always subject to change. In the past, even Wranglers (YJ) with their wider tracks had problems; now that section has about 2 more feet of sand on top.

After the narrow twisting canyon, the trail climbs up to the top of a ridge, giving you a nice view of the hills around you. After running on the ridge, it drops down into another wash along a knife edge. In past years, there used to be a large rock in the middle of the hill just to give you that extra spook; recently this rock has been removed.

After the knife edge, the trail travels up the wash. There are multiple lines to choose from so you can make it about as difficult as you want. In 1999, a chunk of the canyon wall fell and created another tight squeeze. You'll want to watch those rear windows on the Cherokees on this one.

A little more twisting trail with a few optional boulders to play on and this trail is done. This trail can be done with a small group of Jeeps in a few hours. This trail has been adopted by the Arizona Rough Riders and they perform trail maintenance and clean-up on it twice a year.

Vid courtesy of HvyHau8272

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wowzers:)=)

I think that is a definite when it cools off.

I 100% completely forgot I tried to do Spare Tire Canyon alone in the dark in reverse until I was searching threads.

That was a better trip the right way: http://www.higherground4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?3278-Spare-Tire-Canyon-4-10-10/

Still need to do again.