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Curly

El Camino Del Diablo -Devils Highway Nov 11-13 2022

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Interesting bit of Info I found on the Net about the Circle of Eight.

 

"In 1896 surveyor and soldier David D. Gaillard reported that "an entire Mexican family of six or eight persons" had the calamity of its glass demijohn of water breaking about eight miles east of Tinajas Altas; all perished and the site is now commonly known as the Grave of Eight. "The wagon tracks made when the [unfortunate] Mexican drove his exhausted team to one side of the road, were plainly visible thirty years afterward...."

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26 minutes ago, Ken Ford said:

Interesting bit of Info I found on the Net about the Circle of Eight.

 

"In 1896 surveyor and soldier David D. Gaillard reported that "an entire Mexican family of six or eight persons" had the calamity of its glass demijohn of water breaking about eight miles east of Tinajas Altas; all perished and the site is now commonly known as the Grave of Eight. "The wagon tracks made when the [unfortunate] Mexican drove his exhausted team to one side of the road, were plainly visible thirty years afterward...."

@Ken Ford  last page, LOL

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10 hours ago, Ken Ford said:
  • LOL..... I hope so cuz I literally stumbled over it :)

Based on what I read there are a whole lot of roadside graves from one end of the road to the other. I am willing to bet there are a lot of other unmarked graves everywhere out there too.

Edited by shellback91
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Great write up @Curly and thank you for doing so. I've been a bit behind since I got home myself.

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Adding my notes on our trip...

 

What a great trip and time with an awesome crew, @shellback91@gearhead, @Ken Ford, and @Curly! Thanks to all of you for going.

 

125 miles of dirt:

 

It was a really great test of @Ken Ford's new to him stock gen 3 Taco on street tires taking the Tinajas mid pass (A15 to A13 markers) instead of the traditional south Tinajas Altas Pass route.

 

You can see our track and all of the points of interest here. It is also a good collection of information to plan your own trip. Note: I built it, it's how I openly plan this particular trip, so I might be biased.

 

Some things with El Camino del Diablo have changed:

  • Larger volume of traffic. There were so many people on the trail compared to the last time I ran it.
  • Less Border Patrol presence overall
    • No visit from Border Patrol Friday night as expected
    • No indication that roads are being actively dredged for showing footprints
  • Unmarked helicopter flybys both Saturday and Sunday morning
    • Likely Border Patrol contracted helicopters
  • Lots more side trail closures around Tinajas Altas (east side of the mountains)
    • This made a few older camp sites inaccessible
    • Old construction depot east of the TAs is gone except for the dirt lot and a few large piles of rocks.
  • Tule Well's large camping area for group camping has been smooth graded, somewhat leveled, and enlarged.

 

Another item of note: a couple of guys ran a 2500 RAM with a Black Series camper in tow through the Fortuna Mine route. Color me impressed with the trailer.

 

Thank you @Curly for tail gunning!

 

I should note I am grateful to @shellback91 and @Ken Ford for helping me find my phone after it fell into a garbage bag when I wasn't looking. I hear @Ken Ford is cursed to make things get lost whenever he is around.

 

I am also very thankful to and for Courtney of Arizona Offroad working with me to ensure both groups got the best experience of a busy trail and campgrounds.

(If she has an account on the forum I am happy to edit this and tag her.)

 

I'll add photos later when I figure out why the forum is limiting my attachment upload size to less than one photo.

Edited by SonoranWanderer
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Excellent pictures and write ups you guys! I'm happy to see Papago Well & Tule Well mostly still intact. Papago looks better off than last time I saw it. Tinajas Altas is def 1 of my fave places to camp, so I'm glad you guys got to go there.

 

Thank you for planning and leading @SonoranWanderer & @Curly, and way to work together with the other local group down there that weekend.

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@SonoranWanderer @shellback91 @gearhead @Ken Ford

I found one of the articles from Desert magazine I was talking about.   It mentions the circle of 8 and the border patrol camp.   The article is about rock collecting, but the first 2 pages may be of interest to you.  Sept 1949

Read it here: https://www.scribd.com/document/2295888/194909-Desert-Magazine-1949-September    Page 9 to start the article.   Or you can read it on the page w/o downloading.

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Photos...

 

Day 1 - Friday

 

AL9nZEXD2-Cw-A3LtvO94FhyGlnLIcVV9CyvGBix

 

Bates Well

 

AL9nZEUPYTeB0hPsCoAOdFOGR2LA3PSmn345PBtm

 

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From Friday night camp

 

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Day 2 - Saturday

 

Leaving Papago Well

 

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Dave O'Neil's Grave

 

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1871 Nameer Grave

 

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AL9nZEVfB6ryPc5rVJSvpGTMMeWNQZVKRI-H3uwq

 

Circle of 8 Grave site

 

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AL9nZEWIirbQIMsiWuKdkpM2wozb_9pKasiU777-

 

Tijanas Altas (High Tanks)

 

AL9nZEVtD51jYpS9vxJG1pGAWo88Wp2MxVWthSbm

 

AL9nZEVHf_AhGOfqWBDDsFfxYTl8mxlElHVVN-9F

 

AL9nZEXEEYnv6pegaceJxR4y0TiGkPBd5RxuSzbS

 

Day 2 camp at Tijnas Altas

 

AL9nZEVM6dvegmj0sONMzqHidMD_Fd8WJ7iZmZy0

 

AL9nZEU4dDCGmrHLT1MDankN72lUPFsb24Oi7QgN

 

AL9nZEWpBZlqleQCgIod0zLolA0shtBOEGQL4DGf

 

AL9nZEXxbqFyFbBCfwIxi7zSrqYisdwdBXX1zARf

 

AL9nZEU8NUEaaHSYFEatcE--kv7LR81xBu9YuxUB

 

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Day 3 - North Tijanas Altas Pass

 

AL9nZEWCvUPLJngLucIYCN3ohRIjNTA0Ef7bRyx-

 

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AL9nZEVFMk82cMEtxgdXAXyPc0lqDEnBEOVezIYx

 

Yodaville

 

AL9nZEXQ-kgLw2Bw6vs2H26CnMXFQ3QlRPBiff82

 

Fortuna Mine

 

AL9nZEV6DAkUtcVFuzDkh8z-s4exOyhqF2pHgeQh

Edited by SonoranWanderer
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Holy cow - nice captures there Woody! What a gorgeous area!

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Great Pics Curly and Woody!  Thanks for posting!   Looks like it was an awesome trip!!

smiles, ladybug

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