Mineral Wash, AZ (11/13/2018) and Parker, AZ (11/14/2018)

A BLM kiosk at Swansea described several nearby trails, including one I remembered crossing earlier called Mineral Wash.  Having the afternoon free, I decided to try it.  The "road" itself was in a wash, sandy and rocky, but no problem for the LRJ.  After about four miles, I met a group of men on dirt bikes coming toward me.  We stopped and they told me Mineral Wash was the only right turn, and that it went to Bill Williams River, passing several slot canyons along the way.  Another four miles and I took the right turn into Mineral Wash.

In just a short distance, a canyon opened to the right and I entered to check it out.  As it turned out, this was one of the slot canyons and seemed wide enough to drive through.  Taking the chance of having to back out if the canyon became too narrow, I forged ahead.

 While the canyon did get tight in places, there was always enough room to get through.  After a mile or so, the canyon opened up into a wide sandy plain.  As I came out, another Jeep was starting into the canyon from the opposite direction.  A nice couple stopped and told me they were headed to the river, too, so I followed them back through the slot and into Mineral Wash once again.  The couple live in Washington, but spend their Winters in an RV here in Arizona.  Consequently, they are very familiar with the area and told me about a short-cut back to Parker.

We passed several slot canyons on the way to the river, none wide enough to drive into.  There were more arches and a couple abandoned mines, too.  One of the arches had tire tracks leading to it, suggesting that ATVs have gone through it.  It was a very nice drive.

At the river, it was obvious the trail had once crossed the stream and traveled through the wildlife refuge, but had been closed by BLM.  They probably got tired of having to pull people out when they got stuck.  After walking along the river for a while, we headed back to civilization.

My last day in Parker was not very exciting.  After trying a couple trails that didn't pan out, I gave up and did grocery shopping.  The sunset that evening, though nothing special, was the best of my stay there.  For some reason, that area just never seemed to get the clouds needed for a good sunset.