The Law catches up with me.

HAVING marely made it out of the dry riverbed, only to find a great piece of cutoff trail known as Champie RD...

I climbed my way past some gorgeous homes perched on the mountainsides.  Now we are about 50 miles from Phoenix out here in the Bradshaw mountains and some of these are likely million dollar homes (or at least were before the sub prime mortgage meltdown)

NEVERTHELESS they are secluded and expansive.  I see a whole subdivision across the valley before me.

Arriving at a T intersection, the surroundings are vaguely familiar although the sign is not.  The county must have recently put up new signage, this included.

 HOW do I know this... well first of all, the paint has not faded and if the signs were here before last summer... they would surely have suffered in the immense heat.  The valley had temperatures well into the teens (that's a hundred and teens) this past summer.

The other sure giveaway to new signage is the distinct lack of bullet holes!

SIGNS in the back country take a beating from 12 guage, 22 and various calibres in between.  After all, they do often sneak up on you and in self defence, the AK must be set on full auto!

I've parked my bike on the side stand on the only level ground at the crossroads.  Okay, so I am parked in the middle of the road, but had little choice.

I'M taking a few minutes to get my bearings and scan the vicinity.  Realizing that I had passed this way back in May on my way up to Crown King, I shake my head in disbelief.  Had this sign been where it is now, I would surely have known I was on the right track then, instead of just puttering lazily along in oblivion.

HEARING the roar of a large displacement engine droning along thru a CVT transmission, I see a well quipped side by side fly by so quickly heading towards Lake Pleasant, I have only enough time to turn my camera on and catch it from the rear.

Some day in my life, I can see one of these in my ummm, my life!

YOU can carry a plethora of equipment, sit comfortably and ride public as well as off road roadways.  Not more than 60 seconds after it's ripped by me at 50 mph speeds, I see a 4X4 SUV coming down the Champie road.  It's painted in the familiar livery of the Police department, in this case the Sheriff's.

Two young deputies stop and exit the vehicle, one adjusting his hat, and walk my way.

THE driver politely asks if I am okay, lost or having a mechanical problem.

I respond that I am fine and no, there is no problem...

We spend the next 15 minutes having an informative chat.

He is surprised I am a Canadian travelling out here by myself and upon my question about CK, begins to tell me his story...