We want to get off the beaten path in this new expedition-style RV. During our first year of travel, we stayed in some lovely campgrounds, but everywhere we stayed…there were lots (and lots) of neighbors. And usually there was almost nowhere to hike unless you got in the car first. We wanted more remote options in nature, with less noise and fewer people.
Our first stop after the 1-night stays was in a campground at Roper Lake State Park in Arizona. We were thankful for the power and water hookup as we learned the abilities of the new RV. We were glad to have a Home Depot and a Walmart within a 15-minute drive. (We bought so many more Command Hooks than we thought we’d need!). The park was well-maintained and it was just what we needed at the time. But it was still a campground…quite full and busy.
But as we moved on to the Tucson area, with the remainder of our most important organizing completed and fledgling routines for daily life in place, we wanted to try our hand at a more remote camping spot. We loaded into the Bronco and headed up Mt. Lemmon in the Coronado National Forest to scout two different spots we had identified in advance. But despite that the road were supposed to be open for the season on 3/1, they were still gated and impassable. We called the Forest Service office twice and talked to someone who didn’t even know what dispersed camping was. We were more than a little disheartened. Just as we were meant to be coming into the swing of things, we kept hitting roadblocks…literally.
But then we called the Forest Service “Supervisor’s” office and hit the jackpot, learning about a spot on the other side of the mountain that was open and might be a good option for us. It took a few hours to get there so we stayed at a little Forest Service campground the first night, aiming to explore the second day. Almost right across the gravel road was another rough, Forest Service road into the canyon and we found the most calm and secluded spot, where we stayed for another 3 days. It was heaven.
I didn’t realize until things settled down a bit over the next day, but all the way down the canyon on the campground side there were at least 20 gigantic sycamore trees, majestic and old. When you look over the canyon from a higher elevation, the white tops of the trees stick up above the canopy dramatically in a way that makes me think of the Weirwood trees in Game of Thrones. Unfortunately my photos of the canopy didn’t quite capture the impact, but here are a few others of the campground and sycamores.
Having learned what feels like a valuable lesson about calling the Forest Service office, I called prior to our move up to the Tonto National Forest in the Phoenix area. We were directed to a dispersed camping zone with many spots just past the Tortilla Flat Campground. We’ve been here for a few days now and it has been lovely.
It feels like ages since I’ve taken time for painting and I had the opportunity yesterday to set up a new sketchbook, start on a depiction of my watercolor supplies (which I always do on the first page of a sketchbook to kind of “break the ice” of a blank page), and begin a perpetual journal spread detailing a series of desert ferns I saw at the Peppersauce site. Looking forward to working on these more today.
