Jrally
Adventurer
My girlfriend and I planned for a quick one day camping trip up north, taking the Celica to see if you can even camp from it. Friday night, we got the car mostly packed up with sleeping bags, tent, cooler, chairs, extra blanks and pillows, etc.. Saturday morning, we got up at a reasonable hour, getting on the road around 9am. Part one of the trip was to take the Apache Trail across the south side of the lakes, until it reaches Roosevelt Lake, then turn north and head up into Payson. The trail is a blast to drive on, but apparently eggs for a planned breakfast the next day don't like playing off road, damn pre-chickens. I think we finally got up into Payson around 1pm, where we stopped at a burger/steak house for a hearty lunch, somehow even making a Bigfoot joke with the waitress, when the three of us were looking at my Garmin wrist worn GPS. The little character that represents a jogger looks blocky, like a Bigfoot.
After filling up with lunch then filling the car up with gas, we continued east from there, across towards a small mountain town called Christopher Creek, were I've stayed a couple of times. While following the highway, a trend was starting to show up, all the camping sites are still closed for the winter, 5500-7000ft makes for cold nights, ice and possibly snow. We finally found a turn off heading south towards Young, a sort of retirement town, accessed only by dirt roads. A few miles down the road was a turn off for a camping area, Haigler Creek. Laura had camped around there before, so, what the hell, lets go check it out. 8 miles down a dirt road doesn't take that long in the Celica, if we decided it sucked and wanted to come back up. The odd part was, when we turned south, we had pulled off the side of the road to check the gps, double think our directions and got passed by 4 SUVs, two with CA plates, and then about 30 seconds later a 14ft box van from U-Haul. After we double checked things, we started back down the road. Well, about 2 miles down, the box van was stopped and the guys were looking for something in the ditches. 1/2 mile later the 4 SUV were all pulled over, and the people were pulling out equipment, and climbing gear, odd, but didn't think that much of it. 5 miles later, we found the small designated camping site, with a bathroom and all and nobody around. Bathroom and trash cans were all locked up, damn it, still closed for winter, oh well. We picked a good spot, to set up our tent and get all unpacked. The first thing I noticed while walking from the car to the raised, flat camping site was a 4" to 5" round cat tracks in the dirt. Crap, a mountain lion had been though here recently, oh well, they shy away from people, mostly, right..?
We got the car all unpacked, the tent set up and our seating pulled up around the firebox. That's when I found out the bathroom was locked, going to be roughing it even more than usual I guess. So, we proceeded to gather firewood for the night, finding plenty of dried wood around, but in our packing forgot to think to bring anything to size the wood into useable pieces. No big deal, the wood was really dry, so, you guessed it, I broke the longer pieces down by smashing them into a tree near our firebox, effective. Quickly, we got a fire going as we knew the sun would be setting quickly behind the mountains and would be a welcomed addition for our comfort. Beautiful country up there, lots of trees, a small stream was across the street with very interesting tree roots on some of the bigger trees. One of the dead trees Laura found had been struck by lightning, turns out, it sort of char hardened the inside, made for a good, slow burning piece for the fire.
By 5:30, the sun was fast slipping away and the chill was coming. We ate our simple dinner, played a little cards and enjoyed the silence, the whole time we were at the site, we only saw one truck come by. The sun was gone quickly, but it took a while for the stars to start coming out. The pitch blackness of the woods was starting to make me feel uneasy, since we didn't bring the riffle along with us this time either. Then, as we are chatting, off in the distance we hear what to me sounds like a couple of domestic cats fighting, not exactly, but closest thing I've heard. We heard this a few times over the next hour or so. I got out my flashlight, looking out around camp every now and then, but saw no eye shine or signs of animals. We figured, must be raccoons or skunks getting into it a bit. Another hour or so passed, and the stars were out, in full force, a LOT more then you seen down in Phoenix, that's for sure. But the cold was moving in too. So, around 8:45, we decided to call it an early night, we were both tired from all the driving and excitement of the day, plus curling up together in the tent will keep us warmer. 15 or so minutes later, we heard a couple of coyotes yelping/howling, what sounded no more than 100 yards from us. About 5 or so minutes later, something very near our tent, probably on the other side of the barbwire fence that was 20 yards behind us, growled briefly. Jokingly Laura asked if it was my stomach, "NO". 15 minutes after that, the two of us decided, the temp is dropping too quickly, Laura's feet are freezing, I'm a little freaked out by the wildlife and we are too old for this crap, lets pack up and head for a nice warm bed back at home. Amazing how fast you can pack up the little hatchback, when you aren't worried about saving space and getting things neatly folded. We did spend about 10 minutes, drizzling water and Gatorade over the firebox, to put out the majority of the glowing embers. We turned the box into a small mud pit to be safe. 20 years ago, it didn't seem to be a big deal sleeping in weather that cold, oh how my blood has thinned with age and living in the desert for 14 years.
Like any good driver, in a car that handles well off road, I also pulled the front light covers off the, headlights are fine for people who like to go slow, HIDs turn the night into day, at least in front of you. As soon as we got back on the road, we saw some small, dark colored animal diving off the side of the road, down the back towards the creek, skunk or raccoon, we didn't get a clear look at it. 3 or 4 miles back up the road, funny, those SUVs are still there, but parked on the opposite side of the road than before. In front of one of them, they even had a tripod set up, just weird. The trip back to the valley was pretty uneventful, other than I was getting tired, stopped to get a snack and a large energy drink from the back of the car. Also, the passenger side door wasn't latching all the way, so it was a good time to slam it shut. We finally got back to my house around mid night, what a day.
A little research on the internet, about the area we were trying to camp at found that there were two "Bigfoot" expeditions going on up there that weekend. One was for the Animal Planet show and the other was more privately funded. How odd, funny, coincidental could we have been stumbling through there. Every Sunday, I watch that show, it's a bit like watching MST3000, if you understand that reference.
What we learned was, don't take whole eggs, when I'm driving, pack a riffle/pistol for at least a sense of security, don't try to camp on the Rim when it's still so cold up there and take more people with you, so they can confirm the noises you hear... LOL
-Jon
http://azcro.lefora.com/2009/11/16/the-mogollon-monster-arizonas-bigfoot/page55/ We were in the middle of a BF hot spot I tell you... LOL
(pictures to follow soon)
After filling up with lunch then filling the car up with gas, we continued east from there, across towards a small mountain town called Christopher Creek, were I've stayed a couple of times. While following the highway, a trend was starting to show up, all the camping sites are still closed for the winter, 5500-7000ft makes for cold nights, ice and possibly snow. We finally found a turn off heading south towards Young, a sort of retirement town, accessed only by dirt roads. A few miles down the road was a turn off for a camping area, Haigler Creek. Laura had camped around there before, so, what the hell, lets go check it out. 8 miles down a dirt road doesn't take that long in the Celica, if we decided it sucked and wanted to come back up. The odd part was, when we turned south, we had pulled off the side of the road to check the gps, double think our directions and got passed by 4 SUVs, two with CA plates, and then about 30 seconds later a 14ft box van from U-Haul. After we double checked things, we started back down the road. Well, about 2 miles down, the box van was stopped and the guys were looking for something in the ditches. 1/2 mile later the 4 SUV were all pulled over, and the people were pulling out equipment, and climbing gear, odd, but didn't think that much of it. 5 miles later, we found the small designated camping site, with a bathroom and all and nobody around. Bathroom and trash cans were all locked up, damn it, still closed for winter, oh well. We picked a good spot, to set up our tent and get all unpacked. The first thing I noticed while walking from the car to the raised, flat camping site was a 4" to 5" round cat tracks in the dirt. Crap, a mountain lion had been though here recently, oh well, they shy away from people, mostly, right..?
We got the car all unpacked, the tent set up and our seating pulled up around the firebox. That's when I found out the bathroom was locked, going to be roughing it even more than usual I guess. So, we proceeded to gather firewood for the night, finding plenty of dried wood around, but in our packing forgot to think to bring anything to size the wood into useable pieces. No big deal, the wood was really dry, so, you guessed it, I broke the longer pieces down by smashing them into a tree near our firebox, effective. Quickly, we got a fire going as we knew the sun would be setting quickly behind the mountains and would be a welcomed addition for our comfort. Beautiful country up there, lots of trees, a small stream was across the street with very interesting tree roots on some of the bigger trees. One of the dead trees Laura found had been struck by lightning, turns out, it sort of char hardened the inside, made for a good, slow burning piece for the fire.
By 5:30, the sun was fast slipping away and the chill was coming. We ate our simple dinner, played a little cards and enjoyed the silence, the whole time we were at the site, we only saw one truck come by. The sun was gone quickly, but it took a while for the stars to start coming out. The pitch blackness of the woods was starting to make me feel uneasy, since we didn't bring the riffle along with us this time either. Then, as we are chatting, off in the distance we hear what to me sounds like a couple of domestic cats fighting, not exactly, but closest thing I've heard. We heard this a few times over the next hour or so. I got out my flashlight, looking out around camp every now and then, but saw no eye shine or signs of animals. We figured, must be raccoons or skunks getting into it a bit. Another hour or so passed, and the stars were out, in full force, a LOT more then you seen down in Phoenix, that's for sure. But the cold was moving in too. So, around 8:45, we decided to call it an early night, we were both tired from all the driving and excitement of the day, plus curling up together in the tent will keep us warmer. 15 or so minutes later, we heard a couple of coyotes yelping/howling, what sounded no more than 100 yards from us. About 5 or so minutes later, something very near our tent, probably on the other side of the barbwire fence that was 20 yards behind us, growled briefly. Jokingly Laura asked if it was my stomach, "NO". 15 minutes after that, the two of us decided, the temp is dropping too quickly, Laura's feet are freezing, I'm a little freaked out by the wildlife and we are too old for this crap, lets pack up and head for a nice warm bed back at home. Amazing how fast you can pack up the little hatchback, when you aren't worried about saving space and getting things neatly folded. We did spend about 10 minutes, drizzling water and Gatorade over the firebox, to put out the majority of the glowing embers. We turned the box into a small mud pit to be safe. 20 years ago, it didn't seem to be a big deal sleeping in weather that cold, oh how my blood has thinned with age and living in the desert for 14 years.
Like any good driver, in a car that handles well off road, I also pulled the front light covers off the, headlights are fine for people who like to go slow, HIDs turn the night into day, at least in front of you. As soon as we got back on the road, we saw some small, dark colored animal diving off the side of the road, down the back towards the creek, skunk or raccoon, we didn't get a clear look at it. 3 or 4 miles back up the road, funny, those SUVs are still there, but parked on the opposite side of the road than before. In front of one of them, they even had a tripod set up, just weird. The trip back to the valley was pretty uneventful, other than I was getting tired, stopped to get a snack and a large energy drink from the back of the car. Also, the passenger side door wasn't latching all the way, so it was a good time to slam it shut. We finally got back to my house around mid night, what a day.
A little research on the internet, about the area we were trying to camp at found that there were two "Bigfoot" expeditions going on up there that weekend. One was for the Animal Planet show and the other was more privately funded. How odd, funny, coincidental could we have been stumbling through there. Every Sunday, I watch that show, it's a bit like watching MST3000, if you understand that reference.
What we learned was, don't take whole eggs, when I'm driving, pack a riffle/pistol for at least a sense of security, don't try to camp on the Rim when it's still so cold up there and take more people with you, so they can confirm the noises you hear... LOL
-Jon
http://azcro.lefora.com/2009/11/16/the-mogollon-monster-arizonas-bigfoot/page55/ We were in the middle of a BF hot spot I tell you... LOL
(pictures to follow soon)
I think once you get some experience under your belt, you'll realize there's less to fear in the great outdoors than there is in the city...
