Tucson T4R
Expedition Leader
Last weekend my son and I went camping at one of our favorite spots. It's called Grand View at the end of an old timber road off the main road to Riggs lake on Mt Graham, AZ.
Luckily another member here warned me that the heavy snows this winter brought down a lot of trees and the FS had a tough time just opening the primary roads and campgrounds by Memorial day. He thought there was a good chance the side road into Grand View would be blocked with down trees.
He wasn't kidding. :Wow1: We ran into the first tree blocking our path in the first 50 yds. It was between 2 to 3 feet in diameter and sadly some other folks were making a bypass around it through the woods. We chain sawed the tree into manageable 6 foot chunks and dragged them across the bypass to halt any future use. We still found 3 more downed trees blocking our path to camp. One more monster similar in diameter and 2 others that were about 18" in diameter. It took us about 2 hours of cutting and dragging to make our way to our final destination.
It was worth the effort, it's a great campsite with excellent views from a ridge just 30 yards up from the campsite. Talking with the FS later in the weekend they appreciated the work we did clearing the road and closing the bypass at the first tree fall.
We even got to enjoy seeing two black bears. The first one my dog alerted me to about 5:30 in the morning. The bear was foraging in the woods and climbing an old dead tree looking for breakfast bugs. Cool to watch but once he saw me he climbed back down and retreated deeper into his woods away from us. We ran into the second bear while exploring an old road near the visitor center. We came around a corner and he was walking along the road. He trotted in front of us for about 50 yards then cut up into the thick woods out of sight. Both encounters I didn't have my camera ready so they are only pictures in my mind.
All in all a great way to spend Father's Day weekend with my son. :wings:
Here are few pics of the campsite and the nearby views.
And Riggs lake a few miles down the road:
Luckily another member here warned me that the heavy snows this winter brought down a lot of trees and the FS had a tough time just opening the primary roads and campgrounds by Memorial day. He thought there was a good chance the side road into Grand View would be blocked with down trees.
He wasn't kidding. :Wow1: We ran into the first tree blocking our path in the first 50 yds. It was between 2 to 3 feet in diameter and sadly some other folks were making a bypass around it through the woods. We chain sawed the tree into manageable 6 foot chunks and dragged them across the bypass to halt any future use. We still found 3 more downed trees blocking our path to camp. One more monster similar in diameter and 2 others that were about 18" in diameter. It took us about 2 hours of cutting and dragging to make our way to our final destination.
It was worth the effort, it's a great campsite with excellent views from a ridge just 30 yards up from the campsite. Talking with the FS later in the weekend they appreciated the work we did clearing the road and closing the bypass at the first tree fall.
We even got to enjoy seeing two black bears. The first one my dog alerted me to about 5:30 in the morning. The bear was foraging in the woods and climbing an old dead tree looking for breakfast bugs. Cool to watch but once he saw me he climbed back down and retreated deeper into his woods away from us. We ran into the second bear while exploring an old road near the visitor center. We came around a corner and he was walking along the road. He trotted in front of us for about 50 yards then cut up into the thick woods out of sight. Both encounters I didn't have my camera ready so they are only pictures in my mind.
All in all a great way to spend Father's Day weekend with my son. :wings:
Here are few pics of the campsite and the nearby views.
And Riggs lake a few miles down the road:
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