An Arizona Quickie
Not that kinda quickie peeps!
I went to AZ this month to visit my sister. She is an ultra-marathoner and mountain biker who is in her 3rd year of medical school. Yup, she has to tone down her gnar-gnar to hang with me!
I had so much fun on this trip I just have to share some of the spots we landed. She and I have both done backcountry hiking and camping, but for this adventure, we decided to keep it chill and easy and car camp. I’ve included a food and gear list at the end.
Day 1
CMH-PHX, Southwest has direct flights, which may be worth the $ when you have limited time to spend and would rather spend it exploring the red rocks than trying to find healthy food in your connecting city’s airport.
I arrived in the evening and we spent the first night in Scottsdale where my sis lives. This gave us a chance to run into REI and the supermarket to grab last minute necessities. I had forgotten my camping stove, so picked this one up. And this fab impulse buy.
Day 2
Drive 2hrs to Mongollon Rim. The deal here is that you want to arrive early enough to get a spot ON THE RIM. The campsite host told us that currently, Wednesday is your best bet for snagging a spot. We arrived and were disappointed to get a spot right next to the party people, but kept a watchful eye and swapped spots a few hours later. Phew. Highlights here: beautiful views, campfire area, wildlife (bears and rattlesnakes and elk and even a lone wolf!!) The moon was nearly full and it was gorgeous. Down the hill there’s a small, pretty, swimmable lake with boat rentals and people fishing. Friendly camp host. Meh: campsites are more spacious than in many car camping places I’ve been, but they are close enough that you’ll hear your neighbors if they’re at all boisterous. It defs feels lived in. Also, the closer you are to the beginning of the camping road, the more car traffic will keep you up. Lots of big burly trucks and noisy off road vehicles.
Day 3
After being kept awake all night by a randy elk, we were not in the mood to have human neighbors. (If you don’t know what a bull elk sounds like, turn your volume all the way up and play this. Fantastic :)) We thought about heading to the Grand Canyon, but decided to drive 2hrs to Flagstaff instead. We enjoyed the ride and stopped by two lakes - Mormon Lake and another that were completely dry. Strange to see “No Wake” signs posted next to a huge empty field. Anyway. We headed in and set the GPS to a camping store called “Peace Surplus” - love! After grabbing much needed coffee, we headed to Mt. Humphreys because I was aching to spend time with Aspen. I cried at the beauty of the groves. We did an hour+ hike - parked at the Snow Bowl and made lunch out of the trunk of the car (my fave!!) and then set off on the trail. This trail starts at 9,000ft elevation, so flatlanders need to make sure they’re well hydrated. Once I finished hugging the trees, we set off toward Sedona.
We were looking for more sparsely populated camping options. We went to one place that said it had dispersed camping - oh heeeeeell no it didn’t. We drove down a very bumpy, rocky, dirt road (in my sister’s prius - ha!) which had our hopes up, only to find three or four tent cities. So we continued. We found another no-name road on the right and crossed our fingers that the Prius (named “Safe Space”) would make it up. This was better. Road 535 winds up - keep going. We kept going to the top of the hill and were delivered to a sweeeeeet, super private area. We agreed that there was only one other spot equal to ours, it was about 2/3 up and right on the side of the hill with awesome views of the rolling hills.
Our spot had ponderosa pine and baby oak. We couldn’t see or hear another person and when we walked the 5 minutes to the back of the site, we got our view toward Sedona. This spot was quiet, private and I slept really well here. It looks like there was a controlled burn in the valley below us years ago, which some might feel disrupts the view, but it was okay with me! I loved this spot. It rained during the night and both HB and I stayed dry. She was sleeping in a hand-me-down, totes gucci tent (that uses hiking poles for the tent poles) from our mom. I am a tent person (I bought one probs 11 years ago on sale from Sierra Trading and I’ve taken it all over with me), but I used a hammock that I bought for Eric this time and I stayed dry.
Day 4
We went in search of water and found a pond in the place that the map had designated as a lake. Beyond our campsite, road 535 winds back and gets more and more rugged (we decided Safe Space needs to be lifted and get a skid plate - ha!). Hannah is going to go back and check it out either on her bike or with a more suitable ride. It seems like there is potential for some seriously beautiful scenery going back on 536A.
We packed up and headed to Sedona on Oak Creek Canyon drive (which my sister has ridden her bike up and down twice - yikes, and my brother likes to jump off the cliffs into the water here). I know eeeeeeveryone loves Sedona. Mostly me too. The red rocks are gorge and the people do yoga and rock climb and talk to crystals. Buuuuut, it’s actually not my favorite place for vibes and vortices (that spot is in Utah), but it is really beautiful - and has a lot of human mammals all over the place and traffic to boot. We took a chill hike that we found just down the end of a road as we turned toward a big red rock. We grabbed some food before heading back to Scottsdale, hungry for a spot by Hannah’s salt water pool! You can check out the heavily populated Airport Loop (good views with an easy loop walk w a vortex.) Wilson’s Mountain for gorgeous and epic, and my sis just texted me about Sycamore Canyon and said it’s stunning. We thought about stopping at Wet Beaver Creek - but my sis said it would probs be full of frat boys, so I opted out. You can’t go 20 feet without seeing a crystal shop or natural healing store. I haven’t found one I love, so I’ll skip this. When I visited last with Eric and the kids, we got vegetarian/vegan takeout here and it was good.
So Hannah and I headed back to Scottsdale for reading by the pool.
Day 5
Chill gravel bike ride at Brown’s in Scottsdale. More pool time and then an excursion to get trip gifts for the kids. We went to old Scottsdale (suuuuper touristy) and I found something for everyone in one shop at The Mercantile. We then killed time eating salad on a porch in 100+ degree heat because my flight was delayed by 2 hours!
I’ve been home a week and I’m ready to go back already and I found myself looking for cowgirl boots - whuuut? :)
Gear:
Car camping is easy b/c you can pack loads of stuff, which generally means you bring more than you need. All good though! We keep it pretty reasonable.
Tent and Hammock linked above, as is camp stove. My sis lent me this under blanket for the hammock (which she used when she rode her bike across the country) to help keep me warm and I was really glad she did!
Pee Cloth - zooooohhhhMG, I was gifted one of these Kula Cloths a few years back and I LOVE IT. At first I thought it was going to be gross b/c you reuse it, but it doesn’t smell, doesn’t give you infections…so much cleaner and earth friendly than drip dry/leaves/packing TP in out.
Lots of layers - I like pull over base, then a flannel, then a zip up, then a vest with a hood and then if it’s really cold a nano puff and an optional rain/wind layer. I’m a fan of Patagonia (aka pata-gucci) and helly hansen b/c they last forever and I like PataG’s ethics… one of my favorite vests is an old lulu puffy with a hood. I also shop deals at Sierra Trading and The Clymb. And when my dad is done with his old flannel shirts, I get them as hand-me-downs. My mom loves Montbell for their ultra lightweight warm gear. Hannah and I were both trying to long-term “borrow” this one from her the last time we were visiting!
Trucker Hat. Day one hair down, subsequently in pigtail french braids so I don’t have to wash it and it doesn’t get knotted. If it’s hot, I sometimes do a bandana instead of a hat.
Headlamp - I had an old Petzl for years (they don’t make it anymore, but this one seems good). Now I have a Black Diamond, which I’ve had for a few years and like it.
Knife. I have a few. This one’s big, and good if I feel scared. I don’t always bring it. This one’s always on my keychain This one’s little and cuts really well and is my go-to. These are the reason I almost always have a checked bag when flying to camp.
Blanket layer - (For Ohio backyard or car camping, this is my FAVE bc I tend to run cold, and it makes me silly happy, but it’s too big to pack for far away.)
Shoes: My fave hiking shoes are 10+ year old Brooks trail runners that they don’t make anymore. I wear them in the forest and in the desert. Women's Ecco Yucatan Sandal are so ugly, but comfortable, I’ve had mine probs 12 years - if I’m in a big snake area I don’t wear sandals tho. I also have boots, they’re comfy, but they’re hot.
Camp chairs - Hannah loves hers from REI, they’re an older model of these.
Carabiners and S clips - I always have these clipped to my bag. Great for clipping water bottle or other oft used items. And, I typically use them for something I forgot. For instance, this trip, we got to the first campsite and I realized the hammock straps were not in the bag (eeek!). So we rigged the hammock up using the carabiners and clips to connect some cloth grocery bags and I made sure there were no big rocks under my hammock in case it all went to he-l-l in the middle of the night - ha!
Gravel Bike! I’m gonna be saving for a while for this beaut.
Food:
COFFEE creamer
Qia (so good!) I eat this everyday whether I’m camping or not w almond butter.
Lentils we added fresh mushrooms and peppers and tomatoes.
Jalepeno Mac-n-cheese we added tomatoes and avocado.
Tea - I get cold easily, and also get dehydrated at higher altitudes. I love Pukka. Lemon, Ginger, Manuka Honey; Elderberry and Echinachea; and Three Mint are my faves.
Salad wraps - 1. make a salad w your faves 2. wrap in big tortilla 3. Eat
Safeway Bfast in Scottsdale: we split a sesame bagel with hardboiled eggs and avocado loaded with siracha.
***We’re used to eating vegetarian, bean heavy, spicy food - if you’re not used to it, a camping trip with no toilets (like this one) is not the time to start!! :)