We haven't been out on the road much in the last couple of weeks. This is due to the neccessity of taking care of some various bit of paperwork for various things, and due to Kevin's recently begun class having homework due almost nightly. We didn't really expect this out of an online class, and it has posed some challenges, since we have yet to find a camping site with cell phone reception, and without cell reception, we can't use our phones as modems to get online with our netbooks. Luckily, Vallori's mom and stepdad have been kind enough to let us spend some time with them, as long as we are helpful and not underfoot, and this has allowed us to attempt to try some recon missions on campsites before we stay overnight. (basically to see if we can find one with cell reception so we can stay a full week or 2). Hopefully we will find a good place soon, as we are sure we are wearing out our welcome here. :(
As some of you may have noticed, we missed putting up yesterdays listing in the WildernessGeeks Etsy shop. The reason for this is that we were on an exciting adventure toward Sheeps Bridge campground in Tonto National Forest, Az. If you take a look at the AZ Free Campsites map we've created you'll see Sheeps Bridge just north-east of the Phoenix metro area.
While we usually trust Google Maps, when we saw that this 60mile drive was supposedly 3.5hrs long, we laughed, we scoffed, we joked about driving 5mph the whole way there on dirt roads... haha.. haha...hahahahahaha...
Come to find out, most of the trip really is on unpaved forest roads (FR24 mostly, which is Cave Creek rd, back in Phoenix). Our top speed on any point in the trip was probably around 20miles per hour.
While it was still daylight the scenery went from desert brush to more forested and green areas with creeks and streams several times. There were gently sloping hills in some areas, and fairly steep drop offs and canyons in others. Overall, it was quite beautiful. During the night, we didn't see the scenery much, as one would imagine, but we did see many rabbits, some kangaroo rats, and some flying creatures, though whether they were bats or owls, we aren't sure. We also stopped a few time to admire the star filled sky, with very little city glow visible.
We took Cave Creek road, which turns into FR24 on the way out, per Google Maps directions from our starting point. In Vallori's opinion, the roads were rough at their best point, and absolutely terrifying at their worst. In Kevin's opinion, however, they were pretty rough, but not really a big deal, as long as we took it slow. (Kevin was driving). We would not recommend taking these roads in a lower clearance vehicle, or a vehicle that isn't pretty rugged.
The reason this post's title is prefaced with "(The Road to)" is because we never actually made it all the way to Sheeps Bridge! After a few hours of driving the dirt back roads, we came to a road where we had to turn to travel the last 2 miles or so, and this particular road was more rocky and dangerous looking than any of the previous roads, and it was dark already, so we decided it just wasn't worth the risk. On the way back, we decided to take a different route, since we had seen a sign that pointed toward the I17. So we took Bloody Basin Road around 20 miles to the I17. This road was, of course, as bad, if not worse than FR24, and certain parts of it were the most rough (terrifying - haha) of the whole trip. (perhaps it would have seemed a little bit different in the daylight).
While we never did make it to Sheeps Bridge, we did get a good look at some areas where there is "dispersed camping" (basically public lands where you can where you like.). We even got cell signal in some of these areas.
As a side note, I ran across a blog today called "Our Odyssey" with an excellent and informative post about Dispersed Camping that is worth a read. The rest of their story is also interesting, and I fully recommend checking out their full story.
It's much easier to appreciate the travel from yesterday now that we aren't on the road. We learned a lot of useful things, first and foremost being that we need new shocks on the van RIGHT AWAY, but also that the van can handle some pretty rough terrain. We also found some good sites for dispersed camping, and sites with cell reception, and we learned to trust Google Maps, if it says a 60mile drive is going to take in the neighborhood of 4 hours, it really will take that long!
