Empire Ranch 3, AZ Trail

We woke up to find that the time had not changed.  It was still 7 AM and the sun was rising.  

Really, if you are one of those who can’t take the time change don’t bother traveling east or west, you might cross a time zone!  We are now 3 hours different than home, and will cross those time zones on the trip back.  It is usually one a day for the first two days.

We took another hike up Oak Canyon to the AZ Trail, starting out the same as we did a month ago.  This time headed north after a 1 mile connector trail.  This time instead of following a contour for miles we headed up a bit and then down, down, down.  OK, there was some up and down but it was a lot of down.  When we hot the 2.6 mile mark we had lunch and started back up.  But it did not seem nearly as hard as we had expected.  The grades are easy.  Not just straight up like home.  They slab around the hills a lot more.

Skye found a good pond for a quick dip on the way in and again out.  We met a few hikers doing the whole trail from Mexico to Utah.  One guy was from MT near Glacier Park and had to finish in a week so he could go start the Pacific Crest Trail in CA.  The AZT is his warm-up hike!  He must have a 3 season job.  He came trotting down the trial and had a rather small pack.  Some people travel very light.

Then another guy from VA who had started ahead of us this morning to do a section pretty much like us.  And a couple from upstate NY doing the whole trail who had stopped to rest.  We talked with them a while.  They had fair sized packs, 20º sleeping bags, a tent etc.  

We got back to camp around 3.  That’s pretty early for us.  A nice relaxing afternoon of reading in the rocking chair.  A few other campers and bikers came by, something to watch.  This pink camper they looked like a converted mini school bus came scouting around.  Two young women, one with very bright hair.  They walked out the road a bit and then left.   Two guys on motorbikes were on the ridge above us and later went up this road by camp, wandered about for a while and came back.  The lead guy on a 2 wheel bike came back to apologize for the young one on a 4 wheeler, said the kid sometimes liked to go fast and thus would make dust.  I really hadn’t noticed the dust but he did and wanted to apologize for it.  They’re from Benson, a small town NE of us about 45 minutes away.  We’ve been through there a few     

Interesting truck camper next door for a couple nights

This Ocotillo is starting to leaf out!

Odd shape for a barrel cactus 

Her pond of the day

Lunch break

Empire Ranch 2

 As I finished this last night Skye got sick, big barf coming under the bedroom door.  Carlene was asleep for a while longer but the cleanup woke her up.  We have a throw rug hanging on a tree.  This morning she seems fine but we did a short easy walk just for her.

We checked out the prairie dog town 4 miles up the road.  They are pretty cute when it’s not on your farm.  A couple of them posed for photos but were not really close.  They are in a fenced area to protect them.  We have seen them a few times before and once Skye was off leash and went right in to meet them.  They said “wrong kind of dog” and holed up.  Today we all watched each other and they sang to us.

We have hiked this road before too.  It leads to a creek but it is hard to access the creek.  Off to the south is a pond that had ducks on it the first time we visited.  Skye loves to swim there, but today she got a load of duckweed in her coat.  That is going to take some time.  Either a lot of time to remove it or a long time to grow the hair back after she gets trimmed.  As of this writing it appears to be some of each.

On the way back a pair of horses and riders came up from behind us.  Skye had been looking around like there was something out there but we had not seen them yet.  I had seen them across a couple ridges as we sat resting by a wellhead.  I heard voices and saw movement but had not recognized that they were horses.  We had been taking about not having seen any horses yet in Empire.  We usually do.  

We haven’t seen any antelope yet either.  Nor deer.  Just cows, and not a lot of them.

Prairie Dog checking us out

Earless lizard, found dried out in the road

Thirsty, and lazy, dog

Pontia Protodice

Now this is permanent fencing.  Steel pipe fence welded to the post.

With a support post also welded to the primary post

Return to Empire Ranch

 We made it back to the same campsite at Empire Ranch in Sonoita AZ.  And this time we have the whole place to ourselves on a Friday night.  Seems a bit odd to me but I’ll take it!  We worried that it might be full, but this isn’t Sedona!  This is the real dispersed camping.  It is a joy to be here again.  We only made two stops on the way down, food and fuel.  The truck and I both needed something to run on.

Uneventful trip today.  We even got through Phoenix OK.  It was a busy day there, plenty of traffic, more than I needed but not excessive.  I considered using the route around the city but it’s longer and the Google Map showed only a slow area, no stoppage.  GPS always wants me to take I-10 through downtown but I prefer I-17 around the outside of downtown.  They are only a few miles apart and I always check the traffic report before choosing.

Of course after a day in the truck Skye is full of energy.  Playtime comes before dinner.  Our dinner that is.  Not hers!

I notice that DST is coming this Sunday.  Not here, AZ doesn’t use it.  So we’ll be 3 hours off from Eastern time for a while.  Just keep that in mind for any communication expectations.

Back in Phoenix 

Blue Palo Verde

Back in the desert again, south of Phoenix 

She saw a bicycle on the road

Same campsite as last time

Home sweet home

Sedona, Woods Canyon

 Another day, another hike.  Woods Canyon trailhead is at the Coconino Forest Visitor Center, so we stopped there for more information.  We learned of more places for dispersed camping, more on that below.  

The hike was a 5 mile round trip up into the canyon.  Some trees and even running water in the creek.  Skye found some additional water holes to at least get her feet wet.  We picked our lunch place where the trail and the creek came close together.  Actually it was Skye who showed that to us.  She went off trail and came back wet, then we saw the water through the trees.  We had lunch while she splashed around.  Later there was another place on the way back where she found a pool of water.  That was needed because a wet dog gathers a lot of red dust in this red rock country.  That rinse got a fairly clean dog back t camp.

So after the hike, and after some ice cream, we toured the dispersed camp areas.  While they are a lot more dispersed than we saw Tuesday they are also full.  Spread out, but full.and half of the roads are unfit for a big trailer.  Apparently the Forest Service never grades the roads.  Huge ruts develop and just get bigger.  Or in a couple examples there are such big dips in the road that our length would drag a rear jack right off the camper.  We found a couple useable places but nothing that we would like.  So it’s back on the road tomorrow.  Back down to the Empire Ranch for a few days.  

Evening Primrose

Creamcups 

California Manroot

Sonoran Scrub Oak

Utah Junipet

A camper in dispersed camp

Walker Creek