Tweet
About a month ago (actually it was exactly a month ago) I left for a 5 day trip to a new area in northern Arizona. My trip was altered (sort of) before it began. I was excited because a friend of mine offered me a bunch of mesquite wood. Then, 2 days before I was leaving a fire ban was enacted in all the Arizona national forests due to the coronavirus. In the end I decided to be a selfish jerk and had a campfire. I figured that since the order came down from the USDA and not the individual forests in a way that didn't allow for notification (the morning the ban was supposed to start not one of the forests had it posted on their site). So I figured I could play dumb if a ranger happened by. I know. I suck.
Anyway, the plan was to camp near a lake but since all campgrounds were closed there were people primitive camping all around them so I took the advice of a friend of mine and headed down the road to Sycamore Canyon. I was not disappointed. The spot I found was pretty rocky but since I hammock camp that wasn't a problem. I had to use my truck in place of a tree to hang the hammock though. I was 30' from the edge of the canyon and set up my 'bathroom with a view' on the edge.
Spent a glorious 5 days there. I took the Camelbak that I bought for my ill fated bikepacking trip with my brother (turns out I don't like bike riding) and decided to try an impromptu backpacking trip. I used the national forest app (which is pretty good btw) to find a spot at the end of a forest road, filled the pack with water, snacks and some bottles of powerade for some weight and headed out. I figured I would walk until I reached the end of the road or I got tired and wanted to turn around. In short, I LOVED IT. I am now planning my first backpacking trip and I have started running again as part of that preperation.
![Click image for larger version
Name: 20200425_060429[1].jpg
Views: 1
Size: 95.4 KB
ID: 73058](filedata/fetch?id=73058&d=1590333310)
![Click image for larger version
Name: 20200426_090958[1].jpg
Views: 1
Size: 98.1 KB
ID: 73060](filedata/fetch?id=73060&d=1590333420)
![Click image for larger version
Name: 20200426_122625[1].jpg
Views: 1
Size: 99.0 KB
ID: 73061](filedata/fetch?id=73061&d=1590333854)
![Click image for larger version
Name: 20200426_130119[1].jpg
Views: 1
Size: 96.8 KB
ID: 73062](filedata/fetch?id=73062&d=1590333891)
Anyway, the plan was to camp near a lake but since all campgrounds were closed there were people primitive camping all around them so I took the advice of a friend of mine and headed down the road to Sycamore Canyon. I was not disappointed. The spot I found was pretty rocky but since I hammock camp that wasn't a problem. I had to use my truck in place of a tree to hang the hammock though. I was 30' from the edge of the canyon and set up my 'bathroom with a view' on the edge.
Spent a glorious 5 days there. I took the Camelbak that I bought for my ill fated bikepacking trip with my brother (turns out I don't like bike riding) and decided to try an impromptu backpacking trip. I used the national forest app (which is pretty good btw) to find a spot at the end of a forest road, filled the pack with water, snacks and some bottles of powerade for some weight and headed out. I figured I would walk until I reached the end of the road or I got tired and wanted to turn around. In short, I LOVED IT. I am now planning my first backpacking trip and I have started running again as part of that preperation.
Attached Files
Comment