Going Wild

This weekend we went camping. But not just any camping, we went wilderness camping. Well thats what we are calling it anyway.


We haven't camped in a long time and we were missing it. Melanie and Greg happen to be feeling the same way. We decided to go camping together near a reservoir so we could also do some kayaking. Yeah!

Brian loves to kayak

The thing is, Melanie and Greg don't do campgrounds. They like finding a campsite somewhere in the National Forests and camping for free. I mean it makes sense, free camping and no people. Brian and I prefer campgrounds, having been accustomed to them my whole life.


Well we are up for new things so why not. At first they wanted to load the boats and camp off the lake. We had to say no to this since we have way to much stuff and no where to put in on the kayak.

Brian and I were a little on the fence about camping with them. We thought about bailing. For one, it was going to be chilly up north. We were 3 hours away from Phoenix, up around 7500 feet in elevation. It was only in the 60s there and dropped to 40 or less at night. Second, the water was going to be cold, and it would be cold on the water. And third, there is no running water or bathrooms of any kind when you plop yourself down in the middle of the forest.

We did not bail and we are so glad we didn't. We packed lots of blankets and warm clothes. Being cold is not my thing. We also used the T's tent because we felt our monstrosity of a tent was to much for this trip.

Away we went. It was the most beautiful drive going from low desert to high desert to pine forest. We arrived after 3 hours and got the boats in the water. It was a beautiful place to spend the day. Flat waters, quiet, and cool temps. We introduced them to caching which they seemed to like.

Melanie and Greg

After a couple hours out we headed in to find a camp spot. We drove a little ways up from the lake and they picked a nice big site. We were not as far into the wild as I had expected. We set up shop and got the fire roaring.

Blue ridge Reservoir

Melanie and Greg and Brian cooked sausages on the fire while I enjoyed soup for dinner. They are easy people to hang out with. They are very similar to us and have done a lot of camping and hiking in Arizona. They are full of advice and have made us see that there is so much we need to see.

Our campsite

We have decided to backpack down to Havasu Falls in the spring. Its a 10 mile hike to the campground down through a western part of the Grand Canyon. We are very excited to try something new. We need to buy a lot of equipment to be able to do this. After that we are going to backpack down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Who knows, we may never camp in a campground again. Peeing in the woods is not so bad. Well, when its 35 degrees it is.

We spend most of the morning hanging out and packing up. We went for one more cache before calling it a day and heading home.

We heard coyotes throughout the night and we got a wonderful treat this morning when a bald eagle soared overhead. Since its getting cold up north and most likely will snow there soon we will be sticking to the low desert for any winter camping.

Can't wait!

-Nina