Backpacking in the AZ
Hi All,
I hope this note finds everyone doing well. The new job at Mohave Juvenile Detention is going well. Beside the no shared days off with my wife, it is ok. The only way we will usually get days off together is if we take vacation time. :( :(
A couple of weeks ago Janice and I did something fun on our last two days off together. We decided to go to Juniper Mesa which is north of Prescott. It is not used very much so trail finding was interesting to say the least.
Here is a picture of part of the trail we had to follow.
The first trail we wanted to hike to the Mesa was crazy. We found the trail head and then a few carins but then nothing. Just pinon pine and some scrub oak. If we would have had a topo map and a compass we may have tried it.
Anyway, the first night we car camped and headed out the next day. Just to let everyone know it is not always warm in AZ. It got down to 31 degrees the first night and we had a fire going all night. The next day we found a different trail head with a slight trail so we headed out. It was about a 2-3 mile hike to the top of the Mesa.
Here is Pico and I sitting on top of the Mesa in a pinon pine grove.
Here is one of the many great views from the Mesa.
Since there was no water on the mesa or anywhere near it we had to carry all of our own water for two days. The temps during the day where only about 70 so it was not to bad. After doing some exploring around the mesa and looking for water someone told us might be there we set up camp in a Ponderosa Pine grove and found a great place to watch the sun set. Here are a few pictures as the sun goes down.
If you look at the way Janice is dressed and at Pico's ear you may see that it was cold and windy. As we were watching the sun go down we would have to go hide behind a tree every now and then to warm up. As you can see from the last photo it was worth it.
The next day we did a day hike before we had to head back home.
Here is Pico and I climbing in the shell of a 700 or 800 year old Alligator Juniper tree.
Here is Janice and Pico hangin with another one.
I wish I had a picture of one of the junipers that was more alive. There were so many 700, 800, 1000 year old? junipers up there. It was amazing.
Pico is thinking of being a mule deer for Halloween.
After our day hike we hung around at camp for awhile and had lunch. Pico was feeling very cuddly.
It was a wonderful trip. And it only got down into the upper 30's the second night.
If anyone is interested Janice, Pico and I are going to Red Rocks outside of Vegas. We will be camping out the night of Nov. 10th, climbing the 11th, 12th and 13th and heading back to Kingman the afternoon of the 13th. If you are around please come see us and climb.
Peace and Love,
Geoff
I hope this note finds everyone doing well. The new job at Mohave Juvenile Detention is going well. Beside the no shared days off with my wife, it is ok. The only way we will usually get days off together is if we take vacation time. :( :(
A couple of weeks ago Janice and I did something fun on our last two days off together. We decided to go to Juniper Mesa which is north of Prescott. It is not used very much so trail finding was interesting to say the least.
Here is a picture of part of the trail we had to follow.
The first trail we wanted to hike to the Mesa was crazy. We found the trail head and then a few carins but then nothing. Just pinon pine and some scrub oak. If we would have had a topo map and a compass we may have tried it.
Anyway, the first night we car camped and headed out the next day. Just to let everyone know it is not always warm in AZ. It got down to 31 degrees the first night and we had a fire going all night. The next day we found a different trail head with a slight trail so we headed out. It was about a 2-3 mile hike to the top of the Mesa.
Here is Pico and I sitting on top of the Mesa in a pinon pine grove.
Here is one of the many great views from the Mesa.
Since there was no water on the mesa or anywhere near it we had to carry all of our own water for two days. The temps during the day where only about 70 so it was not to bad. After doing some exploring around the mesa and looking for water someone told us might be there we set up camp in a Ponderosa Pine grove and found a great place to watch the sun set. Here are a few pictures as the sun goes down.
If you look at the way Janice is dressed and at Pico's ear you may see that it was cold and windy. As we were watching the sun go down we would have to go hide behind a tree every now and then to warm up. As you can see from the last photo it was worth it.
The next day we did a day hike before we had to head back home.
Here is Pico and I climbing in the shell of a 700 or 800 year old Alligator Juniper tree.
Here is Janice and Pico hangin with another one.
I wish I had a picture of one of the junipers that was more alive. There were so many 700, 800, 1000 year old? junipers up there. It was amazing.
Pico is thinking of being a mule deer for Halloween.
After our day hike we hung around at camp for awhile and had lunch. Pico was feeling very cuddly.
It was a wonderful trip. And it only got down into the upper 30's the second night.
If anyone is interested Janice, Pico and I are going to Red Rocks outside of Vegas. We will be camping out the night of Nov. 10th, climbing the 11th, 12th and 13th and heading back to Kingman the afternoon of the 13th. If you are around please come see us and climb.
Peace and Love,
Geoff
posted by Geoff at 6:38 PM
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