From Lakeside Living to Red Rock Vistas

Our good boondocking karma continues! Although it was a little touch and go there for a minute. Rog looked at several areas and the one he was most interested in was Bartlett Flats situated on the Bartlett Reservoir. The area is part of the Tonto National Forest and is open to dispersed camping, however the website said it was closed due to high water. Hmmmm. Change plans? First a phone call to check it out. Aha, it's still open but the beach camping area is underwater which means fewer spots are available. Worth a try. 

Bartlett Reservoir. 

Bartlett Flats is about 25 miles east of Carefree, AZ, and that is 25 miles of narrow, uppy-downy, twisty-turny road. Hey, at least it was paved! We arrived on Tuesday afternoon, 4/2, and left the rig at the Yellow Cliffs boat launch parking lot to scout in the Acadia. Good plan. The gravel road to the camping area is graded, but many of the camping spots are super rocky and 4WD only. We found a few spots that would accommodate the short bus and picked one with a fantastic view of the Yellow Cliffs and lake access. Oh, this is going to be nice!

We found our spot! Lakeside boondocking.

Setting up camp.

View of the Yellow Cliffs from our campsite. 

We bought a National Forest Pass to cover 3 nights and settled in. Wednesday was hot and sunny and we hauled our chairs down to our narrow strip of lakefront beach to sit with our feet in the water. Riley had a blast and Rog and I both got a little too much sun. It felt wonderful!   

Riley loves the lake too!

We spent two days just reading, relaxing, playing in the water with Riley, and enjoying our evening campfire. One downside, we are completely without cell service. I always worry a little when we’re out of touch, especially when we don’t get a chance to connect before going dark. On the upside, the fridge has been working on gas even with temps in the 80’s. Yeah!! 

Look, Rog caught a pupfish. :) 

Dusk reflected on the water.

Relaxing around the campfire.

Riley watching "caveman TV". Lol.

We haven’t found any hiking trails, at least nothing close by (and no internet to search!). We walked the camping area and were very happy we arrived and snagged our spot when we did. The area is popular with boaters and fishermen and would be a good place to bring the kayak. There’s been lots of traffic in and out as people search for campsites, I can’t believe the number of people that come dragging their rigs in well after dark to hunt for a spot. Given the terrain, not something I would recommend! We debated staying a few days longer, but by Thursday evening more and more folks were cramming in for the weekend. With the lake as a draw, I have a feeling this place is a circus on a sunny weekend. 

We pulled out Friday morning, 4/5, hoping to find a decent boondocking spot outside of Sedona, AZ.  The area around Sedona has a huge network of Forest Service roads, with many that allow dispersed camping. We had a couple of options scoped out using Campendium, one of our favorite sources to find great campsites. I’ve mentioned it before, it’s like Yelp for campers and incredibly useful.

We took FS road 525 and endured 6 miles of bumpy dirt road to get to the turnoff for Nolan Tanks (FS 9549C). There were campsites along 525 and plenty of other roads we could have tried, but Nolan Tanks got rave reviews so we wanted to check it out first. And…… we scored! I wouldn’t mind being a little further off FS525, it’s heavily trafficked and a favorite of the pink jeep tours and ORV rentals, but the view makes it totally worthwhile. We get to sit on the patio and stare at this. Go ahead and beat that with a stick. 😊

 

A million dollar view for free!

Yes, life is good. :)

On Saturday we did some driving around and picked up information at the visitor’s center. We did the loop through Sedona, past Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock. Checked out the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Drove through the Village of Oak Creek, Cornville, and Cottonwood. We checked out a few other boondocking areas but didn’t see anything that would tempt us to move. Seriously there is so much to do here, hundreds of miles of hiking trails, historic landmarks, state parks, Oak Creek and the Verde River for water sports, good restaurants and a ridiculous amount of shopping… it makes my head spin.

Bell Rock.

Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Red rock vistas.

When Rog and I were much, much younger we had toyed with idea of moving to Sedona. We had just gotten out of the army, had no kids, no house, no ties, and only a stray cat that adopted us to worry about. Neither of us had ever been to Sedona, but the descriptions of the red rock country sounded amazing. Then, as is usually the case, life happened. We both got jobs, bought a house, raised a family, and never in 37 years had we made it to Sedona. We were both curious to see what might have been.

Well, as much as I love the PNW, I gotta say you wouldn’t go wrong here either. Fantastical red rock formations surround the town and the views from just about everywhere are spectacular. The area is known for its outdoor recreation and its new age vibe. Lots of crystals and information on the local energy vortexes next to jeep rentals and outfitters. The town is mostly upscale tourist with more boutiques and bistros than I could count. I’m betting it would take serious money to buy real estate here now. We talked to a local and they said it has just exploded in the last 15 years, she said 37 years ago it would have been paradise.  Ahhh… the road not taken. So, we’ll enjoy it for the week and hopefully come back again, in less than 37 years. Lol.

Fantastic scenery from nearly anywhere in town.

We made of list of the top things we want to do during our stay. Of course, hitting the dog friendly farmer’s market was a priority. We love to stock up on local produce and baked goods and see what homemade goodies are available. We picked a couple of hikes, scenic drives, and plan to have dinner out, the local visitor’s guide lists 29 pup-friendly restaurants! Whoo hoo. We won’t scratch the surface, but we’ll give it our best shot. Lol.

We walked to the nearby Nolan Tank. It's fenced off, so no swimming for puppy boy. 

While we are enjoying the red rock vistas, I can’t say the same for the red dirt. It is flour fine, powdery and gets everywhere! After being towed six miles behind the RV down a dirt road to our campsite you could not tell what color the Acadia was! We put down two patio mats when we set up camp and where does Riley plop down? In the red dirt. He has so much fine red dust in his coat he looks like a strawberry blonde! That and his red mud-caked lips… quite the looker. Lol.

What color is that toad?

My boy is a strawberry blonde, look at that mug. Ugh!

On Monday our plan was to drive to the Oak Creek Vista and then hike the West Fork trail. This was a Riley hike since we would be hiking along Oak Creek with lots of opportunities for him to get wet. The drive up to Oak Creek Vista was also a scouting mission, Hwy 89A is the shortest route to Flagstaff (our next destination) and we wanted to see if it was doable in the RV. Vehicles over 50’ are prohibited, so we could unhook the toad and make the drive – but the narrow road and steep switchbacks aren’t worth it. We’ll take the slightly longer, but less hair-raising alternate route thank you very much.    

Steep switchbacks up the mountain. Not RV friendly!

View from the top

Any view can be improved by the addition of some handsome dudes. :) 

We noticed on our Saturday drive that the area gets mobbed. There were crowds at all the trailheads, parking lots overflowed and the town was popping. We’d hoped it was a weekend phenomenon. Alas, on a Monday the parking lot for the West Fork trailhead was full with a waiting line to get in. We passed on that and went for Plan B. We were going to do Baldwin Loop, about 3 miles around one of the big red rock mesas, but it was just too hot. So we walked the Baldwin trail until we got to the shortcut to Oak Creek and spent several hours playing in the water. 

Red rock formations along Baldwin trail.

On the trail. 

Oak Creek. 

Playtime!

It was fun and refreshing and by the time we left Riley was blonde again. Yay! Sadly, it did not last. On the trail out we hit a sandy area and he went full-on crazy dog.

Crazy dog does zoomies in the sand. Lol.

Oh well, we toweled him off until he looked fairly presentable and headed to the Sedona Beer Co. After lunch and a craft brew, all was good. When we got back to the RV, Riley immediately stretched out in the dirt again and took another nap. Strawberry blonde again. Arrrrgh!

Riley napped while we imbibed at Sedona Beer Co.  

More fun in Sedona coming, but I need to find some free wifi. We’re out of data and I’m reluctant to cough up big bucks to Verizon for a few extra gigs or deal with the hassle of changing plans. Oh, the little joys of life on the road.