Whitewater Draw, Arizona - it's for the birds

I thought I was coming here to be close to Bisbee, but apparently other things happen here at Whitewater Draw. Officially, all the excitement is over in February, but tell that to the birds and birders.

Where the sandhill are we?

Remember to pick up groceries before you get here, or you'll be diving for delicious draw delicacies.

Camping is allowed for three days a week. You guess which days. Seriously, you can camp overnight for three days out of every seven. Camping is set up in a ring around the potty, and each "site" has a picnic table safely corralled for your dining pleasure. I guess the corral is to create a tent space. Two pit toilets make the centerpiece.

There are no individual shelters, but there is one very large shelter with seating for watching the cranes, or for picnicking or whathaveyou. The major bird shows happen at dawn and dusk, I'm told, but who's awake for those, amirite? I'm also told to wear a hat and keep my mouth shut, but I'm told that everywhere.

Buckeye Hills Regional Park onward.

Buckeye Hills Regional Park is an unexpectedly peaceful place to camp. It's unexpected, because there really are occasional F16 formations directly overhead, and I was even strafed by a low-flying private plane. Okay, not exactly strafed, but he was pretty low and right over me. Nearly-strafed is super-accurate.

I expected Boy Scouts, and so they came. It's not clear to me whether they can exclude other campers with their reservation, or just discourage us with their presence and numbers. Either way, I didn't expect to stay, and so no harm, no foul. From there I went on to Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, a BLM campground.

This campground is accessible to all sizes of rigs, with excellent roads and big, pull-through sites if you want them. There are 60 sites, and maybe seven or eight of them were filled, so it was easy to allow plenty of space and still camp near the very clean pit toilet. Even at capacity, you would not feel terribly oppressed by RVs crowding in on you. If you were camping in a Prius, you might, however, want to put up your privacy curtains. Might.

No night noise - good sleeping.

The campsite is $8/night, and Interagency Pass holders pay $4. I've encountered this half-price bargain at another BLM campground, so hopefully it's a thing.

I think that if this campground had shelters I'd give it a five-star rating. Shelters make a big difference, especially if you're not toting your own shelter, like an awning. As it was, it felt open and exposed. You may not notice this lack, and so you'll enjoy the site.

Now I'm in Why, AZ enjoying the company of my good friend, Sue. She invited me to share their RV site in a good-feeling park down here; I'll stay for four nights. I'll even be a kitty-companion to Sonja while I'm here.

It got a little gusty down here - and I don't mean our tall tales around the campfire.

Sue: "THANK GOD you weren't sitting in it!"

Joan of Park

I inherited a campsite from The Bayfield Bunch - Sedona, AZ boondocking

I'm camping with Annie for a couple of days at the campsite Al and Kelly (The Bayfield Bunch) enjoyed while they toured the area. The pictures you will see here will be inferior versions of the originals, lacking - as they are - the Bayfield Bunch.

Annie is heading to New Mexico, after feeling somewhat hassled by a Forest Service representative. There are some ambiguous regulations about "living in the forest," and although a good argument can usually be made that this isn't happening, the rangers are given carte blanche to ticket.

As much as I love Arizona, I'm an even bigger fan of New Mexico and its state park system. Rather than feeling that you're fending off overzealous federal employees, it's possible to relax and enjoy beautiful (and comfortable) surroundings where you're welcomed. State parks encourage you to stay for two weeks, and in some areas (near Truth or Consequences, in particular) you can stay well within the limits of their regulations and still remain in the same locale.

Out-of-state visitors can get an annual state parks pass for $225. After that, boodocking in the state parks is free, and a site with water and electric is $4/night. Or, $10 and $14, respectively, without the pass.

 This campsite is not in New Mexico.

Kelly built these Inuksuit.

There is no cat here.

 Or here.

 Nope.

No.

Nothing to see here.

I'll help Annie get her car back and return the loaner in Flagstaff. Then I'll __________ (winning entry receives great inner satisfaction).

Boondocking in Cottonwood, Arizona. Not there.

A lot of boondockers know where to camp in Cottonwood, Arizona, but not so many know about this spot. I assume. There are hordes* of RVs on Thousand Trails Road, and only a coupla where we are. 

Internet coverage with Verizon is excellent here.

*at least three

Mini-Annie

 

Spud with Habitent. "Habitent, Will Travel."

I want to stick around this area until my gadgets arrive, and then I'll set out on my super-secret adventure. It's not really super-secret, I just don't want to dissipate its energy by talking lots about it before I've done it. Sometimes, too much talking takes the place of doing, and I'm already Captain Inertia.

For my friends who worry that I might be freezing solid: no such luck. It's hovering around 30°F here at night; last night I woke up and had ripped my hat right off my head in unconscious overheating. That's with the Habitent up and the night air caressing my Buddha-like earlobes.

Finding free (and almost free) camping in the West

Last post, 6_bleen_7 pointed out the cactus baby on Estée Fodder's nose. This morning I woke up thinking She was eating poke salad. The same line twenty hours earlier would have been HI-larious.

Our neighbor was out as we walked by with our two dogs.* He has been doing a lot of work during the day and leaving at night. He explained tonight that he plans to move in here, so he's been constructing a living area attached to his storage building.

Fernand is a refugee from Congo. His wife died in the war, and his children are in Gabon. We asked if they will come here - maybe someday.

His English is halting, but my French throws itself onto the ground and must be dragged. He tells us that someone (People for Action?) helped him set up his landscaping business here. He likes having us here; until we came along he felt alone out here. You are two - you talk. I am just one.† He shrugs.

What bothers him most is having no lights. He doesn't yet have a solar set-up. We're thinking some solar lights might be a useful housewarming gift. Do you have other ideas?

*Whitey held onto his Will Woof For Food gig here, and brought his brown friend with him today.  

†We think Fernand should keep feeding them after we leave so he has doggie company and night-woofers.

It was fun meeting Sue and Steve for brunch! For the past year I've had to settle for laughing at Sue's puns via Facebook. It's said that puns are the lowest form of humor...unless they're your puns. Between her and Nina, we're pretty psyched about New Mexico.

When Nina was here, she brought her Arizona Benchmark Atlas along to show us. We were impressed enough to buy it and the New Mexico version, too. These are great for finding public and other lands open for camping. For example, they show that Tucson has very little BLM land, but huge stretches of State Trust land that can be accessed for a $15/year permit.

Check out all the states available.







Don't expect these to replace Marianne's Frugal Shunpiker's Guides - there's nothing like a firsthand report - but these will tell you at a glance where to be looking for what kind of camping. And, since they're actual atlases, you won't be flipping back and forth between maps.

For more boondocking ideas, check out our Boondocking Resources page.

~~~~~

Thank you for using The Good Luck Duck's Amazon link! QUACK!  

Kaibab National Forest, North Rim and South Rim big rig camping

I am writing this post WITHOUT Google or internet connection, so nothing will be fact-checked. Believe at your own risk.* Now you will know what it's like to talk to me in person.

This is being composed in my email client. This is how professional bloggers write.*

We were going to hang around the South Rim just a little longer, but friendly Officer Barnes stopped last night to remind us we'd been there 14 days (17, but it's rude to correct a fire service man). Today was moving day.

The distance between the North and South rims of the Grand Canyon is ten miles.* Driving time is five hours. How the crow flies is not how the Duck rolls.

First, let me tell you how to get to a great South Rim campsite: 

Take 64 toward the South Rim 

Go through Tusayan 

Pass the ranger station (or pull in and pick up a southern Kaibab NF map) 

Next left is Forest Road 326.* [Annie says it's 328] 

Follow it 0.7 miles; (pass Apache Stables) 

On your left is a fire road; take it, then pull into the sweet campsite loop on the left. You'll see it easily from 326(8).

There are other nice spots. The Kaibab is shot through with Forest Service and fire roads you can camp along. This just happens to be a great site for big rigs.

You're very close to Tusayan, and very close to the Park's south entrance.

If you prefer to pay lots of money to camp, there is a campground in Tusayan called Camper Village. You get a view of the dump station and the back of the General Store. You can tent camp for $20/night (showers are extra), or bring your RV for $50 or $55/night. Filling your tanks with water and emptying them of other stuff is extra.

Here we go!

Coming down off the rim is a temperature shock. We've been at 6500 feet and above since May, and this hurt.

I always wondered why Denver is called the Mile-High City. I mean, lots of cities are high. I finally understood this summer when I saw its elevation sign: 5280 feet.

I always wondered why the Mile-High Club was called that. Do you join in Denver? I'm not in that club because I've never been to Denver, I guess.*