Boondocking, Sightseeing, Oddities and Learning Some History In Arizona

Our plan after leaving Nevada was to check out some of the national parks in Utah. My mom suggested we meet in Flagstaff. Arizona for a couple of days since we weren’t going to make it to California for a visit. Flagstaff wasn’t far from where we were and where we were going, plus it gave us an excuse to visit the Grand Canyon.

One of the first stops we made after we drove into Arizona was at Pipe Spring National Monument. We had never heard of it, so we decided to stop and see what it was all about. The first thing I asked was if it was dog friendly, and the interpretative trail behind the visitor center was, so we stayed. It started to rain, which is not something I associate with Arizona, but welcome after the hot, dry weather we had been experiencing as of late.

Pipe Spring National Monument, established in 1923, describes the history of a natural spring that still exists that had been used by inhabitants going back to the Ancestral Pueblans. The history of this site includes the Kaibab band of the Paiute Indian tribe to the Mormons who came and started grazing cattle after taking the land from the native people. I didn’t take a picture of the spring because it was suffering from a bad case of toxic algae.

As we continued on our way toward Flagstaff we were rewarded with a view of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument and even though it was a cloud day, they were still beautiful

We had an opportunity to view them again on a sunny evening from the same scenic overlook just over a week later when we were headed to the Grand Canyon..

In the vicinity of Vermilion Cliffs, we saw a sign for “Cliff Dwellers.” in Marble Canyon. At first, we thought it would be one of the Pre-Columbian Pueblo Indian cliff dwellings, but instead, we pulled up to a strange assortment of large rocks with a ragtag assortment of rock walls and wood ceilings in an otherworldly setting. There were no signs of any kind with an explanation.

I looked up the story on the internet. As the story goes, during Prohibition, the car of a couple driving through Arizona from out East broke down at this spot. They built a unique rock house and trading post, and a community was born near Lees Ferry.

Just past Lees Ferry is the historic Navajp bridge that allowed people traveling between Utah and Arizona to drive across Glen Canyon over the Colorado River instead of traveling 800 miles to go around it.

We got to see our first California Condors as we walked across the bridge.

We decided to do some boondocking in Coconino National Forest outside Flagstaff a few days before meeting my parents at the hotel. Per usual, we arrived after dark in a forest we had never been to before. And it was Friday night of Labor Day weekend. We finally came across an empty campsite right along the side of the road and took for the night.

The next morning we drove further past large and small groups of campers. The place was jumping with ATVs and the like driving up and down the roads. We finally came to a larger, more private spot.

The site we chose had several lean=to structures out of dead wood. Mark joked that it looked like army surplus guys were doing crafts. One looked like it had been lived in with trash strewn about.

Funnily enough, on the ground next to where we parked, there were a lot of beads and sequins to further support the crafts theory. We picked them up the best we could.

The site had the biggest fire ring we had ever seen. Since we were in a forest wth only moderate fire risk, Mark collected wood to build us a mini bonfire as it started to rain

The next morning Poppy and I walked the forest road, enjoying the blue skies, sunshine and beauty surrounding us. Well, Poppy mostly enjoyed the myriad of new smells.

We took another forest road and came across a lovely campsite at the top of the hill. After showing it to Mark, he agreed it was nice so we moved once again. Of course we packed up the firewood he had cut the day before.

After two more nights in the forest we left to meet up with my parents in Flagstaff and spend a fun two days visiting a museum and an interpretative walk outside of a mansion (not by today’s standards for sure).

I’ll leave you with this picture of an example of how people and their dogs look alike.