WE STILL CAN’T MAKE UP OUR MINDS!
Day 143 – Wow, 29 degrees this morning, and we didn’t realize that we left two ceiling vents wide open all night. Brrrrr. It’s a travel day and we’ve changed our minds yet again. Who knows where we’ll end up!
Change #1: We took a good look at the Arizona Map Book (no internet signal so we couldn’t use our normal research mode). The route south on Highway 93 that we’d chosen to take today would’ve ended up taking us south, east, then north on Route 60 through mountains rising above 7,000 feet. That particular section of the drive would’ve been on a long deserted stretch of road with no towns because it is Apache Reservation Land. We just didn’t feel comfortable doing this in the winter in case of breakdown or vehicle trouble in a desolate area. So back up the 93 north we went, to Interstate 40 east once again – back to Plan A of a few days ago. No harm done; we discovered this great area which we’ll definitely come back to another time & get those rock formation pictures we missed out on yesterday.
Burro Creek Recreation Area BLM Campground, no address & phone number, for information contact the Kingman Field Office, 2755 Mission Blvd., Kingman, AZ 86401, (928) 718-3700, blm_az_kfoweb@blm.gov. Located 60 miles north west of Wickenburg on Highway 93. From
Kingman, travel east 17 miles on Interstate 40, then south 53 miles on Highway 93. The turnoff is 1 mile south of Burro Creek Bridge. From the signed turnoff, continue 1.5 miles to the Recreation Area via the paved access road. BLM camping, no hook-ups but there is a dump station and water is available there. Each site comes with a fire pit and covered picnic table. 30 campsites are spread out a good distance from each other in a beautiful canyon. A really quiet, gorgeous location. There is a creek running through the canyon which was narrow when we were there but definitely had potential to run freely during the occasional downpours. We had site #7, a pull-through, large campsite with no one near us. The campground is well maintained. $14 per night, $7 per night with senior discount. Really cheap for this lovely place. There is no doubt we will come here again.
A final look at Burro Creek, AZ
We departed at 10:30 a.m. after dumping and filling the water tank. It was sunny & 56 degrees. We drove the 53 miles back up to Interstate 40 and headed east, figuring on stopping beyond Flagstaff around Holbrook. We started climbing from about 1500 feet elevation to 6500 feet. The trees, bushes, rocks, and mountains changed again. There was snow on the side of the road in places and signs warning to watch for ice, but since it was 60 degrees out, we weren’t too worried about ice being a problem. The desert turned into forests. We passed a sign for the Grand Canyon, 60 miles north of us, exit in two miles. Hmmmm……
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
Change #2: We never really considered going to the Grand Canyon during the winter. They get snow & ice, don’t they? But here we are in the so-called snow & ice and it certainly appears doable. We now had 1 mile left before the turnoff – a quick decision was needed. We’d be completely changing our plans. Oh well. So much for plans. We took Route 64 north towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We pulled off-road and had lunch, checked the weather forecast since we finally had a cell signal and looked to see if there were any campgrounds open in the winter. Yep, we went for it.
196 miles
We continued north on Route 64 on the small two-lane road which had almost no traffic and passed through only one small town of about 6 buildings. Could this be the road leading to one of the busiest National Parks in the Country? That must be one hellova traffic jam in the summer! About half way to the entrance to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, we started passing signs for National Forest Service (NFS) roads on either side of Route 64. We wondered if we could camp there off one of these roads for free (boondocking). We reached a larger town, Tusayan, just before the Park entrance. This appeared to be the hub for tourists with several motels, restaurants (steak houses), an independent campground, visitor information centers, shuttles to & from the Park, bus tours & helicopter tours.
Yep! Let’s go!
Always ready to see more Elk! Heading North on AZ 64 toward Grand Canyon
We stopped at the NFS Headquarters & asked about the NFS roads we’d seen. The ranger gave us maps & explained the rules & regulations for camping on these roads. We decided to check the closest road to see if the road was okay for driving the RV on it. It was a dirt road but maintained well enough. These dirt roads are fire roads, so they need to be maintained well enough so vehicles can get in if there happened to be a fire. This road was NFS FR302. There was a little ice & snow, so we had to be careful. Here & there, off the road, were turn-offs where people could pull off the road and camp for free. We passed two other vehicles camping before we found our spot, about a mile in. There were no other people camping nearby. We decided to stay and give boondocking a try.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We quickly unpacked & set up by 4 p.m., 62 degrees & sunny. Then we went into Tusayan to find a grocery store to get a couple of items we needed for dinner. The store was small & didn’t have one item we needed, so we drove into the National Park to the Village store which was well-stocked. After going through the entrance & showing our senior pass which got us in for free rather than $30 for seven days this time of year, we entered the Park and shortly saw a large elk eating grass near the road. We also saw two large, beautiful elk right by the road in the Village. We didn’t stop for pictures though because we were in a hurry to get back to the RV to get the potatoes in the oven, and we figured that at this rate, we’d see plenty of elk at other times. Hope we weren’t mistaken.
Back at the RV the temperature was starting to drop as the sun went down, getting much colder, fast. By 10 p.m. it was 23 degrees. The girls settled in rapidly & liked it here except for the helicopters that flew over during the afternoon. We’ll see tomorrow how often they fly over & if it’s bothersome. If it’s too much, we can pick up & move to a different forest service fire road, further from the Park & Tusayan.