Temperatures Rise and We Flee North! Part I

May 8, 2017

We said goodbye to the Gamble Quail, jumped on I-25 for a short distance and then took the Lake Valley Back Country Byway, Route 152 across the Mimbres Mountains, through the Gila National Forest to Silver City. Traveling 180 south brought us to City of Rocks State Park, halfway between Silver City and Deming. There were sites left among the huge group of boulders that suggest a city rising out of the scrub desert. After discerning that the strong wind was out of the west, we found a sheltered site on the east side of the “city”. Greg enjoyed riding his Fat Boy bike and exploring the few trails around the park.

Looking across the Mimbres Mountains

Our camp at City of Rocks

Fierce local resident

20 minutes climbing up, 2 minutes back down again

City of Rocks welded ash formation

We stayed two nights and then left for Rockhound State Park in the Little Florida Mountains above Deming. We were happy to snag a site overlooking the valley. My favorite part of camping there is the view of the sunsets and the lights coming on in the valley. At night the moon was bright and the lights formed a glittering string from Deming and off into the distance to Mexico. Greg's favorite part is going to the Patio in Deming for the BEST green chili cheeseburgers in New Mexico!

Rockhound camp

Looking down into the valley

Green Chile Cheeseburger!

Dusty Sunset

The temperatures were heading up and becoming too hot for hiking, so after looking at the weather forecast we decided to leave Rockhound after one night. After two hot days it looked like we might have a cooling trend that would allow us to head over to Mojave Desert Preserve. The over 100 degree temperatures were supposed to head down into the 70's. From there we could head to the eastern Sierra-Nevada and visit some of our favorite boondocking spots. The plan was to take I-10 to Phoenix, then I-17 north to Flagstaff and pick up I-40 over to California.


Driving west out of Deming the temperatures rose quickly. We decided to head north on backroads on the eastern side of Arizona to try to find higher, cooler elevations. Northeast of Phoenix we reached Theodore Roosevelt Lake, a possible stopping point for us. It was in the 90's and the temperatures were still rising. We enjoyed the view of the lake and drove on.

Heading down to Roosevelt Lake

We finally drove into higher elevations and reached Payson, where the temperatures were in the low 80's. We knew of a good boondock site we had stayed in before between Camp Verde and Cottonwood, but that meant descending into the valley and hot temperatures. Just before the drive down we found a forest service road in the Coconino National Forest, turned off, and found a boondocking site in the middle of the Ponderosa pines. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the temperature was in the 70's. We had a good nights sleep!

Coconino Boondock

The next day we descended into the valley and drove onto I-17 north to Flagstaff. After checking the forecast we realized that we had at least one more really hot day before we could enter Mojave Desert Preserve, and no place cool to stay the night between Flagstaff and Mojave. We decided to give up on California completely. Maybe we could work our way over to Nevada and boondock at Lunar Crater. Greg has been wanting to go back after our one night there the last time we were in Nevada. We checked the weather forecast. There was a chance of showers every day for the next week. The weather in the West has been crazy! We spent two years traveling the west during a drought. Rain was rarely a consideration. Normally extremely dry Lunar Crater was off the list. With a nine mile drive on a lonely dirt road to get there, no one else around, no sign of civilization anywhere, and no phone or cell connections, we couldn't risk getting the RV stuck!


Where to now? Let's visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon! Yes! We'd seen the crowded South Rim several times. Okay, now we were excited. Checking the website we discovered that the road in doesn't open until May 15^th. With a June 1^st deadline to start workcamping in New Hampshire and family in Maryland to visit before that, we were running out of time. No return to see the North Rim... New plan. Let's keep driving north out of Flagstaff as planned and go all the way north to Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Vermillion Cliffs National Monument.


The drive took us through the Navajo Indian Reservation and the temperatures started to increase again. By the time we reached Lake Powell it was in the 90's. It was Friday night and the revelers were rolling in to the town of Page. We drove 10 miles west past the Glen Canyon Dam to Lone Rock Campground. I had heard from other Rver's that it was great spot to boondock on the lake. I guess that was in the winter, because when we arrived, all the room on the shore was gone. Campers were lined up waiting to get in, and it looked like a lot of people were ready to party. Hot and noisy was not what we were looking for.

Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam and the bridge next to it.

Boondockers on the beach at Lone Rock

Amphibious RV?

We drove back south to the Navajo Bridge, crossed the Colorado and headed for the small campground at Lee's Ferry. The beginning of the Vermillion Cliffs loomed in the background and the Colorado flowed across the road, and we found a campsite there. Beautiful, quiet, but hot! Our thermometer said 96 degrees while I made dinner. There were no hook-ups, which is typical for most National Parks, and other federal parks. It cooled to 80 degrees or so at night. We managed to sleep.

Lee's Ferry camp

Looking towards the Vermillion Cliffs