Field trips 2.0

[norseman]

Apache Sitgreaves NF

 

Elk bugled all last night. We stayed right above John Wayne’s old ranch the 26 Bar ranch.

 

Its kinda yellowstone like. Flatish with big meadows. Checking out the Gila NF right now to the east. It seems lower with more juniper.

[wiiawiwb]

Beautiful country Norse. Kudos on the camping setup; wow is all I can say. You did a fantastic job.

 

I like how it keeps you significantly off the ground and out of reach.

[Pdub]

Norse - that is a sweet setup.

 

Just got back this week from the BWCA in northern MN. Fishing was spectacular for the first two day. Between my buddy and I we caught 80+ fish. Last 2 days were slow, 15-20 mph wind with gusts up to 30 out of the SE which really fouls up fishing from a canoe. Saw a family of otters one day. Highlight of the trip was actually seeing what I believe was a wolf. From about 100 yards, it came out of the woods to drink from the lake at dusk. Soon as it saw us it ran back into the woods. Looked too big and dark colored for a coyote.  Wasn’t able to snap a pic. I’ve heard them howling many times but first I’ve actually laid eyes on one. 

[JustCurious]

Norseman, you're on quite a scenic trip!!  How IS that camper setup working out for you?  Ease of set-up/take-down?  Sleeping comfort?  Any problems with it on the road?

 

Pdub, the BWCA is always beautiful, but did you get to see the Northern Lights or did you come back beforehand?  You probably did see a wolf.

[NatFoot]

@Pdub

 

Beautiful as well. Waiting to see how many Sasquatch we find in your second to last pic. 😏

[Kiwakwe]

Pdub, That's an awesome sighting. I've wanted to canoe the BWCA for quite a while with hopes of spotting a wolf. Otters are cool to watch too, seem like they are genuinely enjoying being alive when I've seen them. sounds like a good trip sans the winds, Great pics!

 

Norseman, as always beautiful country, and the new set up looks sweet! Coming back from this weekend's adventure we've come to the conclusion that we need more space, Springbar or RTT. RTT may make more sense given the scrub free ground a 10X10 tent requires. I've eyed the Eezi-awns for quite a while, they're not much more than the China made Tepuis I see everywhere out here, though I've read mixed reviews. How's the quality seem on yours? Smittybuilt correct?

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Kiwakwe

[Kiwakwe]

Headed out to the Deep Creek Mountains along the border between UT and NV. Some 12,000' peaks there, it's a remote range with little human presence. Access via the Pony Express trail, a long dusty washboarded affair.

With wild horses:

And squatchless salt flats:

Up into here:

Set up camp with much needed shade. Possible cougar scat in the pinyons behind Rover but no sightings:

Scrambled up the peak behind for a looksee, tired old mountain top:

Cooked up some grub at dusk and went for a stroll down the "trail." Poorwills and nighthawks overhead, crickets and katydids providing soundtrack. Nothing anomalous throughout the night. Following day we made 1300' of bushwhacked gain up through pinyon/sagebrush and 2 steps up, 1 back rottenrock scree to the various peaks S of camp. Saw jackrabbits and a golden eagle who met us at the summit, outside of indeterminate tracks, no other wildlife.

Camp down there somewhere:

Intended peak but after 1300' up at 8200' we retreated:

Down through a slide/tumble scrapefest that often looked like this:

Beautiful area with a little water flowing downstream but maybe still too dry...idk

 

[MIB]

1 hour ago, Kiwakwe said:

Beautiful area with a little water flowing downstream but maybe still too dry...idk

 

Too dry .. maybe.  Could be an advantage though.   Some people think that in areas like Arizona where resources, especially water, are very limited, the bigfoots get a bit pushy when people invade their quiet spots.   Here in my area there's so much water if somebody nudges them out of one canyon, they'll go to the next which is probably even better for them.    That is one of the reasons I don't think they get pushy here.

 

Nice pictures!   Thanks for sharing.

 

MIB

Edited September 3, 2019 by MIB

[BC witness]

Thaniks, norseman, pdub, and Kiwakwe for the scenic additions to the thread. It's a joy to see where all of the members are getting out to.

[JustCurious]

Kiwakwe, thanks for sharing those pics!  It's fun to blow them up and look at what's there to see.  Pareidolia can produce some amazing stuff.  In the second to last pic you posted, at the bottom where the brown patches with the gray in the middle end on the left, there is a stand of trees that form a 'V'.  Beneath the bottom tree in that 'V' it looks like the tail end of a private jet...or a spotted giraffe sitting down.  On the left side at the top of the 'V' it looks like a large stone statue that has been toppled, with legs, folded arms, head and torso.

 

It's like making out shapes the clouds.

[Incorrigible1]

Indiefoot would be pleased.

[Kiwakwe]

11 hours ago, MIB said:

 

Too dry .. maybe.  Could be an advantage though.   Some people think that in areas like Arizona where resources, especially water, are very limited, the bigfoots get a bit pushy when people invade their quiet spots.   Here in my area there's so much water if somebody nudges them out of one canyon, they'll go to the next which is probably even better for them.    That is one of the reasons I don't think they get pushy here.

 

Nice pictures!   Thanks for sharing.

 

MIB

Good point MIB, I could see that being the case out here

 

7 hours ago, JustCurious said:

Kiwakwe, thanks for sharing those pics!  It's fun to blow them up and look at what's there to see.  Pareidolia can produce some amazing stuff.  In the second to last pic you posted, at the bottom where the brown patches with the gray in the middle end on the left, there is a stand of trees that form a 'V'.  Beneath the bottom tree in that 'V' it looks like the tail end of a private jet...or a spotted giraffe sitting down.  On the left side at the top of the 'V' it looks like a large stone statue that has been toppled, with legs, folded arms, head and torso.

 

It's like making out shapes the clouds.

Yes, a giraffe with antlers and I see the toppled statue also. I've often gone through pictures like that, one never knows....It's hard to imagine covering the kind of ground a lot of us have and NOT being seen by the "residents"

[Pdub]

Natfoot - no Squatches I can see in that pic, just a couple of otters.

 

JustCurious - unfortunately we missed the Northern Lights by 4 days. 

 

Kiwakwe - beautiful scenery, I love the mountains. I highly recommend the BWCA if you can make it. It’s a little more expensive and time consuming to get to but Quetico Provincial Park is even better. It’s right across the border and gets maybe 20% of the people. I’ve only been once but it was spectacular. Next place I want to get to is called Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in far northwestern Ontario. 1.2 million acres and only gets about 1,000 visitors a year. Very remote and from the people I’ve talked to that have been there, they don’t call it fishing up there they call it catching. 

[norseman]

Spent two days on the black river catching Apache trout. Apache Sitgreaves NF. Bighorn came off ridge and grazed right through camp this morn.

 

Currently in Alpine Az, staying at RV park, getting showers and ice and catching up on emails and texts.

 

Update on Smittybuilt RTT. I love the ease and simplicity of taking it down and putting it up. Stayed dry in pouring rain and hail. Don’t worry about lumpy ground or tree roots like with traditional tents.  My only complaint is the platform is made out of some white material that bows a bit. We tried to keep sleeping bags in tent when it folded up. The hinge didn’t like that. And will try to pop out of its track. Would prefer if the deck was more rigid and deeper so the bedding could stay in the tent, dry and ready for bed time. It’s well worth 1200 bucks I think. A cabelas alaknak costs similar. And is just fabric and a pole set.It also doesn’t come with a rain fly and you would get wet in bad weather.

 

My son likes the light bar and charging station that came with it. Hang a IPad off the ridge pole and we are watching westerns when the sun goes down and charging phones. 

 

 

These look like rainbow to me. They stock the river every friday.

[BigTreeWalker]

Great pictures Norse. That's great looking setup.