Four Days of Camping - Flagstaff & Sedona Arizona
Started off the camping trip by volunteering at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff Arizona. This is my first time attending this event and volunteering. I was tasked with being the Overland Experience Camp Host. At the beginning it was chaos but eventually it started to get better. 99% Overland Experience Campers were fantastic to deal with. Some of the rigs these guys are rocking are phenomenal. I was blessed to be able to meet so many fantastic people that shared the enjoyment of vehicle travel. I camped at the Expo till Saturday, I was waiting on Shaine and my brothers, Ish & Eman to meet me. We walked around the Expo to check out the vendor's camp kitchen setups and roof top tents. Shaine and I are planning to build our own DIY camp kitchens and wanted some ideas. Seeing some of these vendors asking $10,000 for their camp kitchens really helped get the DIY creative juices flowing. Shaine bought an ARB fridge/freezer to get DIY setup started. Heavy rain was in the forecast, myself and others planned to leave before the skies opened up. With everything loaded, it was time to head to Sedona Arizona.
Sedona is only about a 45 minute drive from the Expo. One super neat thing is that the drive is so beautiful. Driving through the forests and going down steep mountain roads was just awesome. State RTE 89A was just a great drive. I had a very short itinerary for us in Sedona, get to the top of Schnebly Hill Rd (Jeep Badge of Honor Trail) and do the trail, Broken Arrow. I hate driving my D-max up Schnebly Hill. The tow suspension is terrible. I move at the pace of a snail, 5 mph. I also scratched two of my rims on this run. Once at the top, I wanted to find a campsite and set up before it got dark because the meal for the night was Jerk and pineapple marinated lamb leg in the Dutch oven. Never used a Dutch oven before but it seemed worth a try. Found camp just off the road and about 7 minutes from the top of Schnebly hill. Everyone started getting set up. My setup is very primitive: a one man tent, ISO mat and a sleeping bag. Ish's setup was the back seat of the Jeep, Eman's was a hammock with a blanket. Shaine's was a "setup in seconds" tent, had a leg that didn't want to work, small air mattress and a sleeping bag. I started the Dutch oven on the BBQ, while we found dead tree branches and other flammables. We got the fire going and transferred the Dutch oven off the BBQ to the fire. Looking in the direction of the Expo, we could see a thunderstorm flashing lightning. Enjoying our dry camp and beautiful fire, we just relaxed while waiting for dinner. Me being a bonehead, I forgot to check the time I started cooking the lamb leg. I think it was around 7 pm when we took it off. Any longer, the lamb leg would have been toast. It came out pretty good for almost ruining it. Bellies full it was time to hit the hay. Waking up to nature is such a fantastic thing. During the night the storm grew and covered the sky above our campsite. We woke up to small raindrops splashing on our tents. Not wanting to tear down in a downpour. We started the morning, packing up our setups. Beautiful yellow flowers surrounded the campsite. A tarantula came out to greet us good morning. This day is starting off great.
Traversing down Schnebly hill the clouds were low, covering the tops of the Sedona mountains. This feels so different from the first time I was here. Moving at my snail's pace I finally got to the end and my brother navigated us to the Broken Arrow Trail. Knowing the limitations of my truck's stock suspension, I parked it at the trailhead parking lot. Hopped in the Shaine's Jeep Wrangler. Once on the trail the rain started to be more consistent. The dry powdery dirt slowly turned to rich red mud. Rushing water started to fill the trail. Waterfalls started to form. Driving up the sandstone, the tire traction never once slipped. Everyone in the Jeep was enjoying themselves. We drove back to my truck which is now in a pool of water. What a great day today has been. But we all have work the next day. We drove out the way we came, the scenic State RTE 89A. There I was driving north, putting the pine trees behind me, headed back home to the desert of Nevada.
Until the next adventure.
