Mount Graham - Safford, AZ September 8th -10th 2016
Dzil Nchaa Si An (Big Seated Mountain) is one of the most sacred locations known to the Apache Native Americans. Ga’an, the guardian spirits of the Apache, watch over them from atop the largest summit in Southern Arizona at just over 10,000 feet. The University of Arizona and believe it or not, the Vatican own and operate massive telescopes planted right on top of this sacred mountain more commonly known as, Mount Graham. After all the cool stories about and researching Mount Graham, my dad had me convinced this is where we would plan our weekend trip. I was pretty excited to camp with just my dad just like we used to when I was growing up, and once we hit about 7,000 feet the intense smell of pine and thick clouds started to make me feel like a little kid all over again!
We literally picked the perfect time to go, right after a week long rain from a tropical storm. The clouds were thick and heavy but would soon clear out. Once we rose above the cloud cover it was pretty majestic. The road turned to dirt around 8,500 feet and it seemed like every switchback continuing up had a massive river flowing underneath. This was just the first...and we could actually fish from it for trout!
Then a couple more miles later we find ourselves jaw dropping in awe. Now I do have to remind you guys, I'm born and raised in AZ so anything related to water is like finding a unicorn! My dad was born in Ohio, but this has allowed him to truly appreciate AZ and the hidden wonders it has to offer. Back to the story, we drove up to and parked at Post Creek. I'll just let the pictures do the rest....
Obviously TRON needed some glamour shots in front of a freaking waterfall in AZ! Overland Bound #1235
The Old Growth up there was fantastic! Had to keep reminding myself we were still in AZ!
...and my money shot!
So the San Carlos Apache Reservation did succeed in keeping a vast majority of the mountain protected. All it took was alittle convincing they had an endangered species...I laughed when we got up there and found literally hundreds of these "endangered" little red squirrels everywhere
Finding our camp was another surprise in itself. With the lack of info floating around it was hard to pinpoint good areas to camp on the mountain outside of the established camping grounds with fees. I honestly cant stand camping grounds, to me it's not camping and way to civilized! Luckily after some serious digging, I found some info on an area off the main road to camp. All I had going in were some coordinates, which were not 100% accurate, but put me close enough to find this old camp someone setup awhile back. Once we got there my dad had that look of curiosity to keep searching and after all, we were literally the only ones on the mountain except for a couple forest service officers and the observatory employees. Under the leaves and some overgrowth moss, we found a small two-track that continued on from that camp. Absolutely no tire tracks on it, and with all the recent rain it was covered in mud and huge ponds of water. We drove further back and were amazed at the beauty. All the different types of trees with fresh rain water dripping off, THEN...we got to a small fork in the two-track which encouraged a right turn over small hill. I'll explain why as we go, but what we strolled up on was hands down the best camp site of all time! My dad and I were speechless at first, but once we actually did speak, all we could say was "Really?!"
We knew immediately it was time to set camp and enjoy this gorgeous spot. Also should note back home in Tucson it was roughly 94 degrees, while we were getting slight chills in the 55 degree crisp mountain air
Before
After
To be Continued...
Dzil Nchaa Si An (Big Seated Mountain) is one of the most sacred locations known to the Apache Native Americans. Ga’an, the guardian spirits of the Apache, watch over them from atop the largest summit in Southern Arizona at just over 10,000 feet. The University of Arizona and believe it or not, the Vatican own and operate massive telescopes planted right on top of this sacred mountain more commonly known as, Mount Graham. After all the cool stories about and researching Mount Graham, my dad had me convinced this is where we would plan our weekend trip. I was pretty excited to camp with just my dad just like we used to when I was growing up, and once we hit about 7,000 feet the intense smell of pine and thick clouds started to make me feel like a little kid all over again!
We literally picked the perfect time to go, right after a week long rain from a tropical storm. The clouds were thick and heavy but would soon clear out. Once we rose above the cloud cover it was pretty majestic. The road turned to dirt around 8,500 feet and it seemed like every switchback continuing up had a massive river flowing underneath. This was just the first...and we could actually fish from it for trout!
Then a couple more miles later we find ourselves jaw dropping in awe. Now I do have to remind you guys, I'm born and raised in AZ so anything related to water is like finding a unicorn! My dad was born in Ohio, but this has allowed him to truly appreciate AZ and the hidden wonders it has to offer. Back to the story, we drove up to and parked at Post Creek. I'll just let the pictures do the rest....
Obviously TRON needed some glamour shots in front of a freaking waterfall in AZ! Overland Bound #1235
The Old Growth up there was fantastic! Had to keep reminding myself we were still in AZ!
...and my money shot!
So the San Carlos Apache Reservation did succeed in keeping a vast majority of the mountain protected. All it took was alittle convincing they had an endangered species...I laughed when we got up there and found literally hundreds of these "endangered" little red squirrels everywhere
Finding our camp was another surprise in itself. With the lack of info floating around it was hard to pinpoint good areas to camp on the mountain outside of the established camping grounds with fees. I honestly cant stand camping grounds, to me it's not camping and way to civilized! Luckily after some serious digging, I found some info on an area off the main road to camp. All I had going in were some coordinates, which were not 100% accurate, but put me close enough to find this old camp someone setup awhile back. Once we got there my dad had that look of curiosity to keep searching and after all, we were literally the only ones on the mountain except for a couple forest service officers and the observatory employees. Under the leaves and some overgrowth moss, we found a small two-track that continued on from that camp. Absolutely no tire tracks on it, and with all the recent rain it was covered in mud and huge ponds of water. We drove further back and were amazed at the beauty. All the different types of trees with fresh rain water dripping off, THEN...we got to a small fork in the two-track which encouraged a right turn over small hill. I'll explain why as we go, but what we strolled up on was hands down the best camp site of all time! My dad and I were speechless at first, but once we actually did speak, all we could say was "Really?!"
We knew immediately it was time to set camp and enjoy this gorgeous spot. Also should note back home in Tucson it was roughly 94 degrees, while we were getting slight chills in the 55 degree crisp mountain air
Before
After
To be Continued...
