End of the World to Munds Park | North-Central AZ Special [Part 3]

[Music] previously on parts one and two of our north central arizona special beginning in baghdad i headed northeast into the santa maria mountains i followed the scenic camp wood road and checked out the ruins of the black pearl tungsten mine further down the trail i made camp for the night before continuing east the following day i descended into the williamson valley and quickly passed through chino valley topping off the tank along the way i followed perkinsville road as it descended into the expansive verde valley and eventually crossed the river after enjoying the views i was soon northbound and climbed back into the forest the last 30 miles were spent traversing beautiful canyons open prairies and a mix of forest roads before ending the day just north of my intended campsite having arrived at sunset and finding most of the spots full i was forced to take the first available spot today i continue with day three and four of my trip proceeding east through coconino national forest to my next campsite at frye lake and eventually on to i-17 and mormon [Music] lake [Music] so [Music] i was up right at sunrise outside it was calm and quiet aside from the occasional helicopter flying in the distance from the thick trees you would never know you're less than half a mile from the rim of secret canyon i stayed up in the tent and ended up dozing off for another couple hours which was perfectly okay because i wasn't in a big rush this morning i eventually made it up and around and by about 9 30 got started on breakfast today i figured i would break it up and try my hand at some over easy eggs [Music] this went surprisingly well and after making something adjacent to toast i was ready to eat [Music] the eggs had turned out just right and this had ended up being a pretty decent breakfast it was soon time for dishes and packing up camp [Music] this spot turned out to be pretty decent there was a lot of traffic on the main road but most of the night had been calm with little to no wind to speak of the views weren't terrible either [Music] after chatting with a guy who passed by my camp who was curious about my tent and had also visited my website in the past i got the tent packed away it was just after 11 when i was finally ready to roll talk about a lazy morning [Music] good morning day number three is about to get underway so i just chatted with a guy named paul who passed by my camp he had camped down at the rim last night and said it was pretty windy so i guess it kind of worked out that we stayed here not the greatest view but i think it worked out okay so i think what we're actually gonna do is head down the spur trail here to the rim check out the view now that it's daylight and then once we're done there kind of retrace our way back up north as long as we make a little bit of mileage today uh relax have a good time and get to camp at a much more reasonable hour then everything will be okay i rolled out of camp and headed south i figured since i was here i had to check out the scenic view everyone comes here for the trail meandered through some trees and particularly green vegetation the forest cleared as i approached the rim and the end of the world came into view i parked the jeep and got out to take it all in the view was all it was cracked up to be below the rim much of the area lies within the red rock secret mountain wilderness area in the distance sat sedona and many of its iconic red rock formations i could see bellrock courthouse rock and capitol view this viewpoint sits at about 6 900 feet in elevation over 2000 feet above sedona far off on the horizon was pine mountain and tulumesa located over 40 miles away on the other side of the verde valley i can certainly see why people flock to this area it's downright breathtaking i enjoyed the view for a while it was a little bit gusty and there were still a few people camped out in the area i decided to proceed back northbound from here i got back on forest road 231 things remained smooth and easy the road was busy with people continuing to stream in and out of the area a few miles further along i was stopped yet again i crossed a place called furno draw and had to check something out up this road sits a forest service cabin and it was one i've been to before way back in 2010 this cabin was the very first rooms with the view cabin i ever stayed at naturally it holds a special place to me and since i was so close i had to check it out again located in a scenic draw inferno cabin sits at the end of a quiet road although close to the public at this time i didn't expect to find anyone here to my surprise a few forest employees were sitting on the porch of the cabin after chatting they soon left and invited me to sit on the porch and walk around the outside furno was originally used as a guard station for fire crews the first cabin was built in the 1970s but ironically burned in a forest fire rebuilt in 1979 the current cabin served the same purpose it was built using logs on site and a mixture of salt mud and dirt was used to fill in the middle much like the early pioneers would have done however after finding that the local cattle took a liking to this mixture it was soon replaced with concrete furnace was open to the public in the 90s and has been reservable ever since this is certainly a rustic structure located in the middle of nowhere while it was locked up currently some old pictures dug up from 2010 will show you the small kitchen area two bedrooms and a loft area on the inside it was really a trip down memory lane and neat to see this old cabin again i soon hiked back to the jeep and got back on the road i continued on my route not sure what exactly the plan was i wanted to cover a few miles but keep the day slow paced and relaxing i followed 231 northbound as it dipped back into the west fork of oak creek canyon the drive in the daytime was incredibly scenic seven miles later i arrived back at the junction from yesterday i stayed right to head east on 536. the road remained fast moving and scenic [Music] after a couple of additional miles i entered a nice area surrounded by open meadows and fry lake this seemed like a great spot it wasn't too busy and there was enough in the nearby area to check out it was just after two o'clock but today was meant to be slow paced and relaxing so this was camp i parked the jeep and enjoyed a quick lunch afterwards i set out for a short hike to explore the surrounding area to the south was a small meadow with tall grass and a few big trees in the middle it was really nice on the other side of camp was a much larger clearing this area was part of frye park and although not visible from the ground contained a small area of water known as fry lake the term lake might be an overstatement here but nonetheless it was gorgeous there were also views of humphrey's peak to the north i made it back to camp and soon got things set up i popped open the tent and got the rest of my gear ready it was really nice to not be rushed at this point there were still three hours of daylight remaining so i took the rare opportunity to grab a beer and hop up in the tent to do some reading the downtime was a great change of pace [Music] this campsite sits at 7 400 feet and with a cool breeze blowing through the pines it was close to perfect [Music] by about 6 30 it was time to start on dinner i once again fired up the old stove tonight's meal would be a little simpler but i was feeling inspired by my visit to ferno earlier once the rice was warmed up i threw in the kielbasa and for a little bit of extra flavor a little beer as well everything cooked up quick dinner was served alongside the optional side of cheese whiz for the kielbasa might sound kind of gross but this was one of the snacks we had at ferno 10 years ago something about that fake cheese taste combined with kielbasa grease that really brings back the memories after dinner the light began to fade the thick trees surrounding camp quickly fell into darkness it certainly would have been a great night for a fire as the chilly air blew through before heading to bed i of course had to enjoy a little more whiskey by about nine i had made it back up to the tent and was off to bed some time after ten hours later i was up the following morning things were once again calm last night i slept great it was definitely the chilliest night of the trip but i managed to stay bundled up shortly after getting up and around i got some water boiling for breakfast i let the coffee steep and mixed up some oatmeal with breakfast done i turned my attention to breaking down camp i got the tent collapsed and packed back up [Music] after some dishes the rest of camp was soon broken down i made sure the area was all cleaned up and hopped in the jeep [Music] returning to forest road 536 i continued to the east the road skirted around the scenic fry park there were a few more great campsites and this was certainly an area i'd like to return to i was now headed for highway 89a which i would cross over briefly and then continue east over to i-17 to resupply the road got progressively busier but remained fast moving i climbed briefly before beginning the quick descent into oak creek along this section i heard an odd noise from the back of the jeep it sounded like a fuse just blew and almost immediately my battery gauge tanked there didn't seem to be any other issues and the jeep was running smoothly otherwise a little ways down the trail i confirmed the issue which was related to the battery box the last two days i was recharging a lot of tech and the lack of driving the jeep meant my second battery was now needing a deep recharge this meant my air compressor and recharging ability was temporarily down i did have one extra fuse with me but i didn't want to immediately replace it and run into the same exact problem i wanted to give the battery some more time to recharge i kept an eye on the issue as i continued along this section of road was really nice and there were some great views of oak creek canyon the road twisted and turned downhill dropping nearly a thousand feet in three miles this area was packed with people camping out at the bottom of the hill i emerged at highway 89a my next segment of trail was just half a mile to the north i cruised on the highway very briefly and was soon turning off onto forest road 237 this five mile trail connects 89a and i-17 and seemed to be a great way to save some time off the highway the road remained wide and smooth i passed by a few different designated camping areas which all appeared to be quite busy the trail twisted and turned and soon entered into frye canyon where conditions rapidly changed now narrow and rocky i crossed the creek bed and climbed out the other side this section was not maintained for low clearance vehicles the trail remained a mix of smooth sections and a few slower rocky sections i crossed the creek one more time and began to climb out of the canyon on the other side the climb was a bit rougher in places but i didn't quite get to the point of putting it in four low the change of terrain was nice this had pretty much been the roughest driving of the trip so far but still wasn't anything crazy i continued uphill as the road remained rocky for a while it got progressively smoother and at the five mile mark i returned to the dilapidated pavement following the road downhill i soon found myself driving alongside i-17 just south of flagstaff i pulled into the busy gas station and topped off the tank and cooler for the final time i noticed a free air fill up and since my air compressor was temporarily down decided to play it safe and air up now this would allow me to save my last fuse as an emergency backup if i really needed to use it unfortunately i wasn't the only one with this idea and after waiting over half an hour i finally got my turn to air up the tires after checking my maps i also decided a slight route modification was needed due to the extended stop here my planned route was supposed to take me back to dirt roads on the other side of i-17 and then head south to mormon lake from there i figured since i was already at the highway and aired up a quick cruise down to muns park and east from there would take me to the same exact point this would save me a few miles but more importantly buy me some time and allow me to continue on schedule it was the last night of the trip and i certainly didn't feel like setting up camp in the dark just 10 minutes later i was in muns park i continued east past the golf courses and cabins and was soon back to dirt it was about 1 30 and i felt confident i would be able to cover the 40 miles from here to my last camp at apache made in the stoneman lake area i stayed aired up for now and headed east along the road towards mormon lake tune in next time for the final stretch of my north central arizona special i'll head through the forest to arizona's largest natural body of water mormon lake from there i'll continue south to stoneman lake and explore the area around the scenic apache made mountain with some more scenic side trails perhaps the best campsite of my trip and a historic homestead to check out this will be a great way to end the trip before returning home [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so you

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Id: Ofbr1YnfX6g

Length: 20min 53sec (1253 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 28 2020