Tombstone and the Dragoon Mountains East

December 1st

Sunday morning another cold one. 28F ... but the sun is out so will feel warmer later this afternoon. Today my plan is to put Christmas up in the motorhome, bake bread and make brownies for Ray. Since I was being "suzy homemaker"

Flashing lights make for a blurry tree. lol

Ray went out on his own adventure, taking a dirt road up towards the Dragoon Mountains. He had a blast, especially since the wash still had water in it up towards the mountains. Down here the wash is dry now that the rain event is over. He even found ferns and succulents as vegetation!!! It must stay somewhat wet next to these rocks. When the road came to a spot that crossed a flowing wash he stopped ... we do not have a 4x4. lol

Off he goes.

Rock Climbers

Lots of boondocking spots if you have a small unit. The road is way to rough for larger rigs.

 Some type of succulent growing here.

 Ferns growing in the desert!

 Still lots of water up towards the mountains.

The end of the road today for Ray.

This picture shows how wide the RV pull through sites are at this park. This site is right beside ours.

Monday morning was a little warmer at 34F with gorgeous clear blue skies. A great day for a little road trip and picnic to the area Ray visited yesterday. After we had our morning coffee and breakfast we were out the door with Freya at around 9:30 am. It was too cold to start any sooner.

Ray drove today so I could take in the scenery because you really had to keep your eyes on the dirt road. We stopped at many of the spots he looked at yesterday and Freya and I got out and walked up some trails. Gorgeous views. There are lots of campsites for truck and campers and people who tent as this is all National Forest land. One spot even had plastic outhouses set up. I saw 2 whitetail deer across the gulch but Ray did not get there soon enough to get a picture.

Me taking a picture of Ray taking a picture of ferns. lol

When we reached the creek Ray stopped at yesterday, we spoke to a young family who had shot a whitetail deer and were field dressing it. The wife shot the deer and her husband was dealing with it. This was the spot Ray had picked out for our lunch. The guy said he had been across the creek several times including today in his Honda Pilot so we should not have any problem, just stay on the left where it is shallower. First we followed the stream down past where they were to see how pretty it was. I also noticed the road on the other side of the creek. Basically we followed a path the range cows take ... the evidence was left behind. :) I no longer wanted to eat there anyway with deer guts on the ground. Ray and I also followed the path along the stream in the opposite direction. Freya had a blast as the water was drinkable, and only up to her knees with soft gravel. She chased a stick back and forth in the stream for 20 minutes. She will be sore tonight.

Back in the car and over the stream we went. At the top of the hill there is a trailhead. The road headed left following the creek and we found a spot not too far down to park and carry our lunch beside the stream. Awesome.

Ray spent some time after eating taking some small waterfall pictures.

Both Ray and Freya ended up with stickers in their feet. (Ray had taken his shoes off to navigate further across the stream with his tripod and camera.) Ray had so many he practically fell to the ground. I couldn't help as I was on the other side of the stream with my leather boots on. Freya came to me and I was able to pick hers out and Ray with the support of his tripod managed to remove his as well. All's well that ended well thankfully. He still ended up picking more out of his feet once we got home.

Time to head back home as we had been out for some time. Here we go across the creek again. My cell phone pic does not really show how steep the road actually is. lol Freya was definitely ready to have a rest as were we. A great adventure.