Lol...I said desert but clearly remember you now talking about going to the forest... It still amazes me ever time when I go to the woods or desert how many stars you can actually see.

Well it was an eventful trip to say the least. It was about a 2 hr drive to
get to the trail head of our desired location, plus an additional 30-40 min
off road to our camping spot, which we had to change because they no longer allowed camping on the spot i had always camped at. Had a little sprinkling on the way up. After setting up camp, we headed to the highest peak where you can see all the major mountain ranges in Arizona literally hundreds of miles away. At this location was also some stone age furniture that is pretty cool to see. From there we headed back to camp and got ready
for to do some fishing to finish out the day before dinner. Sadly, the streams were so low that we were unable to fish. We ended up back at camp and did some nature walking and target practice around camp. After steak dinner and
having fun around the campfire we hit the sack, this is where it took an interesting turn of events. We ended up being stalked by mountain lion throughout the night, seeing those glowing green cat eyes at between 20 40
yards is pretty crazy. We fired a warning shot hoping to scare them off since it was pitch black and we werent sure of our background we didnt want to fire direct shots at them unless they came too close and endangered our lives. We ended up taking turns keeping watch throughout the night as they wouldnt leave our camp alone. Looks like all the firearms i brought were very much needed.

The next days light was greeted with a smile of relief. After breakfast we headed out to hike a very steep slate rock ridden mountain. The top was only about 100 yards up, but took us about an hour to summit. At the top are indigenous ruins. I was the first to reach and unfortunately the only to see the ruins. Our hike took our 2nd turn of events, my son who was right behind me stepped into a bee's nest which was under some rock. He was immediately attacked by the bees, we all got 5-10 stings, but my son received over 50. I immediately commanded our party to quickly head back down as the bees were chasing us. It was a dangerous situation getting down that mountain quickly and safely. We headed back into closest town , doing what we could with first aid kits while also trying to get service for 911.
They met us about halfway which was about 45 min after the incident.
Spent about 5 hours at the hospital. Thankfully he was not allergic or it would most likely have been fatal. My trooper of a son wanted to finish out the camping trip. So after getting the ok from the Dr., we headed back to camp. We finished the daylight out with some survival training. That night the mountain lions were non existent, very quite night just some elk bugling.

After packing up camp and leaving it cleaner than we found it, we headed for our last hike. Since we basically lost a day because of the bees, we were unable to hike to the canyon i wanted to show everyone. we hiked to the bottom of the waterfall and spent some time down there. I built a stone pile at the top of the water fall in memory of my best friends father who showed me this camping spot and who passed away a couple years back. The waterfall was gorgeous and cold, we all rinsed off the last few days.
Last we found a good spot for some longer distance target practice with the rifles and finished off the trip with some mexican food at one of our favorite hometown spots.

Pics to come.

Anyone use or consider a high end ice chest?

I pulled the trigger on a Perma-Chill from Gander Mountain. They were displayed side by side the Yeti's - which they're basically a direct rip off of. Spent a while comparing the two in the size I wanted and felt the Gander Mountain a better deal with a few nicer features.

Still felt a bit dumb to pay $250 for a "cooler" but no sh!t it kept a 10lb block of ice for nine days and beers and food stored inside plenty cold. I know my Coleman wouldn't touch that.

I guess these high end ice chests are somewhat new since Yeti introduced in '06...but from what I can tell - worth it.

Eta: typo on that thumbs down emoticon subject whatever't'f.

not much of a camper but a cooling product i found may have use among the camping crowd

i used to work in shipping and receiving and had to deal with a lot of frozen products, and they needed to stay cold for up to 24 hours at a time, so we used something called re-freez-r-brix. they honest to god will stay totally frozen for 24 hours, no problem, and we keep anything cold without issue, highly recommend

http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Tech-Re-...e+freez+r+brix

Sounds like one of them trips you'll remember and tell stories about for some time. Those are always the best. I get out all over the state every single weekend and have some ideas of a few areas this could be. Can't wait to see the pics.

All pics are from my phone, it takes decent pics

On the highway


In my hometown in the back ground is the acid plant to the mines where my dad works,its the largest copper and gold mine in the world



Last stop for gas



Clouds were low















At the top is where the ruins are, where the rock and green meet.







Panoramic of the only pic i got off the ruins before my son got attacked by bees



Built this stone pile in memory of my best friends dad who passed away,he showed me this spot










On our way back

yup, exactly. I know my son will sure remember it, we already nicknamed him
"stinger". I updated with some pics now. Lets see you name the spot.

EDIT: I'd love to know some of the spots you go.

@GiGi's 1996 @preacher35

I recognize where all your pics were taken other than the one's with the ruins and I can't figure out for sure which mountain you're on top of in pics 6 & 9...but I have a feeling it is Aztec Peak. I believe the falls is Workmans Creek from those pics. I'm guessing the trail that keeps going past the falls is how you got up to Aztec..but I have never driven up past the falls.

I go up to that area alot. I was just up there this past Saturday checking out NF488 & 489. One of my favorite areas. I call it Arizonas lower rim.

Good eye, you are correct. Pic 6 was taken from the top of the tower at Aztec peak, and pic 9 from the stone age furniture at Aztec peak. If you just follow the road past the falls, it takes you straight to the top of Aztec Peak.

The ruins are located just past the little bridge right before the falls. At the first turn in the road at the falls, you just climb right up that steep mountain
on north side. Most people dont know they're there. I wish i had a chance to take more pics, they are really beautiful ruins.

Well...now I think I'm going to head up there again this weekend to check out the falls area. I'll be sure to get good pics and share. Most of the times I can remember, I seem to always be up at the falls when there's snow on the ground. The trail gets slippy up near the falls with snow on it.

well be careful, at the top right before the ruins is where my son was attacked by bees. Seems they had a nest under the slate rock he must have disturbed.

I remember one year in the winter the falls had frozen almost halfway up the falls, one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen.

Great pictures!

Thank you for sharing

Went up there on Saturday morning. Wow, can't believe I've never been that far up the trail till now. From what I saw, it's an amazing view from up top. Saturday morning near Roosevelt saw some interesting weather. Lots of clouds, lots of thunder/lightning, and pouring down rain.

It was raining very hard as I ascended the trail towards the falls and all the way to the top of Aztec. By the time I reached the top, it had slowed to a drizzle, but the entire top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds. There were only a couple times when the clouds cleared enough to see the view below, the rest of the time it was only a couple hundred yards of visibility. I passed on trying to get up to the ruins due to the wet rocks. Will have to go back and check them out.

Saw some deer up past the falls, and on the way back down, noticed carpets of red raspberry bushes all over below the falls. Almost back to Roosevelt, in some of the same spots I had seen them before, there was a small herd of Bighorn grazing.

Going to have to make future trips back to check out a couple of side trails and areas I'd like to investigate.

I did get some pictures, but with all the rain...didn't get much on the way up top. Once I pull them from the camera and put them through my normal post-process workflow, I'll upload and share.

Great trip! Surely a hundred times better than the malls that many 4Runners find themselves relegated to.

Wow. What an adventure ddnww !

Thanks for sharing. I love the pictures.
I am not familiar with that area of our state, but it looks awesome. The mountain lions, the bees, the remoteness, might be a little too much for me.....haha. The closest we've camped in that area is Roper Lake.

The next area I want to explore here in AZ is Fossil Creek up by Camp Verde. I have heard wonderful things about it and the water is as clear as Havasupai Falls. Want to go there before the state messes up that place too with fees, special passes and restrictions. It will be commercialized by next summer.

Happy camping. And btw......Holy Camp Gear on the Roof Batman, you might need a little trailer or hitch rack in the future.......haha. JK, way to get the job done and get out there and camp!