Category: Stays

On Friday afternoon, I packed up from Arizona and headed towards Joshua Tree with plans to spend a couple of weeks in the general area. After one night at a free spot on the South end of the park, I drove to the Black Rock area on Saturday and did a single overnight backpacking trip into the park’s wilderness. Getting back to the trailhead on Sunday, I went immediately to a campsite at the Black Rock Campground that I had previously reserved for the week.

Although I already went to Montezuma Castle, I realized that I skipped past Montezuma Well, so I decided to go see that on Friday, and also ended up taking a brief drive through the Red Rock Scenic Byway. However, as a heavier rainy storm came through, I didn’t get to do much else with my weekend until Monday, when I was able to go out and adventure around the Bradshaw mountains. Finally, I also scoped out a new campsite during my adventures, with some absolutely lovely views!

On Friday, I decided to head north from my camp in Tonto National Forest to visit a few more national monuments. I ended up seeing all of Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, and Agua Fria National Monuments, and found a wonderful, free campsite in Agua Fria.

On Friday, I decided to leave the camp at Gilbert Ray outside of Tucson and head north into the Phoenix area. On the way, I stopped to enjoy Casa Grande Ruins National Monument before finding a boondocking site in Tonto National Forest. On Saturday, I also took some time to drive to Tonto National Monument, where I was lucky enough to see both cliff dwellings!

On Friday, I decided to leave my camp at Gunsight Wash and head into the Tucson area. After one freezing cold night in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, I went on to visit both halves of Saguaro National Park and settle on a paid campsite at Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park.

Although I had only spent about half a week in Kofa, I decided to take a break from recent rains over the weekend to go checkout Southwest Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It turned into a surprisingly beautiful adventure! I also found a new boondocking campsite nearby for the week, at Gunsight Wash.

As Wednesday was my birthday, I decided to take the day to leave San Diego. As I went, I crossed through the Imperial Dunes area again, being a spot that I previously enjoyed traveling through. I finally ended up at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge south of Quartzsite, Arizona.

A couple of weeks ago, on Wednesday, I decided to leave my campsite outside of Zion and head back to San Diego. I spent the majority of the time with family and friends, running out to McCain Valley Recreation Area and Carrizo Gorge Wilderness to hike to Peak 3339, Gasp Benchmark, Groan Benchmark, and Rozzie Mountain. Finally, yesterday, I made my way back to camping out on the Carrizo Badlands Overlook for the week.

While continuing to hang out nearby Zion National Park another week, I decided to spend my weekend doing a good amount of solid hiking. Saturday morning, I woke early and headed out to the Kolob Canyons to do the 14 mile trek to Kolob Arch and back. Sunday, I then did the 20.6 mile trek to Deertrap Mountain and back, via the East Entrance.

Friday afternoon, I decided that I had had enough of the cold around Bryce Canyon and headed down to St George and Zion National Park. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, I visited the park, hiking to the Emerald Pools, Angels Landing, the arch at the end of Hidden Canyon, and Observation Point.