Home Base

The picture above is from my campsite up on the mogollon rim, the snowstorm took 3 days to melt so not to bad. This is a area where a lot of full time Rvers head, due to the fact that you are able to bounce back and forth from the Tonto National Forest to the Apache-Sitegreaves National forest. 14 days in one then 14 days in the other. Most sites have camp hosts, vault toilets, and fire rings as well. Water is available for free at canyon point campground. Dump and trash are there too, but there is a fee.

 If your gonna stay awhile make sure you get large trash bags I had 6 very small wal-mart bags filled with trash my bill for garbage was $18, when I asked what if I combine all the bags into one big bag I was told it would only be $3 makes perfect since to me needless to say I just threw them away at the next dumpster. If your interested in this area a quick google search of Forest Lakes, AZ will show you the general area.

Now to explain the title of my post as well as my delinquency for a little over 2 weeks. Ive driven nearly 600 miles exploring the backroads of north eastern Az in search of a little plot of land to call home. Someplace where I could set up camp for few months a year, and not be herded around every couple of weeks.

The search proved to be a little more difficult then I had anticipated,  after looking at several pieces of acreage I made a phone call to the county zoning office. They informed me that you can not park on RV on your own land, the only way you can park an rv on your land is if you have a principle residence on the property as well, but I could store it for up to 30 days there. 

Seems a bit crazy to me, that you can buy 20 acres in the middle of nowhere, and there is restrictions on camping, or rving on it. Would you get caught? Probably not, but if you did you could be fined, and possibly kicked off your own property, and most counties have zoning laws like this! Well thats my mini rant.

 The good news is, after calling several counties Apache County in Az is zoned agricultural I asked if I was able to park my Rv there? They said sure, but you better be able to explain what your doing with your dirty water? Sounds like a fair enough deal. So off to Apache County I go. Heres a few more pictures of my camp on the rim.

Riding the Storm Out

Time to make my way to 7600'. After watching the various weather websites, it appeared that the weather was gonna remain 65 to 70 for the most part. So I stocked up on supplies, then headed up the mountain.

 Upon arrival the weather folks were right a fine day indeed, so Candy decided to take me for a hike I heard from a fellow boondocker there was snow over on the ridge. Knowing how much she would love a romp in the white stuff we headed in that direction, as you can see from the pic above it was a bit disappointing, that was all about to change.

Enjoying a long weekend of perfect weather. The weather man said there was a storm front moving in, and could produce winds up to 60mph, also a chance of 2-4 inches of snow possible. Wasn't to excited about the wind, but a little snow a few times a year I do enjoy. When I went to bed Monday night the winds had stopped, still no snow though,then I awoke to this.....

Payson BoonDocking

 Two weeks already since my last post. The good news is I haven't done much of anything since then. Enjoyed my stay at the Casino, and did a little more indulging then I should have its's pretty easy to do when such great restaurants are just a short hike away.

The picture above is of my new home for the last 2 weeks. Located just 4 miles from Payson down airport road in the Tonto national forest. The area had a ton of wildlife. Stirred up several deer on my daily hikes. Had my camp invaded by Javalinas while I slept, they managed to scatter my garbage all over the place leaving only little piggy prints behind, and the Jack Rabbits here are enormous. Unfortunately I was not able to capture any of these critters with my camera, but heres a few more pics of the general area .