MrNoodly
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August 28, 2014 marked my 1 year anniversary vandwelling. Rather than cover that first year, I'll start with the second.
Year 2 started with me camped at the Cowboy Tub hot spring near Convict Lake and Mammoth Lakes, CA. It's BLM land there with the usual 14-day limit. It's on the east side of highway 395, in the flatter sage brush area -- with great views of the Sierras. The space for camping is small, and people come and go as they use the hot spring, but it's a fairly quiet spot. I stayed a week.
A friend in Cottonwood, AZ needed some support, so I went there next, after staying a night at a truckstop in the CA desert and splurging on a hotel room in Yuma after getting meds in Mexico. While in Cottonwood, I spent a couple of nights in the Safeway parking lot and four more south of town on BLM land.
When the friend was ready to roll, we went east, past Payson and up onto the edge of the Mongollon Rim to a free Forest Service camping area. Very nice, up among the pines, right at the edge of the escarpment. Five days there.
Next we headed to Canyon de Chelly where we stayed at the Spider Rock Campground. In the morning we took a guided jeep tour of the canyon. Very cool. We stayed a second night -- $11/night.
Next we stayed at Bluewater Lake State Park, near Grants, NM for six days. I already had a NM annual pass. My friend got one, too. We camped in the "primitive" area on the north shore but still had access to the showers. Not many other people there in September. A heard of a dozen or so wild horses roams about the place. Some cows, too.
From there we went to Fenton Lake State Park at 8,000' in the beautiful Jemez Mountains. Even though the campsites aren't on the lake, they're nice and roomy, tucked in among the pines. We had hail. We stayed four days.
Next was Heron Lake State Park. We splurged on some sites in a campground that had electricity. Clean, roomy, with shelters and easy access to flush toilets. The lake was very low, but we weren't there to use it. At 7,500', it got a little chilly at night. Even though we thought we would stay a week, then move over to adjoining El Vado State Park, we took off for warmer weather after three nights.
That took us to Manzano Mountains State Park, almost in the exact center of NM. It's a small but gorgeous campground. About 15 heavily wooded yards (rather than feet) between campsites -- half of them with electricity, all with shelters. We stayed a week and enjoyed the nice nearby town of Mountainair.
We took a look around Elephant Butte State Park, but couldn't find a primitive site we liked that was also large enough for two vans and a trailer. The developed sites are right by the road, and the electrical sites are crammed next to each other. So we moved on.
As I write this, we're at Caballo Lake State Park, in the campground below the dam, past the big RVs and the group area. When I was at this park last year I stayed in the "primitive" camping area, by the lake. But it's closed for the season. We've been here four nights and might be moving on tomorrow. Or not. There are showers, which will be hard to leave behind.
Year 2 started with me camped at the Cowboy Tub hot spring near Convict Lake and Mammoth Lakes, CA. It's BLM land there with the usual 14-day limit. It's on the east side of highway 395, in the flatter sage brush area -- with great views of the Sierras. The space for camping is small, and people come and go as they use the hot spring, but it's a fairly quiet spot. I stayed a week.
A friend in Cottonwood, AZ needed some support, so I went there next, after staying a night at a truckstop in the CA desert and splurging on a hotel room in Yuma after getting meds in Mexico. While in Cottonwood, I spent a couple of nights in the Safeway parking lot and four more south of town on BLM land.
When the friend was ready to roll, we went east, past Payson and up onto the edge of the Mongollon Rim to a free Forest Service camping area. Very nice, up among the pines, right at the edge of the escarpment. Five days there.
Next we headed to Canyon de Chelly where we stayed at the Spider Rock Campground. In the morning we took a guided jeep tour of the canyon. Very cool. We stayed a second night -- $11/night.
Next we stayed at Bluewater Lake State Park, near Grants, NM for six days. I already had a NM annual pass. My friend got one, too. We camped in the "primitive" area on the north shore but still had access to the showers. Not many other people there in September. A heard of a dozen or so wild horses roams about the place. Some cows, too.
From there we went to Fenton Lake State Park at 8,000' in the beautiful Jemez Mountains. Even though the campsites aren't on the lake, they're nice and roomy, tucked in among the pines. We had hail. We stayed four days.
Next was Heron Lake State Park. We splurged on some sites in a campground that had electricity. Clean, roomy, with shelters and easy access to flush toilets. The lake was very low, but we weren't there to use it. At 7,500', it got a little chilly at night. Even though we thought we would stay a week, then move over to adjoining El Vado State Park, we took off for warmer weather after three nights.
That took us to Manzano Mountains State Park, almost in the exact center of NM. It's a small but gorgeous campground. About 15 heavily wooded yards (rather than feet) between campsites -- half of them with electricity, all with shelters. We stayed a week and enjoyed the nice nearby town of Mountainair.
We took a look around Elephant Butte State Park, but couldn't find a primitive site we liked that was also large enough for two vans and a trailer. The developed sites are right by the road, and the electrical sites are crammed next to each other. So we moved on.
As I write this, we're at Caballo Lake State Park, in the campground below the dam, past the big RVs and the group area. When I was at this park last year I stayed in the "primitive" camping area, by the lake. But it's closed for the season. We've been here four nights and might be moving on tomorrow. Or not. There are showers, which will be hard to leave behind.
