Over the weekend, the wife and I headed up to Sedona to scout potential free camping areas away from the normal congestion. For those of you who don't know, Sedona is a fairly popular tourist trap with a reputation for attracting hippies, artists, and millionaires who build mansions throughout the area. What it does have going for it, however, is a vast network of beautiful hiking trails that range from an easy stroll along the road to moderate hikes with some rock scrambling. It also doesn't hurt that it's a little higher in elevation so that gives some reprieve from the phoenix oven.
Schnebly Hill Rd is one of the more famous roads in the Sedona area because it's one of several roads that are somewhat rough. This is where many of the jeep tours take their city slicker clients to show them what "off roading" is like although in reality, it's not that bad of a road in the grand scheme of things. Would I take a mercedes sedan on this road? No. Would I take any stock 2wd SUV (a real SUV, not a hybrid)? Probably.
Well, it so happens that Schnebly hill is one of the few places one can camp dispersed around the sedona area so we decided to scout it out. After going through many of the round abouts leading up to sedona and passing many really nice homes, we finally found our way to the start of schnebly hill. I stopped, put it into 4 low and continued up the hill. Oh, and this was the inaugural trip for the popup camper after upgrading the suspension and putting on bigger tires. At first it wasn't too bad, but eventually it did get rough enough that I had to go slower than I normally would have without the trailer.
Half way up the mountain, we switched drivers and I had to get out and spot for Barrett, my dog, who had trouble seeing out the window and reaching the gas pedal.
Here's another shot of the obstacle he was having trouble with.
This is one of the ubiquitous pink jeeps giving encouraging words to Barrett.
After the hour and a half it took us to drive 5 miles, we finally made it to the top. Gorgeous view of Sedona.
It's amazing where plants can grow.
Soon, we were on the road again in search of a suitable campsite since it's legal to camp east of the view point. We passed a few fire rings off the side of the road, but they were all really close to the road and there was a lot of traffic with the trucks, rental side by sides, and motorcycles. Eventually, we started seeing numbered side roads that looked promising so we followed one to see where it went.
Now this road, was more like it. It was actually a 4wd road, but not so much that my trailer with 2 feet of clearance couldn't handle it. I think that most normal people wouldn't take their 4wds down this road, unless they've had some experience before. As usual, pictures don't do it justice.
It wasn't long before we found a really nice spot to camp.
We were all alone, with nobody around for miles, except for the occasional passerby on the main road who we couldn't see and barely heard.
Eventually, night fell and we cooked up our usual. Steak and rice.
This also gave me a chance to test out my lights, but see this link for more info on that.
http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthre...w-popup-camper
Of course, no camping trip is complete without some smores
Well, that was the end of the trip so we packed up and headed out of there and back down the mountain.
Again, the road out of the camp site. Here's a shot showing the hitch angle.
And one showing it cresting the hill.
Maybe this night shot shows the roughness of the road.
So Schnebly hill is a nice place to camp but with the caveat that one must make the trek up and down the hill to get to sedona. However, without a camper and with the tires aired down for a little more comfort, most people say it only takes about 30 min to go up or down the hill.
We were also told to checkout the west side of town for potential camping spots so we headed that way once we got to the bottom. We checked out forest road 525 and it turned out to be pretty barren and few trees, however it was a much smoother ride out there. This dirt road was well maintained and there were quite a few motor homes camped out there.
We even ran into quite a character while we parked on the side of the road looking at some maps. A youngish guy, maybe in his low to mid 20's rode up on his scooter (think vespa) and asked if we're looking for a place to camp. I said no, we're just looking.
He then said, he's got a nice camp site and was just about to leave, but needed some help getting his scooter into the motorhome. I'm thinking ok, he must have a trailer or a toy hauler and he needs some help getting it up the ramp. I say sure, I'll help him, so we follow him back to his motorhome. Peculiarly, there was nobody else around and he was there all by himself.
There, he jumps up to the roof of his RV to take down a tarp and I try to make small talk with him. Here I am, looking up at him from the ground and notice there's something wrong with his shorts he's wearing. It took me a second to realize, the crotch of his shorts were completely torn from front to back! Holy crap! It took me another second to realize why I didn't have to have my memory erased. The shorts he was wearing were swim trunks with the mesh inner liner. Oh thank god!
Then he gets down and rolls the scooter over to the door of the RV. Well, I guess there's no trailer or ramps. Yup, we have to lift it up the stairs of the RV where he parks it right next to the sink. So on 3, we heave the back of the scooter up to the first step, where I hold it while he runs around to the other door so he can continue lifting it from the inside. After some wrangling, we finally get it all the way into the motor home.
Turns out, he's been traveling around the country looking for a job and he had been camping there in sedona for 6 weeks. Every time he breaks camp, he has to go looking for somebody to help him with his scooter.
Oh the adventures we have.
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