Monday, October 4, 2010
Boondocking near Ashurst Lake, Coconino Natl Forest, Flagstaff - May 15-20
So here we are on our first "real" boondocking adventure. We found a place along the road to Ashurst Lake CG that is open to dispersed camping with lots of flat sunny areas for parking that is available for free camping. There are no hookups, so you come with your wastewater tanks empty and your freshwater full. We are currently parked in a lovely high mountain meadow, surrounded by (but not shaded by!) tall pines. The road is in sight, but we are not right on it -- and it is a side road, so it doesn't get much traffic. Currently, no others are parked nearby, but we imagine that will change as the weekend draws near.While wandering "our" meadows, we saw a Gray Flycatcher and Grace's Warbler. Our batteries are charging nicely, and we have all the comforts of home while enjoying the natural beauty of this place. The cats think it's superb and can't understand why they can't join the other creatures outside.
The darkness is impressive! The stars are awesome, as is the conjunction of the 5 visible planets that we have been watching since Tucson. After we turned out the lights to go to sleep last night, it was impossible to see anything. Willie couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed! The cats seemed to not even notice the darkness. It was lovely, and we got a wonderful night's sleep, waking up to nothing but natural sounds.
The Natl Forest officially closed at 8 am on 5/21, due to fire danger, so we left the day before. We didn't want to find out if they'd really make us leave at 8 am!! We continued to enjoy our time in the forest. Several other RVs, and even one tent, were within sight over the weekend, but it certainly wasn't crowded.
It took promise of a wonderful Indian buffet & an interesting birding trip to lure us away from the forest. At the birding trip, again at the Flagstaff Arboretum, we saw our first Cordilleran Flycatcher. After the birding trip, we visited the Lowell Observatory. The tour mainly centered on the historical aspects of the observatory. Lowell Observatory was founded in 1894 by Boston mathematician Percival Lowell, and the original observatories and his study area are part of the tour. The construction of the wooden observatories is fascinating, originally done by local bicycle makers with, of course, no electricity. The clever counterweight system for moving the 6-ton telescope was demonstrated by our petite tour guide. The first evidence of the expansion of the Universe and the discovery of the planet Pluto are claims to fame. In the historic Rotunda building are many of the tools used by early astronomers, along with copies of the photos showing how they first spotted "planet X" (the original name for Pluto).
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 9:52 PM 
