2020-7 Payson Arizona, Mogollon Ridge, Little Green Valley

2020-7

Payson Arizona

Campground: Little Green Valley. Payson AZ Tonto National Forest. Dispersed camping. Dusty dirt road, with ATV’s, dirt bikes and rednecks kicking up dust. Not many level sites. Nice forest setting. 5 over-the-air TV stations. Minimal to no Verizon coverage.

Little Green Valley, I feel like I should pay someone
for such a great little campsite. 

Campground: Rim Campground, on Mogolon Rim. Just used dump station $7, and filled water $3.00

campground closed until May 15^th.

Notes from Lake Havasu

A Couple of notes on Lake Havasu. The town has grown to over 50,000 residence. The developer purchased the London Bridge and had in moved over piece by piece and resembled in the newly developed town. A major attractions that has brought lots of people to the area and the Lake setting.

Along with many newly minted homes in the area, it is a haven for RV-ers and there are many Rv and MH communities. Winter residence of course. So many so, that the area also has a huge number of in-door storage facilities catering to the Rv’er for storing their campers and vehicles under roof. Remember, it gets up into the 100 degree temps here even as early as late April. Some of those storage units are called condominiums, as you can purchase a unit for storage of those expensive RV’s that some people actually never travel in, only using them as winter residence’s.

Lake Havasu is now noted for having weekly events throughout the winter months, art shows, car shows and even a fireworks convention, where town officials from all over the U.S. come to see the latest fireworks displays and then order them for their 4^th of July and other holiday celebrations. And of course it has become a haven for Spring Breakers.

the famous London Bridge, Lake Havasu City

Payson Arizona

I’ve decided to stay here for at least two weeks before continuing my northern journey. It’s a real mixed bag in this community along the Mogolon Ridge and at an elevation of over 5,000 feet much cooler than Phoenix and Tucson and other places throughout Arizona at lower elevations. Mixed bag as in, many people are conscientious about wearing a mask and gloves. Others don’t bother. At the laundromat today, and I had a ton of laundry to do, 5 out of 6 people were wearing masks including me.

cowboy country, workers at the Zane Gray House

Zane Gray House (this is the 3rd one)
and located about 12 miles from original

nice intown park, next to Zane Gray house and college

Over at Tractor Supply, none of the workers were wearing masks. And the Attendant that filled my propane tank said he noticed less and less folks were wearing them at his store.

This is a smaller community, but since it is geared towards the outdoors men, hikers, bikers, campers, hunters, they have lots of folks migrating into the area on weekends, making for much more explosive conditions ripe for Covid 19 to be spread around. Unless they arrive and head directly to the forests settings. But like myself, I’ve had to go into town to get fuel, propane, groceries (ordering online and picking up curbside) etc. In any event I have more exposure than I’d like. I do wear a mask most always when out and wash my hands constantly.

Note: Payson has only had 6 cases of Covid 19. From that standpoint, I do feel a bit safer.

My campsite as I mentioned last week, at Little Green Valley, it awesome during the week, being very quiet, with only a few campers coming and going. I still have a nice neighbor to visit with each day. And of course, even with minimal internet (mostly the signal becomes available later in the evening) so I’m able to check with all you fine folks, send messages out and I keep up with my many Rv communities on FaceBook.

campsite at Little Green Valley

view from my front window

Little Green Valley

I did treat myself today with a trip to the sporting goods store (I guess it’s considered a vital business and remains open). I called ahead, ordered a hammock, have always wanted one and this is the perfect place to use one. I was able to pick it up at the front counter, pay for it and leave before any other customers arrived. Looking forward to using it heavily throughout the summer months.

Mogolon Ridge: 7,000 to 8,000 feet elevation

Mogolon Ridge, bike path runs along the edge

Mid week, I took a drive up to the top of the Mogolon Ridge where there are some spectacular views and many campgrounds. The campgrounds are currently closed, but expect to be open on 15 May 2020. Drive up, approx. 2,000- 3,000 more feet in elevation.

Opposite the small log cabin visitor center off of hwy 260, is the paved road leading to many campsites and the pull-off viewing areas. Bikers will be happy to note that there is a paved walking/biking path along the rim. Though I must say, I felt a few butter flies driving along the ridge top, and the bike path is even closer to the edge. It also run next to all the campgrounds making for a nice way to get to the sites and a couple of lakes up here.

Woods Canyon Lake

hwy 260

I met a fellow photographer from the area taking pictures of the expansive views and she told me, even with the light haze in the distance, that this would be considered a clear day, as smog from the Phoenix area can really impede the views. With less traffic, due to the Corona virus, the skies are much clearer.

Sprinter Mercedes Issue:

I had an issue with the new to me camper. While driving up here along rising elevation/steep grades and having to shift between manual and automatic, the gears appeared to be stuck in a lower gear. Having had an idiot light come on earlier about the DEF fluid being low a gallon, I thought I’d solved that issue by putting in a gallon. Come to find out, it was actually down 2.5 gallons and after finally realizing that, and filling it to the top, the gear issues appear to have gone back to normal. My understanding is that the computer will throttle down until the Def fluid it filled.

Note: There is not dip stick for the DEF fluid and the computer generated messages are not to be trusted as being accurate. I will check and refill the DEF fluid on a regular basis instead of waiting for the computer generated message to appear.

my electric bike fits perfect in the storage area, and
I put in a wood cover on the storage area below this open area.

BOONDOCKING Notes:

There are a few issues associated with boondocking, especially during Covid 19. Listed are a few to keep in mind.

• Boondockers are by it’s nature self-isolating. Keeping more than adequate distance from people.
• Many boondockers burn everything in their fire pits. Plastics, trash you name it. If you’re downwind from those folks, it can be pretty nasty.
• Finding a place to dump and get fresh water for holding tanks can be an issue. A couple of phone apps can help. I-Overlander and Rv Dump, and campendium apps might be of some help. Fellow Rv-ers are also a good source of local dump stations and water sources.
• During Covid 19, most all visitor centers are closed, if you’re lucky they will have a phone number for obtaining local information.
• Ordering groceries from places like Walmart and Safeway can be done even while on the road.
• One can visit with other boondockers, at a safe distance and I’ve been fortunate to park fairly close to some really nice fellow campers. Keeping lines of communications open whether in person or online are vital to ones good mental health.

Boondocking neighbors:
Glen in his van conversion.  he even used Pine beetle recycled wood 

Boondocking neighbors:
Just the sweetest couple, two friends
traveling together. they even gave me
home-made brownies...

• Doing research online is a huge help and being a member of multiple facebook camping groups can help finding the resources you may need. I’m members of groups like: Boondocking & free camping USA, Living the RV Dream, RV Tips, Full Time Rving, and Class C Rving USA
• Boondocking sites are getting crowded with many full time Rvers being kicked out of established Rv campgrounds with full hookups. Though this is starting to ease up after communities are realizing that RV parks are an Essential service.

MORE PHOTOS:

Payson Arizona, Mogolon Ridge

Little Green Valley, Payson AZ