I had a nice drive up the Rio Pueblo Canyon in the Carson N Forest SE of Taos, New Mexico. I passed the Comalas pay Campground. In the 1980s I had a wonderful dispersed camp (on a very rough dirt trail) there by the Rio Pueblo, before the pay Campground was made. Now this is a great camp location, with few other campers, and a low National Forest camping fee. There are other nice forest service camp and picnic areas around this area. I drove past Tres Ritos and found a small bridge over the Rio at the location of my free legal camp. Since I truck camp, I parked in the open near the trees at the Rio Pueblo. It was a very short walk into the trees for a great sit-down, where you can ... read more

I was going to make my camp at the pay campground at Canjilon Lakes. I was sad that the large aspen trees were gone so I drove on to find a new camp. I drove East on FS 110 through a nice forest. The road conditions got poor so I had to drive my old truck slower. I drove over a mountain pass called Mogote Ridge; then it was an easy downhill drive. Not far down from the ridge I found a nice large legal dispersed camp where I parked under a large Colorado Blue Spruce in a Ponderosa Pine forest for the night. This camp was large enough for a group camp, and I had it all to myself. It cooled off very nicely, and I slept well. The next morning I had a nice ... read more

My next camp location was in the Carson National Forest in New Mexico. I do not like driving the USA Interstate Highways, so I drove North Of Flagstaff, Arizona to US Hwy 160 in the Navajo Nation. This is an unique area with interesting rock formations, and Native American ruins and rock art. (Maybe next summer I will contact the Navajo Nation to get information about the areas open to the public, and obtaining Navajo entry permits.) I continued driving North East through Kayenta, and points East. After a while I entered the Navajo Volcanic Field (about 30 million years old) that extends South and East to the famous Shiprock (volcanic plug) in New Mexico. (Sorry, no pics.) Still on US Hwy 160 I crossed into Colorado (near the Four Corners Geologic marker) in the Ute ... read more

Driving down US Hwy 89A, I passed a nice scenic overlook. About 100 meters downhill I made my stop on an unmarked scenic overlook on a rough dirt road leading to a nice free legal camp. From that location you can see House Rock, an old trading post and post office. Driving downhill the highway leaves the Kaibab NF (and the Kaibab Plateau) just before reaching House Rock; an old trading post and post office. The dominant geologic feature there (and to the Colorado River) is the Vermilion Cliffs. Driving East I passed the Town of Vermilion Cliffs and the settlement of Cliff Dwellers. I drove to the Town of Marble Canyon by Marble Canyon of the Colorado River. The East side of the river is the Navajo (Native American) Reservation. The National Park Service turned ... read more

It was getting late when I left Fredonia, Arizona on my way to my camp at Crazy Jug Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, by Crazy Jug Canyon. (Crazy Jug Canyon is an extinct fault line that drains into the Grand Canyon.) Crazy Jug Point is an US Forest Service scenic overlook that doubles as a free legal camp. Before I left home, the TV news said that the paved Arizona Hwy 67 (Jacob Lake, AZ to the Grand Canyon) was closed due to wild fires. I drove the paved FS 22 from Fredonia about twenty five miles to the North Kaibab National Forest, where the road turned into dirt. Not far into the Forest Service there were barricades blocking the road. There I turned left on the smaller FS 22A where I ... read more