Camping in the Desert

[Brorag]

yo!
you're right--think I'll go hug a snake.................
so, like, you gonna be there when we come out?
What kind of beer you keep in the fridge?
jd

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by scottmandue

I LOVE Utah... have been there several times and will be back soon.

the SW can be great.


i found one the greatest concentration areas of wild horses in the US. [BLM confirmed]. I thought at first i was at Grand Central sta.


I've been looking for a bud w/a good 4x4 to go back and visit the place correctly for over 3yrs.



meanwhile.. great local knowledge thrown around here

[charleskieffner]

come on growing up here all we had to do was go jeeping, shooting,archery, blowing up things w/dynamite found in old mine shafts(if i had only known how unstable that stuff was back then),drinking beer and riding horses and chasing lil doggies down for ranchers whose cattle slipped away.

this was like mayberry r.f.d. !

we used to take a jeep or p/u and a pair of water skies down the canals. shoot carp w/our .22's etc.

when dirt bikes mini bikes rupps and mini trails and yz-60's arrived we thought we had died and gone to heaven. the world was wide open and off onto the rez we went exploring.


bottomline on rattlesnakes. the big ones i mean 6-7-8 footers will bang you with a dose of venom only about 25% of the time. the other 75% are dry bites. green mojaves the WORST!

its the lil baby fuchers that bang you 100% of the time right out of the womb!!!!! and those usually are the fatalities even on a healthy human let alone kid or elderly!

what you really have to watch out for are coral snakes. no rattles to warn you!!!! and also dont think a rattler is always going to warn you with a rattle. alot of times they have lost them to a predator. or shedded its skin and skin wrapped around tail. so if you find a shed............somewhere close is a snake.

snakes are out now. weather has been fluttering since late feb from 70's-sometimes 90's. once 110 degree days arrive they go back into their nocturnal routine. walking around at night here at my house DEMANDS A FLASHLIGHT. i am in the middle of the sonoran dezert. not some foo foo enclave gated community with side walks and crap. been here 26 years and look out where we used to camp as kids............the boulders! which is now a 5-star resort. with all the building going on snakes and pack rats constantly on the move looking for food and bed. so its an ongoing problem. had my roomate from chicago last year come outside one night to view 4 footer coontail(crotalus-diamond-backius-ouchiness). he about flipped! coiled up cuz we was poking it with full automatic(i have a license) true temper round-nose shovel. then i made him KILL IT! his bravery faltered! finally had to tell him your locked out of the house until its DEAD. 1/2 hour later he killed it and chopped his head off and placed head in dumpster as per my implicit instructions, so my dogs cant get hold of head and be bit.

he now has a nice hat band for his kowboy-peudner hat!



so ask me anything about the southwest. been dragged all over hells acre by folks chasing down indian artifacts. been all through grand canyon. my favorite is lees ferry. monster blue ribbon trout heaven! i mean MONSTER TROUT! usually taken on san juan worms , mini puff balls red or green, and skuds. no live bait! and you get caught w/a worm. that will be the most expensive worm you ever had. also z-ray's copper/silver/and orange work well.


oh yea no offense to any mormons reading this. i was raised catholic. i was an altar boy!(unmolested). i went to jesuit high school(brophy prep) and went to jesuit college(regis in denver colo.)

i AM A RECOVERING CATHOLIC! i hate all religions! i repeat I HATE ALL RELIGIONS! all there damn good fer is molesting people and killing people in the name of the lord! its all crap!

i subscribe to what the "ancient ones" did. the anazazi indians. the sun the moon the stars the lakes the weather the rivers the animals the breeze the clouds the mtns. its much simpler and i like a simple uncomplicated life. this is my north face mtn-25 4 season tent. about 400 bucks give or take. will handle 100knot wind! if yer foolhardy to want to experience that! i tend to watch the weather but when in colorado, mtns tend to hide things especially during july /aug/sept/ when guacaa-muggies(monsoons) roll thru. and we have been nailed in some downright nasty if not scary thunderboomers that had my hair standing on end from so much cloud to ground lightning! 6.6 pounds stripped down for back pack. best damn 2-man tent i have owned EVER! note: GLOCK folding shovel right of tent....wayyy cool!

[Brorag]

so, what's the word on cougers? just big kittys, right?

[charleskieffner]

meow males roam about 250 miles females a little less.

water/food/man will move them.

bad idea is to varmint call by yourself. if hell bent have cliff/rock behind you for protection.

10 buck tag. population going up due to elk herds exploding. deer herds affected by ongoing drought and are not the main food source as was last century.

antelopezzzzz also greatly affected by drought, building in rural areas/highways and also dumbass PETA morons putting the hurt on trapping! since trapping now heavily regulated predators have exploded ie. "mr trickster" aka "wiley e. coyote"

coyotes main reason deer/antelopezzz herds down. shoot on sight any coyote! and make a healthier bio system.


funny how morons read the paper and get all cuddly with varmints and then the varmints eat there cats and foo foo poodles! and then they complain about not seeing animals when they take a drive on the paved roads here with their goofier than hell lincoln navigator lowered with spinners!!! LOL!


im proud as a native to see this state grow..............but also im like an indian and ashamed of how people have degraded the land and all its resources!

[BrokeMyCar]

Thanks for advice all - especially Charles, with the extra-flavour =).

Bonus questions:

-are there places to camp off rt. 89, between the rims? (I've contacted the Navajo nation for a backcountry permit)
-also off rt. 89, think we'll be able to find some water every 100 miles or so? (from the sat. imagery it looks like clusters of houses pop up every 25 miles...)
-how's cell phone reception along our route?

Thanks again guys!

Babak

[charleskieffner]

buddy those clusters are "HOGANS" like as in navajo home sites.

camarron which is on the lil colorado river will have water. that is north of flag on 89.

heres the drill on indians.................they dont like us meaning us whiteys.

yep to this day in general the only time they like you is drinking your beer/grabbing yer woman/or taking your money.

just kind of picture yerself back in hillbilly country driving yer porsche and wearing a gucci suit!

got an idea what they think of the whiteman! we dont lak yer kind!

its a sovereign nation and they can do whatever the FUCH they want to whomever they want and really dont give a rats ass!

the highway is owned by the state...........thats it! DPS patrols highway. FBI and rez cops(they are real fun....NOT) run rez. good luck finding a G-MAN when you need him.

grew up literally 200 yds from white mtn apache rez. roamed all the rez'z thruout sw w/folks. PLAIN AND SIMPLE THEY DONT LIKE US! be very very very nice. small bills can even make them smile and grunt sometimes. larger bills might make them use finger and point! much larger bills may make them utter unintelligibile syllable.

the rez is a TWILIGHT ZONE OF AND IN ITSELF!


bonus questions. cell use is spotty at best. a sat phone can be rented and would assure comms in event of emergency. we get sat phones for baja when we go.

w/backcountry permit from rez, your assured of maybe some nice dryed grass and some beautiful comfy sandstone. i mean it when i say its BLEAK for a good portion of yer trek. just like MARS would be better description

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by kach22i
charleskieffner, your list is freaking me out.

BrokeMyCar, come camping in Michigan, all we have is a few mosquitoes, and further north black flies certain times of year.

Sorry but Chuck forgot one of the worst... the Gila Monster. If you play with it and it gets its mouth on your finger you will have to go into a hospital to get it off, and it may kill you in the process.

[scottmandue]

After reading all this I just want to confirm that this wussy tenderfoot will only be venturing out of his hotel or lodge for day hikes in the Utah wilderness!

In my defense I usually visit in the late fall when there is snow on the ground.

Also an interesting note: About half to two thirds of the tourist I have met there were Europeans!

[charleskieffner]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Sorry but Chuck forgot one of the worst... the Gila Monster. If you play with it and it gets its mouth on your finger you will have to go into a hospital to get it off, and it may kill you in the process.

joe yes i forgot this wonderful beautiful "LIZARD OF DEATH!"

these sometimes get as big as 12 ft jes lak thar kin in INDONESIA!

they taste jes lak chicken!

seriously if you find one.............you have had a bonus day! they are cool. they are very slow. they are very stupid. they are a non issue............UNLESS YOU DRINK A GALLON OF WHISKEY AND SHOVE YOUR HAND DOWN THEIR THROAT!...........then yer day just went to HELL and yer probably gonna DIE!


remember our state motto............" there is a direct and scientific corollary to the number of tattoos one has, the number of beers drank.............and the number of times one is bitten by a venomous creature of the DEZ!"


STUPID.............HURTS!

also federally protected as is the dez tortuga(turtle), as well as ridge nose rattlers/coral snakes.

in other words..........dont kill a GILA(pronounced - Hee-laa not gill-a)MONSTER and skin him and wear him as a hat band!

[sammyg2]

Here's a good one to play on someone, but only if they have a sense of humor.

Q: if you woke up in the morning and found your pants down around your ankles and had vaseline smeared all over your rear, would you tell anyone?
no? Wanna go camping?
Sorry, the only camping joke I know.

[Joeaksa]

Guys,

One thing you need to realize. I have lived in Arizona on and off for probably 15 years.

In this time I have seen less than 10 rattlesnakes, probably 20 scorpions, not one trantula or gila monster.

The critters are here and if you are not careful, will get into trouble. Just last week I found a black widow spyder curled up in the toolbag of my motorcycle. Realized what it was and dispatched the biatch, but someone just fumbling around with the tools probably would have been bitten.

Be careful and enjoy the wilderness. Remember that we are the interlopers here, and we invaded their country, not the other way around. They will be around eons after we are dead and feeding worms somewhere, so best keep an eye out and live together with them.

[RoninLB]

I'm a tree hugger. The only thing a dry desert is good for is to dry out a soaking wet 5# sleeping bag +++. On that note Zion has a great boulder layout right around the campground next to the head w/nice showers.

[pwd72s]

Really Ron? Just WHERE did your 5 lb. sleeping bag get soaked? Up near trout creek, maybe?

[charleskieffner]

ditch the super zoomy lightweight down sleeper bags. i have a north face IBEX XL filled with down. great bag, lightweight, easily packable......................and almost damn near killed me from hypothermia one beautiful arctic coldmass that swooped down from alaska and nailed az. one fine coues deer hunt on top of mount graham! killer winds with widowmakers everywhere falling from trees, and wet snow. key word WET snow. had crap tent that leaked everywhere and bag got wet. now how the hell do you dry an wet down bag in middle of BFE!

solution..........NORTH FACE DARK STAR -40 degree bag w/quallofill. a little heavier than down but will dry very quickly. call it almost water proof. laugh at -40 degrees in arizona. if i get hot unzip and or sleep on top. granted it doesnt get to -40 here but you will thank god you had foresight to own one, when a wet freezing rain/sleet/slush/snow comes along. -19 coldest i have experienced here az. outdoors. colorado -22 and not with wind chill figured. normally both states receive dry snow. but when wet snow hits, down becomes crap.

learned my lesson the hard way. crap tents that leak onto or under, onto down bags can prove fatal.

[LeeH]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
In this time I have seen ... probably 20 scorpions.

I can find 1-4 in my backyard EVERY NIGHT. I go out with a black light to track them down before they get in the house.

I had a friend who built a new $800K house on the South Mountain preserve. Right after he moved in he found over 50 scorpions on his back wall in one night. They moved in less than a year because his wife got tired of the critters.

[charleskieffner]

scorpions only survive w/(2) thangs. water and crickets. remove both and they is history!

[Joeaksa]

Lee,

I do not go out looking for them!!! You and your daughter can do that all you want!

Chuck,

Totally agree and had a friend who found one in his house. Found some wood stacked up against his house, and moved that. Then called the bug killers and took care of the crickets. No more scorpions. Eliminate the areas where they live and what they eat and they will move on.

Joe

[BrokeMyCar]

We lived! Good times too - saw a tarantula wasp, but that's about it on the bite-yah-hard front. BLM/forest lands were awesome, folks were super friendly.

Thanks -

Babak

[scottmandue]

Glad to hear you didn't get eaten... at least by any wild animals that is.