Getting situated at Green's Peak (Tues.-Sat.)

Contrary to my opinion that we wouldn't have a phone signal where we camped, among the many towers on Green's Peak (which is right beside our campground) there apparently is a cell phone tower, because we have a strong signal here.  And this cast of characters we are camping with has prompted me to continue blogging so I don't forget some of our memorable moments.

Backtracking a bit, Tuesday we got an early start from Springerville and were in the Valley about 10:00 a.m.  Everything at home seemed in order, the kitchen table was full of 4 months of mail (mostly junk mail), and there were a few weeds in the yard but not too many.  We began our list of chores -- Joe changed the oil in the truck, checked the tires on 2 quads, the truck and the box trailer,  and did a little maintenance on the quads. I went through the mail, went to Costco, washed the clothes we had brought down, and started gathering stuff to take back up to the mountains.  Eric stopped by in the afternoon, and then we went over to their house to see the back yard they have been working on all summer, and to visit with Tiffany and Kaylee.  Cody was at football practice so we never caught up with him.  Then we met Jeff and Brenda for dinner.  We slept in our own beds for one night (Tuesday), finished up our packing,  loaded up the quads, tracked down the trailer hitch (which was on the back of Cody's truck at school) and headed back to Springerville where we had left the RV.  We got there about 7:00 p.m., after stopping in Show Low for dinner, and settled in for the night. 

Thursday morning we were up early again, Joe stopped in town for fuel ($3.539) and propane for the RV ($2.29/gal.), while I went to the grocery store.  The plan was that Joe would lead, and he has the GPS in the RV, and I would follow, but when we met up, I was in front, so I led us into the forest and to our campsite.  The one we had in mind (that we had seen last year) had one small camper in it (nobody around, so apparently someone just dropped it and left), but the area right beside it was open, and it was much bigger so we chose that.  We turned off the highway about 9:30, and it took us about 10 minutes to drive back the 5 miles to this campsite.  This forest is very green, and there are lots and lots of cattle grazing.  This campsite apparently is one of their regular grazing areas, and they had left us lots of cow pies so we had to watch our step.  We got set up, checked on our friends' progress, and took a short nap while we waited for Collins and Marilyn and Danny and Sherry to get here from the Williams area where they had been camping.  We drove out to meet them about 4:00 and led them to our campsite (see how beautifully green it is up here).

Collins picked a spot next to the trees, and Danny set up his fifth-wheel on the open side of the campsite.  The cows, though, took exception to Danny's spot, and he had 3 bulls challenging him for the space as he was trying to get his camper leveled and unhooked from his brand new pick-up.

They kept coming in closer, and were bellowing and making all kinds of racket.  One mean-looking red bull was ready to take him on.  It got within 10 feet of him before he stopped (Danny had the pick-up door open and was ready to bolt).

 We finally chased them off, but it was an opportunity for on-going harassment by Joe and Collins of Danny.  We are not sure whether the bull liked the looks of Danny from the rear, or it was letting Danny know that all those cows were taken care of by him alone, but that bull was sure trying to make some kind of statement to poor Danny.  Joe told Danny that the bull had a gleam of love in his eye for Danny.

We had a little rain shower, so we settled in early for the night.  Friday morning we unloaded our quads, and after breakfast we took a ride while we waited for Jeff and Brenda to drive up.  The cows were all over the road this morning, and I found out the hard way that I needed to watch where I'm driving.  Apparently I drove through some fresh cow droppings, and when we stopped I got a jacket out of the box on the back of my quad, I leaned against the fender and got cow manure all over one leg of my jeans.  That wasn't a pleasant situation for the rest of the day.

Collins spotted a badger, but that was the only wildlife seen other than squirrels and chipmunks, and none of the rest of us saw the badger.  We scouted out the area, got rained on, and came back to camp to wait on Jeff's phone call.  Collins and Danny went out gathering firewood on the quads, and Sherry walked around the campsite gathering some limbs.  Then Danny got the chain saw out to chop up some of the limbs they had brought in. Joe and Collins offered instructions and words of encouragement from the sidelines.

  About 3:30 Jeff called from Show Low, so we headed out on the quads to meet up with them and lead them in.  Then we sat in our chairs and watched them set up.  Jeff always has to move two or three (or 8) times before he gets his RV in the right spot, so it's cheap entertainment.  When he finally quit, he knew the left side was a little low, which put their heads downhill when they went to bed.  So Brenda re-made the bed, and they slept with their heads at the foot.  That was fine until the middle of the night when the wind blew up and their awning started rattling.  Jeff, who has not been sleeping well, started saying "windy, windy," and trying to get out of bed, but he was lost.  He asked Brenda what she was doing on his side of the bed.  When he finally managed to get out of the bed, he ran smack into the cabinets in the wall.  I think he finally turned the light on so he could find his way to the front to bring in the awning. 


So by Saturday morning, we are all together and settled in.  We've circled the wagons and taken up residence for the next 6 days.

 We are strung out sort of at the top of our circle.

 Danny and Sherry are on the front side, with Green's Peak behind them.

 Jeff and Brenda closed off the bottom of the circle with their string of vehicles -- Brenda's truck and the "Billy" boat; their RV,

  their box trailer and sun shade over the Arctic Cat.

 And Collins and Marilyn on the back side, next to the trees.  When I go up to the top of Green's Peak
(everyone except Marilyn, Sherry and I have made the trip already), I will try to get an overview from the top.








It rained off and on during the night on Friday, and was cloudy all day Saturday, with an occasional sprinkle.  Jeff and Brenda finished their setting up process, and Collins, Marilyn, Joe and I played cards for a little while.  Sherry had a migraine so she was down for the day, and Danny stayed pretty close to their trailer to check on her.  Jeff and Brenda spent a little time getting the cover put up over the Arctic Cat, and Jeff  harassed the cows as they got closer for their afternoon grazing in our campsite.  Finally, even though it still looked like rain, it was time to go for a ride, so Jeff, Brenda, Joe and Collins took off.  When Jeff and Brenda got back (about an hour ahead of Joe and Collins who made some extra turns), Jeff started our first campfire, and we all felt like we were really camping now.

 

After dinner (chili and hot dogs roasted over the fire), we sent for our first EWVD (evening wildlife viewing drive). Jeff and Brenda took off, but it took a while for the rest of us to get in gear, so I was in the lead, trying to catch up with Jeff.  But we weren't done with the bulls yet.  When we got to the cattle guard back on the main road, two big black bulls had positioned themselves butt-to-butt on the cattle guard, blocking the entire thing.  We could see where they had been pawing in the dirt around the cattle guard, so maybe they were in a standoff (I always thought those were head-to-head though).  Anyway, when I saw them blocking my path like statutes, I just started laughing.  I motioned for Joe to catch up with me, and I asked him if he knew the secret password.  We moved a little closer, and Joe started honking his horn, and finally they gave in and moved aside, very slowly, and with a mean eye on us.  

It got dark on us before we got back.  Jeff and Brenda spotted one cow elk with calf that crossed the road right in front of their Arctic Cat in the dark, but the rest of us didn't see anything.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow.  

The people who dropped the little trailer haven't been back yet.  Although, I guess it's possible they might have driven by and saw our menagerie and just decided to keep on going.

It's been in the 50s at night, and the 70s during the day when it is sunny.  The air is fresh and its absolutely beautiful up here.  A nice break for us before we head back to the heat of the Valley.