Over-nighting in Young

Life has been hectic recently.  We needed to unwind.  What better way to do that than to camp and bebop off road.  We loaded up the dogs and trailer and with friends following behind, we headed towards Young.  We had it in our head that we wanted to camp at Reynolds Creek again.  Reynolds Creek had other ideas.  All of the camp sites that would accommodate two trailers were taken.

Bummed out, we kept on over the mountain.  Several bike trips ago, we took a break at a road that we wanted to explore.  So we soldiered on and found Cherry Creek Road (NF-203).  It was getting late, kids and adults were getting hungry, so we took a forgotten road to a bluff to set up camp.

We set up the new Tag-a-long tent onto the awning, laid out our new rug and settled in for some relaxing….while Pete and Mandy set up their Taj Ma Tent complex.

I sat down to read a magazine.  Finished reading and turned around to see this:

When in Rome….we napped for a little while.  When we woke, we explored the area around our campsite with the dogs.

The kids and I enjoyed a nice sunset while Mike bugged Mandy to start dinner.  Oven baked biscuits with chili, while camping.

Elly was terrible all night, refusing to sleep.  So after a restless night, a quick breakfast (thank you again, Mandy) and a lengthly clean up, Mike convinced Pete to take Cherry Creek Road out.  

Cherry Creek Road was 36 miles of awesome.  Gorgeous scenery, great road and perfect weather.  

Of course we stopped at the first stream crossing.  Rommel swam for a few minutes, the kids played, and Mike and I wandered, finding a cabin tucked in the woods.

Several streams crossed the road throughout our drive.  We spooked Ol' Bessy at one and chased her down the mountain.

Several hours and not as many miles later, we stopped for lunch.  Thank goodness for leftovers because I was not anticipating eating lunch on the trail today. 

After making mental notes of several potential future camping spots, we descended out of the tress and back into the brush and saguaros.

We criss-crossed the creek several times.  The vibrant greens of the trees thriving on the tiny creek popped off the tan and brown of the hills and mountains.

The road evened and smoothed out.  We stopped to air up the tires several miles from pavement.  The dogs settled down for a good nap on the way out.  We were blessed with a beautiful sunset on our drive.  A wonderful way to end the day. 

We arrived home later than expected but it was worth the extra time on the trail with my wonderful little family.