Mcdowell Mountain

[ugg1967]

I woke up Saturday morning with nthing to do, so I suggested to the DW we camp somewhere locally for the night. AZSix had a nice writeup of McDowell Mountain park, so we figured we would give that a shot.

Since it was short notice, the DW took a little longer to "get ready" for camping. I always though the best thing about camping is that you can go as is, but I guess that was not the case. We left around noon and got to the park entrance about 12:45. They informed me that they were full and I would have to goto the overflow area. It was at least an hour to get to another area, so we decided to stay. The overflow area is really just the parking lot were the hikers and bikers park as they go out for the day. It is completely dry camping. Got settled and then took a couple of nice hikes to include a sunset hike. Our 2 year old son was wiped out before we were done. I planned to have full hookups at the main campground, so I did not bring the generator. By the time dinner was cooked, we were already running low on battery power. The kid went to bed early and we watched the stars for a while. We hit the sack about 10:00. Since I had expected utility hookups. I only had the stock sleeping bag we keep in the camper. The DW had a nice mummy bag. About 4:30 am, I was shivering and cold. I knew I did not have enough battery life for the heater. I rumbled outside to park the TV close enough to hook up the power receptacle. I had to run the TV for about 15 minutes to get enough juice built up. This got me enough power for 30 minutes of full blast heat. I went back to bed and slept till 8:00. Morning breakfast consisted of deer sausage and eggs. We then took the kid to the well kept playgrounds in the park.

Around noon, we packed up and left.

Recap:

McDowell mountain is a very nice park if you can get in the main campground. I would not recommend the overflow areas.

I will be going back to Roper Lake in 2 weeks for some more trout fishing.

[AZsix]

I am finding that most places close by are filling up fast so I always call ahead just to check. We went camping along with Mary and Joe Romeo this past weekend at Estrella Mountain Regional Park. Dry camping there as well but we knew that going in. Two weeks ago when I took two of my kids, we were the only ones there. This past weekend they had a Boy/Cub Scout jamboree and the place was a sea of tents. We did manage to meet up with Joe and Mary. They came over after dinner and we sat around the fire while the kids played. Sunday morning we drove over to their campsite and visited a little before taking a hike. They are good people and I wish we could have set up next to one another.

Roper Lake would be nice but at this point I don't think I can fit it in but we'll see.

[ugg1967]

I am finding that most places close by are filling up fast so I always call ahead just to check. We went camping along with Mary and Joe Romeo this past weekend at Estrella Mountain Regional Park. Dry camping there as well but we knew that going in. Two weeks ago when I took two of my kids, we were the only ones there. This past weekend they had a Boy/Cub Scout jamboree and the place was a sea of tents. We did manage to meet up with Joe and Mary. They came over after dinner and we sat around the fire while the kids played. Sunday morning we drove over to their campsite and visited a little before taking a hike. They are good people and I wish we could have set up next to one another.

Roper Lake would be nice but at this point I don't think I can fit it in but we'll see.

Calling ahead is good advise. Isnt there a small waterfall at Estrella Mountain Park? I remember hiking years ago and having lunch back by a waterfall. IS there also a camping area at White Tank Mountain? Have you been there yet?

[AZsix]

Calling ahead is good advise. Isnt there a small waterfall at Estrella Mountain Park? I remember hiking years ago and having lunch back by a waterfall. IS there also a camping area at White Tank Mountain? Have you been there yet?

Calling ahead is how I wound up at Estrella two weeks ago. I wanted to take my daughter to Lost Dutchman but when I called they were full and so were the next two places I called. Estrella was the only place close enough that had room.

If there is a waterfall there I haven't seen it but then again we didn't do a whole lot of hiking.

Haven't been to White Tank. Just looked on the website  

http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/white_tank/Camping.aspx  and they do have camping. That's another place that I'll have to look into to. With the price of gas long trips may be out of the question.

[ugg1967]

Calling ahead is how I wound up at Estrella two weeks ago. I wanted to take my daughter to Lost Dutchman but when I called they were full and so were the next two places I called. Estrella was the only place close enough that had room.

If there is a waterfall there I haven't seen it but then again we didn't do a whole lot of hiking.

Haven't been to White Tank. Just looked on the website  

http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/white_tank/Camping.aspx  and they do have camping. That's another place that I'll have to look into to. With the price of gas long trips may be out of the question.

I remeber hiking years ago, and found a waterfall. It looks like they have a trail to that now.

http://gosw.about.com/b/2008/01/09/new-waterfall-trail-opens-at-white-tank-mountain-park-phoenix-area.htm