Camping by Mark

Mara wakes up to the fresh cool air at Sharp Creek Campground, 20 miles out of Payson, Arizona(1 1/2 north of Phoenix). We had a fun trip taking Mara camping for the first time. She did well and it was nice to get out of the heat.

Mo tagged along and did okay until 3 in the morning when some animal out in the woods and people coming to the bathrooms near our campsite got him barking. I had to get out of the warm sleeping bag and walk him to the Blazer to get him to quiet down. He was in heaven of course, wandering around with all the new scents and places to explore that wasn't trapped in like his backyard home.
After taking it easy and resting for the morning, enjoying the 70's temperature. We headed east on the highway up to an area called the Mogollan Rim(? on spelling). It is a literal rim of rocks along the mountains that drops down from the higher plateau to the mountains below. The road climbed several thousand feet quickly to put us on top. We enjoyed a stop at a lake and took a hike. Unfortunately it wasn't a very secret fishing spot and was packed with tons of fishermen who weren't very clean so there was trash all over. Other than that it was a beautiful location.
There are a system of trails running along the rim that you can hike the whole way or between scenic view parking lots. On our way back from the lake we stopped and Mo and I took a walk for about a mile. I got video of Mo walking to the edge of these rocks. What you can't tell from this picture is the wind is blowing about 30-40 miles an hour into us so it was an eery feeling trying to walk out on the rocks having a hard time keeping your balance because of the wind.


View through the trees of the lake at the west end. The lake must have continued a little bit more around a corner, because while we were stopped there must have been 15-20 boats or canoes that came towards us from this direction.
I did some quick math counting the rings on this tree. It had to have been at least a hundred years old.

We stopped to take pictures several times, each time Mo would zoom in and out of the picture pursuing some scent or chasing chipmunks as far as the leash would allow.
Obviously coming back into the valley we quickly forgot about jackets and stored them away only to dream of cooler days again if we survive the heat of summer.
I decided to scrub off the carbon deposits on the underside of the dishes, very focused work, hence the stupid grin.
Mo during one of the few times he stopped the whole hike, must have been an animal he was watching off to the side . Before we took this picture Mo thought he would try to climb down the rock behind us(about an 8 foot drop). He slowly studied it and was trying to grip the rock and started sliding. Luckily he had me on belay and the rope stopped him semi dangling in the air as I pulled him back up by the harness.


Momma Stacy and Mara, taking a rest and wondering why I am taking a picture of them.