Camping at Scott Reservoir

Ok, Daddy here with my first contribution to the family blog. I've been talking to Jeremiah about going camping for a couple months now and we finally got the chance when he had spring break, since my days off are mid-week. I almost thought the camping plans were trashed due to my getting jury duty on one of my days off but we still made it work. I had jury duty on Tuesday but was dismissed at the end of the day (although it would have been interesting to be on that jury - it was for a vehicular manslaughter case). Early Wednesday morning we made the 3.5 hour drive northeast through Gila County, into Navajo County, stopping at Scott Reservoir near Pinetop-Lakeside. It was a long jaunt but it sure was beautifully scenic. We could have pulled over several times to take pictures but we only stopped once to view the Salt River Canyon. I hadn't been to the Pinetop-Lakeside area at all before which is partly the reason I chose that spot (and there was no camping fee to stay there!). Pretty standard 'car camping': park, pitch tent, hang out, start a fire, roast some marshmallows. I figured since this was only a 'reservoir' going for a walk around it wouldn't be too difficult. The first half of going around it was nice, easy flat grassy areas. The 2nd half was rugged, rocky, and craggy. I don't know if we just got lost off the trail or what but we ended up having to cross a little brook to get back to the camp site. We threw a bunch of large rocks in the water to make a 'bridge' to cross. There were a lot of animal tracks and a LOT of poop along the way (deer, elk, coyote, fox). With all the tracks and scat around I was surprised we didn't run into any large animals. So that was a nice two hour hike. Back at camp we struck up the fire, cooked hot dogs, and enjoyed a lazy evening. The stars are always so spectacular at night once you get away from the city lights. Jeremiah went into the tent around 9pm to 'rest his tummy' after we killed off all but three marshmallows from the bag. It was a little chilly at night (mid 30's) but not too bad. The next morning we left around 10am and got home at 1:15 in the afternoon which gave me about five minutes to shower before I had to leave for work. We had a great time and hope to enjoy God's magnificent creation again sometime soon.