“…and all of them were a part of a profession whose most severe punishment was rootlessness and whose sweetest gift was a freedom granted by highways and a vision of America where nothing was permanent and everything possible.”  – Pat Conroy,  The Great Santini

Weather.  It’s going to do what it’s going to do, and it is still late February.  Winter by all accounts. (Except the 90 degree temps in Texas just a short time ago, the high 80’s in New York, Georgia and many other places.  In February.  Naaaa, there’s nothing to this climate change thing.  But I digress)  What I’d hoped was going to be a few days of wild camping, good exploring and photography in a dispersed area off Bloody Basin Road on the way to Prescott, Arizona was much more like, batten down the hatches and ride the storm out.  The weather report showed a little rain for a few hours, with a smallish chance of rain continuing into the morning of the next day.  That would have been nice.

The clouds were rolling in as we bounced gently down the dirt road (Yes, a dirt road!) to a likely stopping place, and sprinkles started not long after.  Three days later, the deluge let up and we were able to dig out from under and work our way back to the main road.  (There was one tricky moment when it felt like we might have a problem getting out of the – now soaked – dirt, but a little low-gear rocking eased us out.)

No exploring, no photography, no side trip to Cordes, the closest “town.” (Just a really small store, as far as I can tell.)  Mostly really wet dog walks and refueling the generator. (Man, those things sure are handy.  How did I not have one sooner??)  At least there was cell service, so our hotspots could keep us connected.

Maybe we’ll make a return visit to see the sights, maybe not.  It wasn’t as “pretty” an area as I’d hoped, (mostly just scrub brush) and it looks to be heavily trafficked by shooters and off-roaders.  Not 15 feet from our rig was a hollowed out embankment with hundreds of shells and brass littering the ground, and even in the heavy rain there was a fairly steady stream of big trucks, Jeeps, ATV’s and bikes passing by on the main road not far away.  I’m all for coexisting, and enjoy those activities myself, but I’m here for the scenery and there wasn’t much of that here.  Even without the closed out days.

We are on to Prescott and Prescott Valley.