{"id":13702,"date":"2021-01-29T07:00:36","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T14:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=13702"},"modified":"2021-08-19T06:07:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T13:07:37","slug":"the-mogollon-rim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=13702","title":{"rendered":"The Mogollon Rim"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story starts with a single picture<\/strong>, as most of my stories do. I see the Blue Ridge Reservoir<\/a> online and think that the location tag must be wrong, as a place like this can’t be here in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

So I set out to find this place myself. It’s September, which means Fall is starting in Northern Arizona, and the Mogollon Rim area is one that has continually intrigued me. I follow GPS early on a Saturday morning as I enter an old dirt forest road….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Herds of elk<\/strong> run through the forest as I pass, a few early morning campers wave their coffee mugs in salutation as I rumble along. The dirt road gets narrower as I go, the weeds thicker, covering the road almost completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel lost, yet GPS shows that the lake is just ahead. The road I’m on eventually just abruptly ends, and a lone woman with a baby nursing at her breast looks at me in bewilderment. So many people live off the grid out here. I apologize for barging onto their camp space, turn around and try to see how I can get to the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get out of the truck and walk a bit, coming to the edge of the plateau I am on, and see the lake far below me. I’m definitely not on the right path. I get back in the truck and search my GPS for an alternative route when I see the light glowing on my dash, low tire pressure<\/em>. WTF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get out and see my right back tire slowly losing air. I must have pinched it on a rock. I try to keep calm as I slowly drive along the dirt road, trying to find a flat area where I can put on my spare tire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve no idea how to get the spare tire off the truck, and I have no cell service to call for help or google search for instructions. I resort to reading the truck’s instruction manual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long story short, it was a bitch and took me almost two hours, but eventually I get the spare on. I decide to forego trying to get to Blue Ridge today, and just want to find a place along the Mogollon Rim to set up camp, and forget all about my flat tire mis-adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Camping is free out here<\/strong>, one just has to find their own secluded spot. Nervous I am rollicking along the dirt roads, for if I lose another tire, I’m really up shit creek without a paddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as afternoon starts to slowly wane into evening, I find a spot that is perfect. I quickly pitch a tent, light up the coleman stove, and cook up some veggies for a stir-fry meal. The beer is warm but refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I settle in for the night<\/strong>, reading for awhile, then watch a movie as the stars roll in. Out here the Milky Way is truly magnificent, and I see larger planets floating across the universe as I fall asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I wake before the sun rises<\/strong>, seeing that all of my truck tires are still full. I breath a sigh of relief as I start making coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the sun light up the Mogollon Rim is such a spiritual experience, so I make a commitment to myself that every weekend until the snow flies I’m be coming back up here to explore more of this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps I’ll even find the actual road to the Blue Ridge Reservoir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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