Waking up in a nice quiet hotel with out two dogs was not what we had planned, but after the shitty evening we had last night, it was welcomed.
After walking the dogs, and eating the free breakfast at the hotel, we packed up and headed out for a decent hike before we had to drive north towards Sedona. We set our sights on Bartlett Reservoir in Tonto National Forest about 45 mins north of Phoenix.
Bright blue water and Cactus, one of the more interesting places I’ve hiked in the desert and certainly beautiful.
We followed the trail along the side of the reservoir with both of our dogs in tow, the sun shown down brightly, and not a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect day to be there before moving further north and to colder weather.
It’s strange to see a big blue reservoir with boats racing around, surrounded by saguaro cactus, and other scrubby desert plants.
The dogs enjoyed the 5 mile hike, excited to be out of the car. Jessie waded in the water to cool down, and Bowie was very skittish of the water. That is very odd because the humane society said that he was a water bug, but very clearly they lied…he really is really leery of it.
On our way back from our turn around spot, we found a nice shady spot for snacks, and water.
We worked out way back to the parking lot, ate a quick lunch, and then hopped back on I-15 driving north outside of Sedona. We found dirt road in the Coconino National Forest, and camped off a road called Cedar Flats.
It was one of the most spectacular campsites, no bags of poop anywhere, a nice big fire ring, lots of wood, and a beautiful mountain sunset. It was amazing.
It was a relaxing evening, the dogs got to run and play, we had a nice fire with hot chocolate, s’mores, and a really solid nights sleep. Tomorrow we head to Sedona, then north through Flagstaff up to Indian Creek to meet our friends and climb for New Years.