I was born in Arizona & have lived here my whole life. My family did a lot of camping all over the state. One year when I was about 14, my parents decided to take us camping for two weeks, first week up to Mt. Graham and the next week down to Rossevelt Lake. After fishing at Rainbow Lake on Mt. Graham, we returned to our campsite to find a Black bear sitting on a pine stump eating our watermelon. My dad had us all return to the lake to fish for another hour while the bear finished off the watermelon. The bear was gone when we returned to our campsite. The following week after fishing all day at Roosevelt Lake I crawled into my sleeping that night and immediately felt something crawling up my leg. I scrambled out of my sleeping bag and slowly proceeded to inspect its interior thinking it was possibly a scorpion. To my relief it was a live water dog that we had been using for bait to catch bass. It apparently came off someone's fishing hook and had crawled into my sleeping bag looking for a dark, cool place. Later that night a skunk rummaged thru our box of dry foods. This happened 60 yrs. ago, but was exciting times for my brother and me.
We live 100 mile southwest of Mt Graham, just west of Tombstone. It is one of our favorite “short” getaway spots. Last time up at Riggs Lake, a bear was walking the banks looking for fish. My friend Matt has a Sprinter Sportsmobile, and has done the New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado BDRs with us. Seeing that thing follow me up Ophir Pass along with all the other passes on the route in Colorado was impressive. I was in my wrangler pulling my little trailer and his van did great.
I noticed your wheels on the Winnebago are airborne. Have you thought about completely removing the sway bar or is that not an option? Maybe a dumb question disclaimer.
Take your Jeep and check out Araiviapa canyon, Turkey creek and Rug Rd. You won't be disappointed. Then head north to the Gila Box country. Maybe throw in the Black Hills Byway. Just a few things to explore in this area.
This video demonstrates Chris' organized mind. He can bring up archival footage from years past to support segments of his videos as though he had them standing by for the opportunity..
My compliments. You do a really exceptional job, at not being boring. You seem to have a knack for knowing when to change directions. When to show scenery, when to camp. I am impressed! Even the van modifications videos were interesting.
Absolutely love Mt Graham! FYI....the High Bear Activity signs at Riggs Flat Lake are NO joke! While watching one black bear at 50 yrds down at waters edge, another showed up....they spooked each other. End result: im 7 feet from a full grown black bear...with nothing but a tree between us. I got lucky and saw him coming...he never knew i was there. Very cool developed campground at the lake too. Great episode Chris
In the summer, Mt. Graham and the Pinaleno Mountains are a cool paradise (in more ways than one) for offroad exploring . In the winter, nearby lower elevation areas such as Klondyke Rd. and Aravaipa Canyon await offroaders (haven't been there yet myself.) After a rainy winter/spring, the Peridot area has some of the finest desert blooms in Arizona. And it is said that the nearby Apache reservation offers recreational passes for the San Carlos Reservoir area, although the details are unknown to me.
The best you’ve done since moving to AZ…incredible campsites. Very jealous considering I can’t get there in my Promaster. Still, love my set up but look for sites where I’m not on top of my neighbors, enjoy privacy as much as I can get it.
"Dropping a pin" on a campsite that you didn't actually spend the night at is kinda like recommending a movie you didn't actually sit through. Oh I watched the trailer though so that's good enough. Definitely worth it to my Patreon supporters.
I'm so excited you went to Mt. Graham. It's one of my favorite places in the world, and we try to do a trip out there from Tucson every June. P.S. congrats on not razing that grilled cheese to charcoal 😂
Another excellent video, I have the Entegra Launch version of the Revel, and have experienced the same with the heat exchanger,--but all have been easy fixes. I love the tips/reviews, and vibe of all your videos. Also have a Jeep (old TJ) and converted 4x4 Econoline that I can't let go of, so it was great to hear you mention that as well. Safe travels and really enjoy your content.
Spectacular views of the valleys. Years ago I brought my son to the lake near the top of Mt Graham where we fished from kayaks. Great memories. Thanks for sharing.
Question: Do you carry a satellite emergency call thing with you when you hike alone. Seeing you in those rocks and thought if you fell and broke something you would be in serious trouble. Sorry I don’t know what those Garmin Incident things are called ?
Can always tell how rugged the adventure will be by Chris’ footwear … old school Chris, hiking shoes … new school Chris, lightweight Chuck Taylor’s … just an observation …
I enjoyed the video and the cheese sandwich also made an appearance 😀. But it also seems that your days of travelling all around the country like before are over.
Now that you have a house, isn't that van superfluous and a VERY expensive "exploration" 4x4? Wouldn't either of your 2 other vehicles be more capable and less expensive to explore with? I get it, it's comfortable but c'mon Chris isn't this getting a bit high society of you? Like this is how I imagine CEO's explore
I used to live in Southeastern Arizona. I like watching your videos on traveling in rural areas throughout the West and especially Arizona. However, I tuned into your channel to watch your travels in your Jeep to very rugged and rural areas and that seems to have been eliminated! Not sure why--don't know if Jeep is broke down or what?? Defender broke down or what? Watching Revel in this country does not cut it. Scrap that Revel video segment, and get back to the original / origin please--that's why we tuned in.
