Fossil Creek Labor day weekend

Well three friends and I loaded up the T for the weekend and headed to fossil creek. It was interesting to say the least. Between bobcats rattlesnakes and a swarm of bees mother nature gave us an unforgettable weekend. Over all the trip was fun and a great way to spend our weekend. More detailed story of the trip with more pictures soon to follow but for now heres a picture of the T earlier today

Pictures follow the story. Sorry no pictures from the first night too dark
So the trip started later than originally anticipated as meetings for my friend and I ran late and we didnt hit the road until nearly seven. By the time we reached Camp Verde it was completely dark so flipped on the aux lights and headed off the pavement. The drive to where we planned to camp takes between an hour to two depending on the speed and bumps you are willing to endure. We took closer to two since it was dark and the ARB had already endured a deer strike. The drive was relatively uneventful with the occasional javelina trotting across the road. Arriving at camp there was a jeep with a few people camped out not too far from our spot so we greeted the neighbors (very drunk neighbors) and began setting up the tents. We came down to fossil creek to visit the Verde Hot springs which is about a mile walk from where we parked. Given that there were four of us we decided that it would be relatively safe to hike the route to the springs and spend an hour or so there before heading to bed. Nature had other plans as we would soon find out. 90% into the hike we started down a steep hill to cross a dried up area of a creek bed. We stopped mid descent as we watched the bushes bending and cracking as something (large) moved towards us. Hoping it could be another camper we called out repeatedly to only see an increase in pace. Whatever it was it was moving faster than a human could over the large boulders covering the area. We quickly made sure our k-bars were in easy reach and started walking (swiftly haha) back towards camp constantly checking around us for any sign of movement. As we hurried back we were a little too attentive to what could be lurking around us instead of where we were walking. It wasnt long before every member of our group stopped dead in their tracks to the sound of a rattle. In the center of the trail was a rattle snake with its eyes focused right on us. The trail was only the width of a person with a river on one side and large rocks on the other. We didnt want to turn back at this point as we didnt know what was waiting for us if we did. Continue it was. We slowly climbed the rocks on the side of the trail keeping our eyes on the snake as one by one we slipped by. By the time we returned to camp the entire group was ready to just sit by the fire and relax. I enjoyed a hot dog or two then headed to bed (thankful to be sleeping in that roof tent). I was so tired I failed to hear the neighbors bring the party to the waters edge (aka our campsite).

When I awoke the next morning I was greeted by a campsite covered in red cups and beer cans. This really wasnt a big deal and I was just about to crawl out of the tent when I heard the buzzing. Apparently whatever was in the red cups had been sweet. Outside covering EVERYTHING were bees. Hundreds of them. Hard to tell in video how many there were but you can see them in the cups
http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm42/GTO4628/?action=view&current=1e3c9605.mp4
Brendan ( a braver man than I ) Crawled out of his tent covered in a jacket and sun glasses with his hands inside the sleeves. He slowly walked towards the cups and picked them up while bees covered him! He set them down away from camp and returned without a single sting. There were still plenty around however so we drove the truck tent up and all about a hundred yards away to pack up camp. Thus began the rest of our day which picked up considerably.

The verde hot springs are sometimes known for having nudists present and on the way out I couldnt help but snap a picture of my favorite sign

The drive from our camp site to the cool clean waters of fossil creek was absolutely gorgeous. No more problems with mother nature and a nice peaceful drive all the way.






Spotted this off one of the roads. As fun as the places are if you do not respect them you'll soon learn how wrong you were

Although a nice place to visit the water falls and cliffs are RIDICULOUSLY busy. We tend to avoid them in favor of some cool gentle flowing water and seclusion. We found a great area this trip with a nice sandy beach on one side. There was a rope (shoe strings tied together) swing hanging on a tree which I attempted to use. Of course it snapped much to my friends entertainment but I soon returned with a tow strap which became a hi light of the trip as well as falling asleep next to the gorgeous water.




We concluded our day with some AWESOME burritos from a small hole in the wall place in Prescott AZ.

That is some crystal clear water, looks like a fun place to visit. Your roof top tent set up is awesome.

Looks like a really cool place and except for neighbors and their bees sounds like a blast.

I'm jealous of your weekend! Looks like fun.

Man, me too. Looks like a fun trip.

Damn that looks awesome!

Ya its an awesome place to go and there is so much area to explore. Im sure there are even better areas I havent found yet. I was telling Luis there is an awesome run near here out to some little known indian ruins. The drive takes a few hours and isnt extremely technical but its a great area to camp and explore. You can even catch a trail off it to jerome according to my topo maps.