Hello and Welcome to part 2 of Camping on Memorial Day Weekend, 2020! Thank you for accepting my decision to postpone my post a day for this week. I felt it necessary to give the stage of social media to the Black Lives Matter Movement. I support the cause and urge you to take action in some way, whether it be signing a petition, educating yourself on the movement, donating to applicable causes, protesting, etc. Below is a photo of actionable things you can do.
Now here’s this weeks post! If you haven’t already, go back one article using the arrows below this post to read part 1 of this misadventure. Also if you haven’t already, and would like to follow the New Zealand adventure, go back 3 posts and read the first few weeks of our adventure that will be returned to in next week’s post. Now back to the Memorial Day Weekend misadventure. During part 2 I will be covering: what the site actually was with the mysterious sign that read “Warning, Danger, Authorized Personnel Only”, our sleeping conundrum, a past injury flare up, and an interesting turn in events.
We left off last week with me having decided that my need for exploration and answers outweighed the unreasonable fear of a security team arresting me for going where I’m not suppose to go- Jay did not accompany me on this exploration. All of this occurred very quickly, and because of this and the fact that I had just plugged my phone into my portable solar charger (graciously gifted to me by Jay’s mother), I sadly did not bring my phone to take a photo of what this mysterious site was. As I walked up the road to this site, a few ideas floated through my mind: could it be a four-wheeler or off-road-bike track? That could be dangerous, or was it a dump? It didn’t smell bad camping next to it though, so was it a logging site or some resource extraction site?
On the walk up to the site there were large rocks lining the road- this was my first clue. After the clue I had a fair idea of what it was. I got to the top of the road and saw large, unexciting, piles of gravel. It most likely was a quarry. There were also a few clearings, but they may have only removed trees to access the resource. It ended up not being as thrilling or exhilarating. The most exhilarating moment though was when I was walking back down to our campsite. I heard a four wheeler zipping up the road and of course my first thought was that someone was coming to tell me to get out of there. It ended up being a couple that was just as curious as I was.
After making our dinner and hanging out reading, writing, and playing the uke, we got ready to go to sleep. Jay had gotten sick of sleeping in “the coffin” that is our bed frame and foam pads in the car and had set up his tent and sleeping pad. We are in the process of figuring out another budget friendly car camping set up which may include the purchase of an Exped Duo MegaMat and 3-Person backpacking tent. For now this is what we have and the coffin like sleeping quarters don’t bother me as much because I’m shorter and like the foam pads more than my sleeping pad. We settled into our beds and started to fall asleep. After trying to fall asleep for awhile, I realized that I was a bit chilled. I had checked the temperature and usually had been fine with a sheet, fleece, and minimal down comforter when it was 30 degrees out, but hadn’t factored in having no extra body heat next to me. At this point my shoulder and neck started bothering me and made it even harder to fall asleep.
Here is the background on my neck and shoulder injury. Over the past two years I’ve had a love hate relationship with long distance hiking and backpacking. This feeling comes from the urge but inability to adventure into places where cars, buildings, and civilization aren’t. The inability first came to light after it became more and more apparent that there was a weakness in my neck from a poor curve. The poor curve most likely came to be through lack of sleep, stressful work situations, and occasional poor posture. After the neck had seemed to strengthen from chiropractic work, I got hopeful that I could go back to doing outdoor activities. I made the mistake of going paddle boarding and pushed my self too hard. This activity tore my shoulder muscle causing my neck to flare up again occasionally whenever I overworked my self or didn’t get enough sleep.
Those that know me well and those who have gotten to know me over the past few years know that I’ve been very open about this. Although it is somewhat embarrassing that I let myself become so unable to do many of the things that make me most happy, I’ve found it to be a growing experience. It has really made me hone in my sleep schedule, appreciate my body more, and help me create a balance in my everyday life with work, exercise, relaxation, and sleep. I felt that it was important to share this part of my life on this blog because although this injury comes with a lot of stress, fear, pain, and weight gain, looking back on all the wonderful adventures I’ve been on motivates me to push pass all the hard moments and look to the future with hope. I am incredibly grateful for the experiences I’ve had and hope to have more in the future. Now back to the misadventure!
Once my neck and shoulder started hurting more (side note, I take CBD and do physical therapy exercises daily to combat the pain) I knew I needed to do something to make my self fall asleep quickly so that the next day I wasn’t in severe pain. I had already tried putting more layers on but was too restricted to fall asleep. As I was brainstorming on what to do, Jay came crawling back into the car. His sleeping pad wouldn’t hold any air but had no apparent outer hole. For a little while he tried to sleep in the car but could not get comfortable since he has to sleep diagonally. Before he returned to his tent he graciously put the heat on in the car for me. I was trying my hardest to avoid doing this because I hate to produce excess exhaust but was grateful because within 15 minutes of turning the heat off, I fell asleep.
The next morning we were both still cranky about our sleeping and camping situation and after debating it, we decided to pack up and go home. We guessed that if the camping sites around the area were that busy, the hiking spot near Blue Ridge Reservoir would be just as busy. We also were just kind of fed up with the weekend and just wanted it to end. The next day we were well rested and ready to put the last two days behind us. I really didn’t want to mess up the entirety of the weekend and this time did quite a bit of research and found a nice hike practically in our backyard. All three images below are owned by Sarah Marsh.
The Tunnel Springs trailhead is right next to a small neighborhood on the east side of Flagstaff. It’s known for walking and biking and first makes it’s way under the railroad tracks and then up the side of the Observatory Mesa. The trail is maintained very well and is not too heavily trafficked by walkers and bikers. Once up in elevation a bit you’re able to look out over a forested area of Flagstaff. The trail itself is 2 miles and dead ends at an intersection where you can continue for another 10 miles or so to do a large loop or end on different sides of the mesa. The whole area is covered in trails designated as part of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) and Observatory Mesa Natural Area.
The highlights of the hike had to have been the view of Flagstaff and the train going by a few times during the lower half of the hike. It is also still new to me to see man made piles of underbrush in the woods. Back east there is not nearly as high of a fire danger and so cleaning the underbrush and making piles is not nearly as common. Fire season is at its peak during this time of year and is taken very seriously because of the dry climate and the fires ability to spread. Because of this it is very important to dispose of cigarette butts properly, clear underbrush on private property, and to not have campfires. Be responsible so that the areas you appreciate don’t get burnt down!
At the end of the day this hike was just what we needed to forget about the events of the weekend and end on a positive note. There are so many urban trails throughout Flagstaff that we still need to explore and it makes me so grateful to live in a city that has these trails, especially during this pandemic.
Thank you for reading about our misadventure and I hope that you take these lessons away from this story: Research the area you plan to camp in thoroughly and have a backup plan, always bring extra blankets if you can, if you do end up in a crappy situation and can’t do to much about it still try to make the best of it, and know that things turn around eventually!
Stay tuned for next week’s post where the New Zealand adventure continues with our adventures in the Hawkes Bay and Wellington Regions. Story includes a campsite filled with shit, wine tasting, almost being blown off a mountain, and our journey across the cook strait to the South Island!
Now for a question for you all! What questions do you have, if any, about our New Zealand adventure set up, budgeting, trip planning, etc.? Are there other questions you have about New Zealand or about camping in Flagstaff? Please comment below! See you next week.
Mahalo and Kia Ora!
Peace Wellness Resource 