Strayhorse Campground on US 191 south of Alpine AZ
Dawn at Strayhorse Campground, March 29, 2008
Camping along US 191
In addition to the informal camping along US 191 south of Alpine, Arizona there is Strayhorse Campground in the Sitgreaves National Forest. This is a nice little primitive campground at a major trailhead on a saddle about 26 miles south of Alpine AZ, the first wide spot in the road south of Blue Vista overlook.
Mexican Gray Wolves now live here
When I visited the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park in Carlsbad NM I seem to remember signage saying their magnificent Mexican gray wolves were among the few surviving members of the species and that all were in captivity. I'm delighted to find that is not the case. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has an active Mexican Wolf Recovery Program. It is so exciting to think they are being re-introduced into the wild. I wish them well.
Blue Vista overlook
Yikes! About 20 miles south of Alpine AZ US 191 comes right to the edge of the Mogollon Rim where, if you've got the guts, there's a narrow road out around the point to a small parking lot right on the edge of the rim to take in the view before dropping down off the rim. I'm sorry I didn't attempt it but I didn't see any good way to get a picture or two of the layer upon layer of hazy blue hills far far below. That's Blue Vista above the stop sign in the picture.
Gas up before leaving Alpine
I didn't and that little lapse in judgement kept me on edge all the way down to Clifton. I'm not sure how far it is but I'm going to guess 90 miles. Oh, and leave the big rig home - there's a sign posted to the effect that no trucks over 40 feet are allowed, the road is not plowed nights and weekends or during storms and the road is not patrolled.
- This is a primitive campground with no water or electric hookups at the sites and no dump station.
- Verizon cell phone and Broadband service are probably not available here - I don't remember.
- Sitgreaves National Forest|Get Sitgreaves National Forest camping info
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- List the nights I've camped here
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Nights I've camped here
Writing From the Inside Out
A young writer, if he is unknown, can be at a party and watch what everyone is doing. If he has a marveluos ear for dialog, he can wake up the next morning and remember all that was said and how it was said. He is a bird on a branch. Sees like a bird and writes books that are extraordinarily well observed. But once he is successful, especially if that happens quickly, it's as if the bird were now an emu. It cannot fly. It grows haunches and foreshoulders and a mane: lo and behold, it is a lion. And everyone is looking at the lion, including the birds. But it is a lion with the heart of a bird and the mind of a bird. So there is a terrible period when the transmogrified emu is trying to live like a lion and has little talent for it. Then the beast begins to experiment. When it runs, it now sees other animals scamper. It takes a while - often years - for the writer to get to appreaciate his effect on others, and even longer to begin to understand human beings again. In the old days, he could write about friends, enemies, and strangers by intuition, by induction; now he puts it together by deduction. Of course, he does have more material on which to work his deductions.