Tent camping time is near in the high country of Arizona. My friends will be heading up near Flagstaff for the Memorial Day weekend. Heck, they’ll even take an extra day off to enjoy the days after the crowds leave. Nothing like empty woods to really enjoy camping.

To get up in the tall, tall Ponderosa Pines, hear the cawing of crows and have elk tramp through your camp in the early, dewy morning, that is living. Then you hear the grouse ruffing up their feathers sounding like a chain saw trying to be started. Throw some cowboy coffee on the campfire while everyone else is comfy in sleeping bags and having the dawn between me and nature is almost sinful.

The hike will be up the San Francisco Peaks getting up to about 11000 feet above sea level at Fremont Saddle. Fremont Peak is the most accessible of the four peaks and one of the least visited. Humphrey’s Peak is the highest spot in Arizona and a shorter, steeper trail which I believe gets the greatest traffic. The second highest Peak is Agassiz, but it is illegal to climb without snow-pack. Fremont has a great view into the crater and out toward flagstaff and the meteor crate and on to the East.

There is still plenty of camping in campgrounds and off the roads in the area. It is your choice as to having restrooms and running water in campgrounds. (Note: there are usually restrictions from late May until Monsoon Season on fires outside campgrounds with fire rings.)

Arizona is blessed with variety and beauty. Happy camping.