This weekend we take an extra day off and decide to spend it in the White Mountains. The first night will be spent in a hotel in Pinetop-Lakeside while we hope that we can find a camping spot for the second night. First it is time to get in the mountains, it is quite hot already as evidenced by the cars catching fire on the roadside.
Recently there was a bear attack at a campground on the way and the entrance is now closed with a guard posted at the entrance. We wanted to stop to stretch our legs on the way but obviously we will have to wait a while basically until we get to the Rim.
Here we start exploring the area and finding caches and other interesting things. Like the helicopter drop spot in the middle of the forest and the baby bird nearby which seems surprised that we can see into the nest which is at eye level.
We now explore the part of the Rim which is south of the 260 highway, an area which is more rarely visited by us at least. And we even find a quite interesting sinkhole which has a cache nearby.
And then we continue slowly towards Pinetop stopping along the way to find caches and just enjoy the beautiful day. But as it is getting dark we have to say goodbye to the area and drive directly to the larger city.
We check in the hotel and then search for a place to eat. There is a good steakhouse nearby and that is what we choose for dinner. It is really good and then it is time to go to sleep as we still have a lot more to visit tomorrow.
