Time to get out and do some Scamping

[Adrian W]

Finally getting out I washed the egg, loaded the egg hauler, gassed up the Honda i2000, turned on the frig, added a few squarts of greese to the axle and filled the water tanks. Not only that but the wind is forecast to stop blowing. We will be off to check out the Datil Well Recreation Area Campground. We will spend a few days if we like it, or go find some place else to check out. I am in hopes of seeing some animals, birds and maybe some wildflowers.

This is the BLMs claim: Datil Well Recreation Area Campground includes one of 15 water wells along the old Magdalena Livestock Driveway. The old cattle trail was established in the 1800s and stretched 120 miles from Springerville, Arizona, to Magdalena, New Mexico. The area includes 3 miles of hiking trails in piñon-juniper and ponderosa pine woodlands, with scenic views of the San Augustin Plains. The trail and vistas also offer an occasional glimpse of wildlife in a setting of quiet and solitude. You can close your eyes and almost hear the sounds of the trailing longhorns. There are 22 individual campsites, all with picnic tables, barbeque grills and fire pits. Firewood is provided for campers. The 12 individual and group sites have shelters for shade. Restrooms and drinking water are available.

Quiet and solitude are always good.

AW

[dsheets70]

That sounds like fun Adrian. I think Ill check that out.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Adrian... Great pic's thanks for sharing them...Thats what I want to do when I'm 65. Paint landscapes and travel.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[BOBSMITH]

Where did you buy your bike carrier?

[Adrian W]

BOBSMITH, I got it at Harbor Freight. I modified it by cutting away some of the railing, and adding stop, tail and turn lights as well as bike tiedowns.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=92655

[Adrian W]

We had a great trip, Datil Well Campgound is really nice. We had a really good trip. It was somewhat cold at times, but today it was warming up again. We had rain all afternoon on Thursday the 15th of May. We had just started a walk when it started to sprinkle and thunder. We spend the rest of the day reading, napping, etc. in the egg with the Coleman Cat. Heater going (with a window opened a little and the vent also opened a little). It did not get down to freezing but in the lower to mid-30's. Daytime temp's in the 50s to 60s, depending on the day. There were more empty sites than filled ones. We enjoyed the rain, we had not seen any in about 6 to 8 months at home. Very dry. We did see a few birds, not a great many. Not one flower. Nor green grass. We saw and ID these birds: Western Blue Bird, Juniper Titmouse, Red-Shafted Flicker, Pinyon Jay, Audubon's Warbler, Bushtit, Broadtail Hummingbird, Chirping Sparrow, Western Scrub Jay and Mouring Dove (all at Datil Well Campround). We stopped at the VLA on our way home today and spotted Cassin's Kingbirds and Barn Swallows. Plus some others we could not get a good look at each place. We would go again and plan to do so sometime. They had free firewood but it was too dry to allow burning, no fires allowed. I am not sure what the Hummingbirds were eating, except from our feeder, not from flowers. The campground had very clean valt tolets, many water outlets around. A sign in the campground warned about bears, did not see any. And a sign on the trail warned about rattlesnakes and mountain lions which had been in the area, also no sign of either. I'll post some photos of the campground and of the VLA: