We arrived at Rolfe C. Hoyer Campground in the

Sitgreaves-Apache National Forest near Greer,

AZ, about 1:15 PM. The campground was virtually

deserted. We were surprised because Rainbow had gotten so busy s the weekend approached. But we weren’t complaining … we like sparsely populated campgrounds! Hoyer has several large loops that have reservable sites, and two smaller loops that are first come first served for a total of 91 sites. Reservations must be made four days in advance, so if a site is not reserved for the four next days, it is available for anyone who wants to take it. We drove through all the loops to decide where we wanted to pitch camp, and decided on a site that was at the far end of the campground in a reservable loop. It was situated on a bluff that overlooked a green meadow and highway 373 to Greer.

We were impressed with Hoyer Campground. The hosts were extremely friendly and helpful and available to answer questions and make our stay pleasant. When we selected our site, there were only two other occupants on the

                                    loop … a pop-up and a class-A. It was very quiet. Our

                                            site was located right across the road from a rest

                                              room and a few yards from a fresh water spigot.

                                                Perfect. The down side of it was that we had a

                                                terrible internet connection, and absolutely no cell

                                                service. If we held our mouths just right and

                                             winked three times we could get an Internet

                                                connection sometimes, but it almost immediately

                                                   got dropped. So our online time was seriously reduced during this leg of the trip. That was OK … we found other things to busyy ourselves with. We could have gone into Greer to use the WiFi connection at the library according to the camp host, but we didn’t really feel the need. Once in a while it’s healthy to not be wired. But it was odd, we thought, that we had a good connection at Big Lake which seems a bazillion miles from anything … but at Hoyer, technically closer to more densely populated areas, we didn’t have squat. Oh well. Who knows how these things work?

Hoyer Campground was renovated in 2009. All the roads and pads have been redone. We figured that the roads had been paved at one point, but during the renovation the road beds and pads were built up considerably to help with drainage, etc. Now the roads were new crushed stone (not gravel) and there was a minimum of dust. Some of the sites had tables and fire rings up on the same level as the trailer pad, and some had them were off the pad, probably in their original locations. We chose a site with the fire ring and table at the same level as the trailer pad, allowing us to have the table and fire ring right at our “patio.”

We were set up by 2:00 PM … and our timing was perfect. We’d been watching clouds build up to the south all day, and we could smell the rain coming. We left the campground about 2:30 PM to do a quick drive by the Greer Lakes across the higway form the campground, and go into town to see what was shakin’ there and to get a lay of the land… Greer is a charming little mountain town with lots of private cabins, a few restaurants and antique stores … and several cabin resorts/lodges. Some of the cabins are actually large homes, so it’s kinda funny to call them “cabins.” It was a very pleasant place.

We returned to our campsite to relaxr. Shortly after we got back to the campsite, it began to rain … about 3:00 PM that afternoon … a good, steady rain that lasted about two hours. It really freshened up the air, cooled us

down to the 60s, made the pine smell wonderful, and left us

with a pleasant breeze. What little dust there had been in the

campground was no longer thanks to the rain! The monsoons

were on their way! In Tucson the rain of the monsoon season

usually starts around the first week of July … it seemed a little

early to have that kind of rainstorm, but we were not

complaining. It was great. As the temperatures chilled we

closed the windows in the Bambi … it was going to be a hot

chocolate kind of night. We put on jackets and got ready in anticipation of the cool evening air.

For dinner that night we finished off the kielbasa with mac and cheese and a spinach salad. If nothing else, we are well fed when we go camping! We completed the evening with a campfire and shut down about 9:30 PM and we were in bed by 11:00 PM … pretty early for us, even when camping.

Friday morning we were up by 9:30 AM, with the Girls walked and fed and the coffee brewed. It was overcast to the south so we expected that we’d have some more rain that day. We looked forward to that! In the early afternoon we decided to pack the Girls into the truck and drive to Eager and Springerville, AZ, 10 or 12 miles east on 260. They are sister towns on the main route through eastern Arizona near the NM border. We had gone through Eager on our way to Big Lake, turning south from Eager to go to Big Lake. This time we were coming to Eager from the west where Greer was. If you look at a road map you’ll see that we had driven a triangular route in this area … Eager to Big Lake on 261, then from Big Lake to 260 via 273…then 260 back eastward to Eager … triangle complete.

Eager and Springerville are inseparable … the only thing that tells you that you are leaving one and entering the other is a city limit sign. We stopped at the Western Drugs store in Springerville. It was quite the place … stocked with everything from beans to bacon to hairpins to halibut … and everything in between. It was one of those stores that you felt compelled to wonder through and discover things. We looked around but didn’t buy anything.

We drove through town in both directions on the main street, and then stopped in a Humane Society Thrift Shop to see if there was any “thrift” there that we needed. There wasn’t. It was pretty sad. One our way back out of town we stopped at the Safeway in town to buy a few grocery items … pork chops to grill for dinner and some of that “nice bread” they have at Safeway. (Every time we see a Safeway while on a trip we say, “There’s that place that has that there ‘nice bread!’” with a southern drawl. (And they do have nice bread!) They also had a Basha’s … these were the first large grocery chain stores we’d seen in 8 days. And then we stopped at a gas station in Eager to fill up the truck ($2.739 … not bad, considering). This was our second stop at that gas station in the last week … once on our way from Alpine to Big Lake, then again on this scouting side trip to Eager.

Just as we were finishing up the fill-up at the gas station it began to sprinkle … and on our way back to Greer it turned into a full-fledged rainstorm complete with lightning. We were glad that we’d thought ahead and prepared our campsite for rain since it looked threatening. We got back to the campground and hung out under the awning watching it rain in the cool breeze. It rained until about 5:30 PM … then cleared up to sunny skies again. We uncovered the woodpile and started a campfire … and by 6:30 we were having happy hour and getting ready for dinner … grilled pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy with mixed vegetables. Life is good.

                                        Late Friday afternoon we got neighbors … well at least

                                            one neighbor. A guy arrived with a truck pulling a

                                              utility trailer filled with camping gear … and six

                                                bikes. He began methodically selecting sites and

                                                setting up tents. One tent, two tents, and a third

                                                tent.  Then an easy-up room and an outdoor camp

                                            kitchen … a bag or two of wood, the six bikes and

                                               miscellaneous other gear. As it got later and darker

                                                he kept working, until he finally called it quits, started a fire and relaxed. We were trying to figure out what to expect. The site was relatively close to ours, especially their picnic table and fire ring which were literally feet from the back of the Bambi. He seemed nice enough, however, and said “hello,” so we thought we’d be good.

After dinner we sat around the campfire until about 8:30 PM then went inside to take care of the dishes and settle in for the night. Just as we were settling in for the night the rest of the party next door arrived … a woman, another guy and two teenage girls. The girls were a little boisterous that evening … probably the excitement of finally getting there. That’s understandable … and forgivable. We were in bed by 10:30 PM. They called it a night and went to their respective tents by 11:00 PM, so all was good.

We woke up early Saturday a little earlier than normal because the new neighbors were up early. Terry could smell the bacon they cooled for breakfast. It made him hungry!  But by the time we were really getting up they were heading out for a side trip. This was our last full day in the campground, but we had not paid for it yet, so after taking care of the Girls and having coffee Terry headed to the ranger station to pay that night’s rent.

Late morning we decided to take the Girls over to the Greer Lakes … a grouping of three small man-made lakes located just across the highway from the campground. We had driven by them briefly the day we arrived but it was overcast, so we decided to wait for better light to take pictures. And Saturday was a beautiful day … clear skies and fluffy clouds here and there. There’d be no rain that day! We drove to Tunnel Reservoir and took the Girls to the shore. Sadie waded in yet another Arizona lake up to her belly and sat down to cool

off … and Annie walked gingerly along the edge making sure not to get her

feet wet. (So strange.) They did enjoy the new smells and Sadie looked like she enjoyed drinking the cold water from the lake. The setting was quite pleasant … the lake had nice ramadas scattered around for picnickers and there was a boat launch. Several fishing boats were on the lake.

From there we drove to River Reservoir and Bunch Reservoir … both also

very pleasant and inviting and a main attraction to visitors and locals. Then

we visited Benny Creek Campground, about a half-mile north up the main road. Benny Creek is actually a group campground of two loops, but if the

loops are not reserved by groups individuals can rent them. It’s about a mile off the main paved road on a gravel road in a stand of pines just past the southern end of Bunch Reservoir. The sites are fairly level and nicely situated for group

                                      gatherings. The roads are dirt so it may get a bit muddy

                                            if it’s been raining. The host met us as we drove in

                                               … and we chatted a bit. We said we were staying

                                                at Hoyer Campground and wanted to check

                                                Benny Creek out … he tried to mess with our

                                                minds and told us that people staying in Hoyer

                                             weren’t allowed in his campground because they

                                                should be camping at Benny Creek instead of

                                                  Hoyer! But he couldn’t hold a straight face long enough to pull it off. He laughed and told us to look around and let him know if we had any questions. He was as friendly and accommodating as the hosts at Hoyer were. We like friendly hosts. (We’ve run across a few unfriendly ones and they can be a real downer.)

Back at the campsite, Greg made turkey, cheese and lettuce wraps for lunch and and we contemplated our next trip. (We didn’t come to a fast decision on where to go next.)  Saturday was a beautiful clear day … the warmest day we had at Hoyer … in the high 70s. While we had been out, our neighbors returned from their day trip. They were from Mesa, AZ. The group turned out to consist of a man, his wife, their two daughters and the wife’s brother. We chatted for a while. They kept apologizing for the loud teenage girls, but they really weren’t that bad ... just being kids. For dinner we had grilled burgers and finished off the mac and cheese and enjoyed the campfire for the last time on this trip.

Before turning in we took the Girls for their last walk of the evening, and did a few chores in preparation for our departure the next day before settling in for the night.

Sunday morning we needed to leave by 10:00 AM in order to get home to Tucson by late afternoon. We anticipated it being about a 6-hour trip. We were up about 8:30 AM, walked and fed the Girls and immediately began packing up for the trip home. There were clouds in the southern skies so there would be rain again in the mountains that day. While Greg prepared the interior of the trailer, Terry tore down camp and packed the truck. He also filled the fresh water tank with water from the water jug so that we’d have water on the way home if we needed it. We left the park about 10:00 AM, right on schedule. There was no functioning dump station at Hoyer, so we would have to do that at home.

We drove south of 373 from the campground to Highway 260 to head west. Just after we went through McNary, AZ on Highway 260, we turned south on Highway 73 that took us south through the White Mountain Apache Reservation to White River, and on west. It was a pleasant drive on a 2-lane road that meandered though beautiful pine forests, eventually giving way to a more arid lower area spotted with piñon pine and scrub oak to pick up Highway 60 south of  Show Low. From the intersection of 73 and 260 we drove south through the Salt River Canyon and Globe. At Globe we drove west of Highway 60 through town, gassed up on the west end of town and continued on through Miami and Superior, AZ, to the Florence junction, taking highway 79 south through Florence and on to Tucson … a route we’ve taken many, many times.

West of Superior we stopped at a campground we’d passed many time and wondered about … Oak Flat Campground in the Tonto National Forest, about 1/4 mile south of Highway 60 in Devil’s Canyon. It’s off a poorly maintained and rough paved mine road. The campground has dirt

roads, vault toilets, but no host and no water available. When

we were there, in the driest and hottest time of the year, it was

very dry and dusty. Campsites are set along a dry creek. It

might be more pleasant after a light rain or when there is

water in the creek … it would not have been as unappealing

if there was packed soil but it was powdery silt-like dust …

the kind that gets everywhere when you camp in it. We know … we’ve camped in that sort of environment before. The dust is pervasive. We let the Girls pee and sniff, and they kicked up a dust trail as the trotted along in the hot dust. Annie was not amused … she just wanted to pee and get back into the truck! There were a few campers there. One was a run-down old trailer towed by a beat up old truck … it looked like they had been there for a while, just staying there because it is free and they were “living” there on the cheap. Then there was a biker type who gave us the once-over as we drove by. Frankly we got an uneasy vibe. We were not sure we’d really want to stay there … because even though it’s relatively close to the highway, it feels far off the beaten path. It might be OK at another time of the year and if we were with a group (as in “safety in numbers”), but by ourselves … we didn’t think so. But now we know. No more wondering what it’s like, and certainly worth the 20 minutes it took us to check it out.

If you look at a map and trace our travels on this trip, you’ll see that we made a huge “circle” on this trip, heading east in SoAZ on I-10 to Route 191 and Safford … to Mule Creek, NM, up the border of AZ/NM to Alpine, then hitting Big Lake and Greer in the eastern White Mountain areas, then heading southwest through the White Mountain Apache Reservation, on through Globe, Miami and Superior before cutting south to Tucson on 79 through Florence. We saw a lot of new territory this trip, which is great. It’s always nice to see new places, new terrain and new roads. It helps us piece together and connect the various places we’ve traveled at different times.

We arrived home at 4:00 PM almost on the dot. When we have to dump the tanks at home, we have to back into the driveway at an angle so we can reach the clean out for the sewer, then once we have dumped we have to pull the

                                 Bambi out again and back it into the “Bambi-port.” And

                                     was it hot! We had come from a cool mountain air

                                        morning down into the desert to106 degrees. Although

                                         this is not unusual for Tucson, it was certainly a shock

                                          to our systems. We sweated like pigs as we dumped

                                         the tanks, unpacked the Bambi and then the truck. By

                                        the time we were done, we were exhausted and ready

                                        for a nice long shower!

                                            Enjoy the pictures of the Hoyer Campground leg of our trip below by clicking on the “Slide Show” icon below. You can also go back to the Alpine or Big Lake legs of the trip by clicking on those buttons. At the end of the pictures section you can click on “Other Trips” to return to the trips page and access any of our previous trips.

Enjoy! Stay cool, and we’ll see you down the road for our next adventure!