Stoneman Lake - May 2020
The first weekend in May our little family grew by one and we added a German Shorthaired Pointer to the mix! We picked up our baby girl, Gaia, and brought her home and have been LOVING all the time we have gotten with her with everything that is going on in the world (silverlinings people, find em). We knew we wanted to take her camping early to get her used to it as soon as possible so we decided it was time to finally take her out. We decided to go to Stoneman Lake since we know the area well and know that there are plenty of spots with wide open space for the pups to run and play. Oh and forest camping is essential as Phoenix is 100 degrees and we want to avoid rattlesnakes at all costs.
So we packed our bags Friday night and got up Saturday to head out. This whole having a puppy thing really keeps us on schedule as she wakes up at the crack of dawn and is instantly ready to play. We invited my dad to come along as well since we have owed him a camping trip since his birthday in February! He has surprisingly never gone out with us so it was exciting that he was able to come along. Since it was going to be the 3 of us and 2 dogs we decided to load up the 4Runner and the Blue Cow to give everyone enough room to be comfortable on the journey. Plus I was excited to take my 4Runner out in some sort of dirt that was on the easy side. Gaia only threw up once on the way there, which I guess is progress. She got car sick a lot when we picked her up and we are hoping she grows out of it. Fingers crossed, because if not we are going to be dealing with a lot of puppy puke in our lives.
We got to Stoneman and searched for a camping spot. Man does this place get packed this time of year! We didn’t camp in our OG spot because there isn’t as much room to spread out. We had been in this area in winter time, but not surprisingly it was empty back then. We found our spot that was a good distance from others and set up camp. It was a beautiful day with a sunny breeze and we enjoyed every second of it. The camp site has ample tree coverage so we didn’t need to set up a pop up or anything. There were nice fire rings set up at the campsite but unfortunately there is a fire ban so we couldn’t use them. Overall this site is a great place to get away for the weekend and enjoy some time in the wilderness. A high clearance vehicle is recommended, but you could definitely get there without one. It's a great spot for large groups as there's tons of room to spread out!
We played pass the pigs and corn hole, and Casey won them all. Well I won pass the pigs once, but Casey won every.single.round of corn hole. Annoying huh? We started dinner early and made bbq chicken and pineapple pizzas and WOW was it amazing. This dinner is surprisingly so easy to make and will definitely be one of our new go-tos. We cleaned up dinner and sat around talking and laughing until the temperature dropped and we were ready for bed. The dogs did great and Gaia is a natural in the wilderness. The wind died down at night and some of our neighbors were quite noisy, but that’s to be expected I guess when you go to these popular areas.
We woke up the next morning and made some breakfast pizzas which were also delicious. I am officially a firm believer that every meal should be consumed in pizza form. We packed up the truck and 4Runner and headed out to explore some of Stoneman lake. We went to the actual lake and took a walk around the area. It was way more full than we had ever seen it before! We then packed up and headed to the T Bar Ranch Homestead. It's such a neat area to check out if you have the chance. Definitely worth the drive. After some exploration we headed back home. It was a lot of fun to finally take the 4Runner out and get her a little dirty!
Camping at Stoneman Lake always has so many perks. The weather is beautiful all summer long, it is easy to get to, there is tons of space, and any vehicle can get there. If you are OK dealing with crowds then I believe this location should be on every amateur campers list of places to go in Arizona.
