I made a snowman by the Flag Airport on Friday. A couple of inches even there. So nice to see all the white on the Peaks for sure! No snow at Marble Canyon, but the rain and clouds were amazing!

Anyone ready for a party? While #10 and #11 were not back to back years, (5 year gap actually, due to life and age getting in the way), I'm back now with pretty new knees and I can still plan, bake and hike! Just not all at the same time! January 1, 2026! Save the date! 9:30 a.m. Save the time! Blac...

The people renaming all these species have no life at the moment. The days of recognizing people for their achievements/finds/contributions are over.

Gray skies and incredible low clouds since Tuesday at Marble.Canyon and Page. Rain has been mostly intermittent with no real gully washers until one last night. While the washes have some running water, nothing was flashing except probably a bigger chance last night as the rain was definitely much h...

Thanks everybody. Ended up with the La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II GTX. I have never been disappointed with this brand and even though they were spendy, they will probably last me the rest of my outdoor life since they won't be worn that much. I would have.considered the Salomons, but I've never been a...

@Vashti
After living in MN for 14 years, I made it my life's goal to never go anywhere where I have to deal with massive snow ever again.

Recommendations for some waterproof hiking shoes/boots. Been out of touch for shoes for awhile. I really don't like waterproof, thus I no longer own a pair, but it looks like I may be encountering snow for the second time in a month and would at least like to be able to dink around or do small hikes...

Figures. I have friends flying in from MN next Tuesday and I'm taking them up to Marble.Canyon. My guess is that Waterholes Canyon will be cancelled on Wednesday. The annual Thanksgiving storm just couldn't wait until Thanksgiving week. But we need this so, it is what it is. That's what I get for pl...

I think that over time, not having an insole could potentially wreck your feet. While it may seem fine for the short term, your feet may slowly, subtly, change due to no support and it probably will not be for the better. And lack of support in the feet doesn't just wreak havok on the feet. Ankles, ...

Currently in Idyllwild and the San Jacintos in California. Oaks are nearing eye popping status but some are still green. In other news, as of October 17th, the Black Oaks aroumd Big Bear and Green Valley Lake are a site to behold and probably will be for another week or so. Snow at the highest eleva...

Quite a bit of rain in Show Low in the last 16 hours, but haven't heard if any significant flooding here. Will be trying to get to Phoenix on Monday.

Update on White Mountain Colors. The young kids will make the landscape pop from miles away while the grownups continue to take their sweet time getting dressed. With that said, a lot of adults are in prime time along the road on FR 117. And also along the highways. Big Lake is impressive. But the e...

@RedRoxx44
It's a trend for the last couple of years except it's now moving even later. Another couple of years and the monsoons will be September thru November.

For those that want to do color updates on the fly. On a camping spree these days. All I have is my phone and not always hiking or have service, so very difficult to post triplogs and can't do photos hardly, so I will give brief updates on colors. Currently in the White Mountains. In the Greer Area/...

Been some pretty exciting driving this week. Spent Sunday night (9/21) at Bartlett Lake. Woke up to really gray skies that were getting ominously blacker by the minute. Decided it was time to leave and although it had rained a bit overnight, it wasn't raining at the Horseshoe turnoff when I got ther...

Replaced my stock Michelins with KO3s in April on my truck. The Michelins were fine for the time I had them because I wasn't doing much, but now that I'm back in a 4x4 and am doing a LOT, I wanted that good ply, especially for the sidewalls. So far, so good. My truck didn't come with an Off-Road pac...

All we can hope.for now is the return of what used to be normal winter storms around Thanksgiving and New Year's that bring snowpack to the mountains and significant precipitation to the deserts. Something that didn't happen at all last year.

@speedgoat I'd like to know what CatSP considers overnight. I showed up there at 6pm a month ago for an.overnight and they charged me 50 bucks. Wasn't even there 12 hours.

I worked at The Sportsman on 7th Ave/Camelback for a couple of years in the early 80's. Guns, Fishing, Archery and some general camping stuff. It had been around for about a decade and when I was there, it was competing with Yellow Fronts, Popular and some other small retailers. Then Sportsman's War...

Last seen bobbing out to sea.

In other news, the forecast for the Mogollon Rim is still accurate. Currently sitting in the camper reading The Emerald Mile while nature waters the plants and feeds the starving lakes.