I had been wanting to visit Mount Graham for quite some time. I finally ventured out with my friend Jo and our daughters for a girls camping trip. We met in Tucson where we picked up Jo and Rubi. We drove for many reasons. We drove in search of higher altitudes and cooler weather. We drove for beautiful surroundings and to breathe crisp cool mountain air. We drove to connect with nature. A fun place to stop just before you turn on the Swift Trail is a market. Be sure to stop and pick up an Eegee’s before heading up the mountain. This was a nice reprieve from the Arizona June heat.
We turned left and headed up the Swift Trail toward the Devil’s Highway, otherwise known as Highway 262. This is a winding mountain road with beautiful views. With every corner we watched as the habitat changed. We were elated once we encountered pine trees. That meant elevation and we knew we would find what we came for.
Mt. Graham offers so many camping options. Each with its own uniqueness, from lower elevations, to mid-mountain sites, to upper elevations and a lakeside campground at Riggs Flat Lake. We opted for Riggs Flat Lake which is up the mountain and down in a valley. Once we arrived we drove through and found our spot with a lakeside view. We set up camp and went exploring. We reveled in the mountain pine air and cool temperatures. When the sun set we were blessed with colors from an artist’s pallet.
On day two we walked to the edge of the world-the campground-and took in the views from over 9,000 feet up. When we returned to camp we were delighted by a surprise visitor. Maya heard some rustling in the trees just feet in from of our campsite. Maya could not believe she was seeing a bear cub frolicking through the forest. We were, of course, very cautious and looked earnestly for it's mother, who we never saw. Maya grabbed my camera and captured some sweet moments of the cub before he ran off. We were careful to not get too close and to back off so he could go on about his business. We also checked in with our our awesome camp host, Jan, who alerted those in the area.
Later that day we relaxed in our hammocks and soaked up all the mountain offered us. We watched the clouds roll in and by midday we were lucky to get rain. We didn’t mind. We were coming form the desert where we had not received rain in over 112 days. (Or something close-we lost count). We napped in the mountain’s embrace.
Our mountain explorations took us to Big Rock and Grant Creek. We drove to the Soldier Creek campground, where we heard about a cave in the area and we were lucky to encounter a fellow camper who gave us an idea of where we would find the cave. We took the Grant Creek trail and ventured out. We hiked the trail for about a mile to the edge of the forest, which offered us yet more incredible vistas to behold. We decided to turn back as we felt we had passed the cave. This part of Mt. Graham had been tragically burned in the 2017 Frye Fire, which burned over 48,000 acres of forest from a lightning strike. We felt as if we were in an other than worldy place. From beautiful aspen blooms to fallen charred trees, we crisscrossed our way through the mountainside. We noticed boulders in pockets of the forest and figured the cave had to be near. Jo was steadfast and her cave hunting skills paid off. Sure enough, Jo found the cave. We explored the cave and felt we had accomplished our goal. We explored more of Mt. Graham and visited the dispersed camping sites at Cumberland campground, which are over 10,000 elevation on the edge of the mountain. These sites offer horse camping as well.
Mt. Graham gave us everything we hoped for, and more. We are so grateful for our special mother/daughter adventures and feel re-energized by the mountain. Hitting a storm on the way home was a great way to return to the dry desert.
