Ashurst Lake Family Camp

Ashurst Lake with the San Francisco Peaks in the background

 Another successful camping trip in the books. After my last camping debacle, I wanted to go somewhere a little more off the grid. Away from RV's and camp hosts. Ashurst Lake fit the bill. The last time I was there, Jim and I had the place practically all to ourselves. The only concern I had was the weather report called for heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms. Not that I don't like rain, I do, but our current family tent is a giant piece of crap, and I just knew that if I brought it we would all end up soaked. So I borrowed an REI Kingdom 6 from work. Sure enough, an hour after we arrived the clouds burst and and we were totally dumped on. The hard rain lasted maybe two hours, but I was happy to see inside the tent was completely dry. That is the benefit of having a nice rainfly that covers the entire tent and stakes into the ground. It's a feature lacking on a lot of family tents out there, especially for the budget minded shopper. I've seen a lot of leaky tents and busted tentpoles in my day.

REI Kingdom 6 in the wind

 The rain was great. It's been too long since I've been in a proper downpour. I actually dusted off my rain paints for the first time in probably 3 or 4 years. Fire starting proved a bit tricky, as I had to resort to using a lighter to get it going. But it was all good. That's what I love about rain. It adds an extra level of excitement to everything. In the end everyone had fun. The kids were great, including Maggie and Jim's little ones, and the lake was beautiful. The only drawback with Ashurst is that there isn't really any good beaches for a family outing. But that seems to be a common theme in Arizona. Down here a good lake is a dime a dozen, and a good beach is ever more rare.

Ashurst Lake

Ashurst Lake

Jimbo

Another fantastic trip in the books. We were supposed to go to Lower Lake Mary outside of Flagstaff, but when we arrived the "lake" more closely resembled a pond. I guess that's what 5 years of drought will do to a body of water. A shopkeeper at a general store near the lake recommended Ashurst. He told us that someone had recently caught a giant Northern Pike on powerbait there. Jim and I were pretty pumped about the prospect of catching pike, as neither of us had ever caught one before. Ashurst Lake we found out, was a total gem. Beautifully located on top of Anderson Mesa, the lake is surrounded by trees and offers great view of the San Francisco Mountains. The best part about Ashurst Lake is that there wasn't anyone else there. We camped all alone, and except for the sound of someone's generator off in the distance, didn't hear another human being.

I see you.

The fishing wasn't bad either. We caught a ton of rainbows between us both, with Jim catching the lion's share. These Arizona trout sure love powerbait. It's funny how different trout fishing is down here versus up north in Eastern Washington. Up there, I always used lures. Down here, I cant catch squat on lures. Powerbait is king. Maybe it's because they're mostly farm raised down here. This trip they seemed to like the green powerbait, which we fished off the bottom. This seems to work best for catching trout both on Ashurst and the Mogollon Rim lakes. A little trick Jim learned from a guy working the outdoors counter at Walmart. Didn't catch any pike though, but we didn't care. I did see a snake. It was only the third snake I've seen in Arizona. I still haven't seen a rattlesnake (or a scorpion for that matter). We also saw an Elk driving back to camp from the water. I thought I saw a bear, but now I wonder if it was just a dog. I only caught it out of the corner of my eye running across the road.

The man on the silver mountain

Overall it was a fun but brief trip. Overnighters are just enough to tease me it seems like. I have a big trip coming up to Fool's Hollow Lake in another week, but I hurt my back at work so now I'm afraid I can't go. I'm really hoping this injury is not very serious. I hate getting hurt. Sorry about the short blog. Between school and work my blog time has taken a serious hit. I do have a couple reviews on the horizon though, and I might talk my friend Jimbo into reviewing some of his gear for me. So stay tuned.