Paradise comes from happy hounds, good pizza and camping in Arizona—not necessarily all at once.
The hounds and the camping make a magnificent mix, but you’d be hard-pressed to get the crust of a DiGiorno frozen pizza to properly rise on a campsite grill. And to make sure the hounds-and-camping mix stays more like paradise than hell, make sure your planning consists of more than simply grabbing a tent and heading for the hills.
You should at least bring some water. Lots of water. It’s amazing how much water it takes to wash your hands, wash your face, brush your teeth, boil rice, hydrate two big dogs and have a sip or two left over for yourself.
Bring plenty of food. This includes dog food. For future reference, please note that the only dog food for sale anywhere near Roosevelt Lake consisted of three cans (count them) at the marina, or your choice of Old Roy or Purina several miles from the campsite.
Other amenities depend on how much or how little you feel like truly roughing it. Those who want the really rough can go as far as forgetting about luxury items, such as toilet paper. Those who like a bit of comfort in their lives will want to include fluffy sleeping bags, air mattresses and pillows—and dog treats to lure the dogs off the air mattresses and pillows.
Comfort items are especially important, so that you don’t end up being cranky, which can lead to becoming rude and obnoxious and starting fights with your significant other. Crankiness can also result in a devil-may-care attitude that makes you forget the rules of camping etiquette. There are several.
Stealing the portable chairs someone left by the lake is a no-no, as is blasting AC/DC in the middle of the night. Riding your bicycle into other people’s campsites with a large golden retriever in tow is typically frowned upon. This counts double if your only apparent purpose is to tell those campers that their garbage is going to “blow to hell and back” unless they take some of the garbage bags you are offering.
Bring garbage bags.
The biggest etiquette breach of all, however, comes from those god-awful noisemakers called generators. These beastly items are for the truly clueless, who think camping means driving a 90-foot RV to an out-of-town site where you can shut the curtains, crank up the air conditioning and sit in comfort while you drink beer and watch baseball.
While all of that is fine and dandy—for a sports bar—it kind of kills the point of camping. It disturbs other campers who would have surely hurled rocks at the generator, the RV or the people inside had it not been a night with a blazing super moon.
Generators are not the only dangers you should be aware of while camping in Arizona. Rattlesnakes are going to be part of the scene, and just like bicycling man with the golden retriever, they will slither into your space uninvited.
Bring a shovel.
Shovels can be used to smash rattlesnake skulls, scoop dirt to extinguish your campfire and help set up your little home away from home, otherwise known as your campsite. Setting up your site is an art in itself, with a number of rituals that can help ensure you have a safe and comfortable stay.
The safety comes through clearing your site of rocks, large sticks and other debris that can pierce your foot or poke a hole in your air mattress. Your dog’s paws will thank you for clearing out the wayward burrs.
Setting the tent on a plastic tarp aids in safety by further fortifying the bottom of the tent. If you leave enough plastic sticking out by the tent doors, legend says the plastic will deter those mean ol’ rattlesnakes. True or not, the measure does help you sleep better.
You’ll also sleep better if you bring your feng shui kit to cleanse the campsite upon your arrival. A Tibetan singing bowl works wonders for clearing out foul energy, evil spirits and the residue of bad karma left in the tent from your beau’s ex-wife. That stuff can be nastier than a mean ol’ rattlesnake any day.
This article appears in May 17-23, 2012.
Thank you Tucson Weekly/Mr. Gargulinski:) from my own personal experience? Arizona is yet another Paradise in this land was made for you and me:)
hey chasbass.blogs –
thanks for your input and SO COOL! to hear you, too, have found joy in nature. one correction – i am a ms. or miss, not a mr. – but that’s OK, especially since you spelled gargulinski perfectly!
enjoy the great outdoors and thanks again for comment,
ryn.
Greatly appreciated article on the Az great outdoors. (Az’s most redeeming quality in my book) From fly fishing at Shush Be Tou or the north fork of the Black river on the White Mountain Apache res, to watersports or battlin’ a lunker bass on the SRP lakes, to quail huntin’ in our local desert areas, one would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful and diverse range of fun outdoor activities anywhere! Just steer clear of the municipalities…and this place ain’t half bad. 😉
Ryn, if you can’t camp without killing the wildlife please just stay home. Rattlesnakes do not deserve to be killed just because you do not know how to deal with them. You and your beau should be ashamed of yourselves.
So, Lingo head, what do you do with a rattler parked outside your tent when you have to pee at 2 in the am? Rattlers in the open, let ’em go on their way…unless they are the aggressive variety my dog and I happened upon a couple of weeks ago, dropped right out of a greasewood into a strike posture…about 4 feet from us. This nasty critter would not budge out of our only route up a hill to camp from the lake…through waist high bushes. I bombarded the sucker with rocks (if I had my pistol he’d be coyote food) for 5 minutes till he finally moved off into his secure haven of cover in our path, about ten yards from our camp. You may find a nocturnal hunting venomous snake in your camp area comforting; I do not. I suppose rattlers are not a problem to an RVer… 😉
hiya radmax, and thanks! for interesting comments. so glad you, too, enjoy the great outdoors – even with your near-snake encounter. eeek!
i also noticed the rattlers seem more aggressive than ever before. my theory is they are ticked off, like coyotes have become, that people keep infringing and are finally taking a stand. coyotes go ahead and walk through supermarkets these days, you know!
as notable as rattlensakes are, however, i think perhaps one of the most annoying entities are gnats. they don’t stay outside, either. you can find them buzzing around unwanted all over your lightbulbs, eyeballs and computer screens. double eek!
thanks again,
ryn.
Radmax, perhaps my advice to Ryn should be given to you as well. Actually it is good advice for anyone. If you don’t know how to deal with rattlers, stay out of their territory. Anybody can accidentally step on one and get bitten. But anyone that sees a snake four feet away and can’t figure out how to leave it alone needs to learn how. Or you could just feed them to the coyotes I guess. The choice is yours. But to me to kill a snake is just plain cowardly, unnecessary and not kind. And seriously radmax, an RVer! That was a low blow! ;)~
Dear lingo, yes, we could have waited all day for the snake to move on. Like I said the FIRST TIME, this snake was just ornery. We WERE waiting for him(?) to move on for a good five minutes. I’ve never seen a confrontational rattler, King snake, yes a couple in fact. It just stayed in our only egress to camp, rattlin’ and poised to strike. With a dog and both hands full of fishing equipment, I really would rather Mr. snake move on like they usually do.
No such luck. I’m not a wildlife willy-nilly crazed killer. Venomous aggressive snakes (obviously a territorial instinct in this case) being the exception in my camp vicinity. With kids and animals with us, I feel the prudent solution is to remove said snake by whatever means necessary. I feel I have just as much right to my territory as the snake does to his…and yes, when I pitch camp it is MY chunk o’ ground until I leave, even with unsolicited odd neighbors barging into camp to see if we need any camping tips(?) I had to kill him. 😉
Sincerely,
King of the food chain. 😉