This adventure begins with Jessica and I leaving our home in the Grand Canyon for another backpacking trip.  This time our sites were on the Coronado National Forest down south.  Of course, this article does not take place down south, and I will get to that abrupt change of plans soon. After passing the Mazatzal Mountains and turning towards Roosevelt lake we were passed by some folks on motorcycles.  When we arrived at the bottom of the grade I saw a bloom of white smoke and pointed it out to Jess.  We soon realized we were the first on scene of a motorcycle accident.  One of the gentlemen who had passed us a few minutes prior had somehow ended up wrecking his bike and he was not in the best of condition himself.  Jess jumped into Public Safety Dispatcher mode and got on the phone with 911.  She talked with the operator and the rider, reassuring him that help was on the way.  She is quite the rockstar if I do say so myself…. She is too humble to accept it.  I grabbed my traffic safety vest from work that was conveniently in the back of my Jeep.  The riders friends drove back down towards the accident and myself along with one other rider performed traffic control until more officials arrived.  The first to arrive was an off duty officer driving home to Payson.  Jess got him coordinates from “Find me SAR” and continued to reassure the bike rider.  He moaned and talked about the asphalt burning his back.  Jessica asked the Sheriff if he had water and when he grabbed some she dumped it on the man to help cook him down.  Moving him could have been catastrophic to his health.  Soon paramedics, more law enforcement, fire fighters, and a helicopter arrived.  The rider was flown out by helicopter and the ordeal took a couple hours of our day.  This set us back in time and a little rattled.  So with this now behind us we stopped at Safeway in Globe, Arizona to warm up and eat some leftover ramen we bought earlier in Flagstaff and process our evening.  We decided on an Air BnB in Safford, Arizona and soon after found ourselves settled in for the night.  After a couple of nights here and deciding to come up with an alternative plan we found ourselves driving back North through the Salt River Canyon.  Jess thought of Petrified Forest National Park in Holbrook, Arizona.  Neither of us had been to this park!  So without further delay we arrived at the Petrified Forest National Park Visitor Center as soon as we could and obtained our Backcountry Permit for the Black Forest.  A labyrinth of colorful badlands and plateaus not far from the Arizona and New Mexico border.  We opted for cowboy camp and packed our backpacking backpacks for the night.  As we left I noticed a nail in my tire and felt a sense of stress.  I told myself I needed to let it go.  The problem will be dealt with tomorrow….

As the evening pressed on we walked down towards the Badland formations.  I told Jess it would be really inspiring to camp under the stars on top of one of the high points.  She agreed and we walked for a mile or so.  See this area does not have a specific trail once down and off from the Parking Lot.  It is an open space full of unlimited views and unique land formations.  We eventually found a spot to scramble up to.  Once on top… Jessica and I were met with views of the Black Forest and could see where we had come from.  Our bright orange Jeep stood out on the distant hill.  We looked at some photography compositions, and tried a new Freeze Dried Meal Company (Good 2 Go).  Jess said it wasn’t too bad but I was not a big fan of the meals. After our Dinner and Sunset Photographs it was time to watch the sun set and the stars make their pilgramge above us. It did not take long for us to fall asleep. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise and chrisp morning. After short while we packed our camp and headed back to the bright orange Jeep that awaited us. Once back at the vehile we threw our packs inside and made our way to the Visitor Center to grab breakfast. The operation had a Conessionair running a cafe and giftshop. A company named ExplorUS, but used to be called Ortega National Parks. I know this becuase I used to work for them in Death Valley National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park. We had a delicious breakfast and then set iur sights on safely driving back to flagstaff tp get my tire repaired. We were fortunate that the air held in the tire but the nail still percistide and we needed to solve the issue before driving the extra hour and a half to our home in the Grand Canyon in which we had next to no services. Jessica asnd I babied the Jeep on hgihway 40 to flagstaff in the flow lane. Hazard lights and all…. though with some patients we soon found ourselves at Discount Tire! We left the Jeep atv the shop and walked down the road to Chipotle for lunch. We sat at Chipoltle outside, feeling close to eachother and inspoired for the next adventure.

-Sky