WOW! What a great little trip. It didn't go as planned but we were able to cover as much of FR 300 as we could access. The plan was to start Sunday, camp halfway, and finish on Monday but due to a tire failure ($350.00 Toyo tire that I damaged on the Flag run the previous weekend and didn't find until I was loading the gear on Sunday morning
) we did it all Monday. In total we traveled 115 miles on FR 300 with a couple short side trips. As planned we started south of Pinetop but that didn't get us very far as the road was closed by a gate and a "private property" sign about 1.5 miles in. Hmmm. off to the Ranger station to see where we can pick it up again. We were told we would have to start at Hwy. 60 and go west from there. With that info we headed south of Show Low to FR 300. This photo is at that junction.
The first 45 miles of FR 300 were really rutted by people with no respect for our forest! Some of these ruts were 14" deep and in total covered about 20-25 miles of the road. FR 300 also runs through the area of the Rodeo-Chedeski forest fires, In 2002 these two fires merged to burn 468,000 acres and destroy 500 homes and businesses. we stopped for lunch at about 30 miles in and stopped again at Gentry Lookout Tower. The first 65 miles of the route offered a few overlook views but was not as spectacular as the later 50 miles after we crossed Hwy. 260.
We had to run west on HWY. 260 for a few miles to pickup FR 300 again. Our first stop was at this overlook, and the view was awesome. The second pic is Teresa and Chili.
From there we visited Woods Canyon Lake, the dogs took a swim in the cold water and I shot these pics.
Back on the road we stopped at several overlooks along the way. There were so many great views it was hard not to stop every half mile.
(I'm the goofball on the rock!)
We took a short side trip north to General Springs Cabin and looked around the cabin and the cabin area. This is a beautiful canyon with a meadow out in front of the cabin, there is a campsite about 50 yards or so from the cabin (we'll be camping there in the future).
With the sun falling into the horizon we had the pleasure of spotting approximately 30 elk in the area and I took a few sunset photos as well.
By the time we made it to Hwy. 87 it was totally dark and it was time to head towards Holbrook. But, we had to stop at Happy Jack for an ice tea and a snack (what a great little store). I can't wait to go back again and have more time for side trips and camping.
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(slepping bag not wife 
) But I do have a L.P.G. raidiant heater that I can warm the tent in the morning for my wife. Dang, I am a nice guy!!
