As you may recall from my last post, Phillip and I decided with 5 days’ notice to take 2 friends from China on their first (and possibly only) camping trip ever. No pressure or anything.

Fortunately, our friends Zhipei and Jingjing are flexible and have a great attitude about trying new things. So when something didn’t go quite right (from my perspective), they just rolled with it. It was all a new adventure to them.

A week ago Saturday, we picked them up, and Phillip managed to pack their things into our already-full Prius. We headed toward Show Low. We opted for the less-traveled Globe route instead of driving through the (relatively) cool pines of Payson, since we were concerned about weekend traffic, with all us Phoenicians escaping the scorching desert like rats deserting a sinking ship.

On the drive there, we told them about road trip traditions, like playing the alphabet game and holding your breath in tunnels (we even tried this out in the Queen Creek Tunnel), pointed out places we’d visited before, and wound through the Salt River Canyon – which is huge and stark and beautiful.

We made it to Show Low, then the small town of Pinetop-Lakeside. (I had to figure out what the hyphenated name was about. According to the town’s website, the communities of Pinetop and Lakeside were joined together in 1984. Obviously, that was before DOMA.)

The directions from the reservation site didn’t include how far to drive down State Route 260, but we still managed to find the campground just across the street from the Ranger Station, as promised.

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Lakeside Campground (Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ)

A few details about the campground, in case you’re thinking of visiting…

Location: Lakeside Campground is right off Highway 260 in Pinetop-Lakeside, just across from Rainbow Lake. From our campsite, you could stand in one spot and see the lake – and turn around and see the highway. Convenient to get to but doesn’t quite feel like you’re getting away from it all.

Campsites include a picnic table and fire pit but no water pump. We only saw one in the campground, so bring plenty of water or be prepared to trek across the campground when you need more. The sites are fairly large with lots of pine trees.

Restroom situation: Small outhouses with vault toilets are scattered throughout the campground. There are no sinks or showers.

To do: Rainbow Lake has fishing and a boat ramp but not much space to just hang around. The Rim Trail (also see below) was just north of the campground and the Panorama Trail is just south of it.

More information and reservations

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We found the campsite we’d reserved, hopped out, and started scoping out the best spots for our tents.

The first tent we set up was the one my parents had lent Zhipei and Jingjing. I guess we wanted them to know we weren’t going to be leaving them out in the cold. But we really probably should have started with our tent, since Phillip and I can get that set up pretty quickly. My parents’ tent, however, was one we’d never set up before, and our friends had never set up any tent before. Plus, my dad has his own system of extra ropes, bungees, and tarps that go along with the tent. I’m sure it’s all very useful, but it didn’t come with instructions. I’m sure it was amusing to watch us figure out the setup.

After that, setting up our little tent was a snap!

Once the tents were up, I helped Jingjing get sleeping bags, pads and everything set up inside their tent. It was going to be her first time in a sleeping bag!

Before dinner, we walked over to the lake, which was just down the hill from the campground. A sign pointed out the area that was the “only dedicated public access point” for Rainbow Lake, which included a floating dock, boat ramp, and maybe a total of 100 feet (or so) of shoreline. (I think the rest of the lake is surrounded by private property – homes, vacation rentals, etc.). I had pictured us hanging out and relaxing by the lake, but the small area wasn’t so relaxing. It probably would have been a nice place to ease a canoe into the water and paddle away from the hubbub on shore.

Once we had checked out the ducks that were flocking to little kids feeding them Purina Duck Chow (or something like that), walked down the floating dock, watched some very happy dogs plunge into the water and then out again, we headed back through the campground to our site.

Phillip got the camp stove set up, and we heated up the beef stew Jingjing and I had made earlier in the week. After dinner, the guys filled a couple of large bowls with water, and we did the dishes.

And then it was time for one of the most important camping traditions – s’mores!

Because of the dry conditions and high fire danger, we couldn’t have a campfire (which is sad), so we toasted marshmallows over the stove with forks. Bringing our usual 18″ skewers had seemed like overkill.  In hindsight, something with a little larger handle than a fork would have been good.

At one point, Phillip was deep into an explanation of something and didn’t notice his marshmallow was engulfed in flames.

Me: “Um, Phillip…”

Phillip: (Continues talking.)

Me: “Phillip! You’re on fire!”

Phillip: “I know. Anyway…”

Me: “PHILLIP!”

Phillip: “OH!” (Waves marshmallow around to put out fire. Fortunately, does not start a forest fire or burn his hand off.)

Me: (Wishing I’d photographed that moment.)

It was the night before the supermoon, so we almost didn’t need flashlights. It cast as much light as street light shining down through the trees. We could still see some stars and got our star chart apps to identify constellations we didn’t recognize.

We played cards by latern light and taught our friends how to play Spoons. By the time we called it a night, they were experts.

The next morning we heated up some water for tea. Our friends were still full from the night before, so I snacked on mountain bread, and we decided to break camp before breakfast. (I almost always wake up starving, regardless of what I eat the night before. Jingjing says it means my digestion is good. And I thought it was just inconvenient.)

I was grateful for Jingjing’s help with breakfast. We made pancakes, eggs, bacon and started on hashbrowns when we ran out of gas in our little propane tank. It’s okay. There was still plenty of food, especially since Zhipei was still saying he wasn’t that hungry.

Since we were already packed up, we decided not to stick around camp. I asked the camp host (who had been super nice and laid back the whole time) for some hiking recommendations. She directed us to the Rim Trail, just a mile or two down the road, on the way back to town.

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The Rim Trail (Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ)

The Rim Trail is a 1-mile loop. The first half is paved and barrier free, and that’s where the breathtaking view from the top of the Mogollon Rim is. After that, the trail winds through the forest. No sweeping vista, just a nice little hike with signs along the way with nature and historical facts about the area.

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By the time we had finished our hike, we were all ready to start heading home. I was just a little pink from the sun, and we were all tired out. We stopped at Los Hermanos in Superior for a late lunch and then made the descent back into the Valley.

The thing about “roughing it” is it always makes you glad to be back home.

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I’m trying something new with the format. What do you think of having the more informational stuff about the campground and the trail in the gray boxes? Do you feel this is helpful or too distracting from the story of the post?

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Photos that include me were taken by Phillip, except for the final one of us at the rim, which I think Zhipei took.