Forest Road 430 Camping- Lincoln National Forest

 We headed out to the Lincoln National Forest to camp on the first weekend of October. By the time we got to Forest Road 64, which has many dispersed camping spots, it was nearly 5:00 pm and everything was taken. We continued on, feeling a little desperate, when I had the idea to turn down  Forest Road 430 which is a good gravel road, couple of miles long that dead ends at the old Sacramento Lookout. The first places we tried  were too soft (from recent rain) and too tilted, so we drove on. Right where the road takes its first switchback, there  is dirt road that goes up steeply through a stand of conifers. I got out to check and see if it was feasible with our trailer, and, despite some huge roots protruding from the road bed near the top, I decided it was.
 We made to the top without too much trouble, although I later noticed we had bent the the slide out step beneath the door presumably when it caught on one of those big roots. The camping spot was ideal: relatively flat, big enough turn completely around but not so big that it would encourage other campers to share it, and with fantastic views to the west and southwest of the lower Sacramentos, Otero Mesa, the Franklin Mountains and many isolated desert peaks rising out of the plains.



 We got everything set up in jiffy and were able relax a bit before the sun went down. The next morning we did walks both up  FR 430 to the lookout  and down all the way to where it meets FR 64.  The aspens had mostly turned and  the leaves widely varied in the intensity of their color. The ones just north of lookout, which may be the largest nearly pure stand of aspen in the Sacramentos, were unfortunately very dull. One day I hope I can visit when the conditions are perfect. Later in the afternoon we went drove down to the Timberon Road and hiked up Apple Tree Canyon to look at the maples.

 There were many folks out driving around the forest in pickups, SUVs, ATVs and even a few motorcycles. We quickly realized elk season was in full swing, and quite a few hunters, and other recreationists came  down the road we were at the end of. Most were polite about turning around before reaching our campsite, but at least one man, who came all the way up, seemed to resent that we were there. In spite of all the traffic it was a pretty peaceful weekend. We had campfires both nights with the abundant dead and down wood that surrounded our campsite. Skies were clear and the wind stayed in check. The harvest moon overwhelmed the stars and Milky Way after about 9:00 pm.  It was another beautiful trip with our little Casita