03-16-11

On Monday morning we left the RV park for an overnighter in the Kofa. There was Kathi, Bob, Becky, Dennis, Patti and I. We drove east on I-10 for 26 miles until we came to Vicksburg Road where we topped off the gas tanks and headed south to enter the Kofa Refuge. At the North east corner we turned right on the Pipeline Road. We followed the pipeline for a couple of miles and stopped at intersection 14 where the road over Red Rock Pass begins. so that Dennis then unloaded the Rhino.

Along the way we passed Craven well, one of the many game watering station in the area.

We climbed the pass and turned off at intersection 36

to the Hoodoo Hilton (the cabin at Hoodoo well).

Red Rock Pass Road is very scenic and one of my many favorite drives.

Apparently Kathi was freaked out by the road and when we got to the top, said that she didn’t want to go back down that way. We arrived at Hoodoo Well in time for lunch and sat inside the cabin to eat, as it was much cooler in there.

After lunch we drove to intersection 34 and followed the trail east from there to where there is an old driveway that is lined with Saguaro and Ocotillo cactus.

Apparently there was a large dwelling at the sight but there is nothing left now but a couple of foundation blocks.

From there we drove back to Hoodoo well and arrived there at around 5:00 and decided to camp there for the night.

Bob was anxious to use his new tent so declined the offer to stay in the cabin.

Dennis and I flipped a coin to decide who would get the prime accommodations. I won the toss and moved my cots and sleeping bags into the Hilton while Dennis and Bob erected their tents.

Dennis was impressed with my portable toilet and had to check it out.

When the camps were all set up I started a cook fire with some wood that a neighbor at the RV park had given me. One of the logs was full of pitch so I split it up and used some of it as a fire starter. The wood ignited instantly but even though it blazed hotly it smoked as if I had started it with crude oil.

When the flames subsided a little I added a few of the other logs. By the time the pitch wood had stopped smoking and the other logs were burning the sun was setting

and we set about cooking hotdogs for dinner.

After dinner we sat around the fire discussing the day

and ribbing each other until around 9:00 when each couple wandered off to settle in for the night.

Patti woke up at dawn and since she doesn’t see many sun rises she decided to take some pictures of the sun reddening the eastern horizon.

By 7:30 we were having breakfast.

By around 9:30 we had the camps packed up.

We had decided that since Kathi didn’t want to go back down the 2 mile stretch of rough road on Red Rock pass, we would go south for about 20 miles then turn east making a loop through a section of the Yuma Proving Grounds, then head north until we came to the pipeline/power line road where we would go west and back into the Kofa where Dennis’s truck was parked a distance of about 80 miles. It all sounded fairly easy but since we aren’t familiar with the roads in that area it took us until 4:30 to get back to the truck.

Most of the trail was easy and flat

but there were many steep gullies to cross.

Patti saw a cotton tail hiding under a cactus along the road and was able to get a picture of it.

Becky got a picture of a hawk in a tree.

As we traveled through the proving grounds we passed some army vehicles that had been used for target practice either by the military or perhaps by some civilian travelers.

We found a shady spot in one wash outside of the military grounds where we stopped for lunch.

Eventually we got onto a road that went north east. We followed this road for a ways and as I thought we needed to go more toward the west so we took a track going in that direction. After a couple of miles we came to a track going north and turned onto it. Un fortunately this trail ended at a game watering station and we had to retrace our route. When we got back to the westerly trail I decided to go back to the main N/E road

and follow it to the power lines where we hit a wide graded road. We turned west and followed this road all the way back to Dennis’s truck.

It was an interesting ride and we are looking forward to doing more overnight or even longer trips.

03-14-11

We haven’t done much the last couple of days.

The weather has been beautiful with temperatures in the high 80’s. It’s finally warm enough to take the top and doors off the jeep.

On Friday we went out for a weenie roast at the regular place. The group consisted of; Missy, Junior, Dennis, Becky, Suzanne, Roy, Eileen , Allan, Kathi, Bob, Patti and I.

We took Kathi and Bob around the easy way to the spot which was mostly by via a paved road. The weather was hot so we erected some tarps for shade.

Dennis tried to cover Suzanne with silly string but the can was defective and instead of silly string it shot out a sticky spray. An embarrassed Dennis helped clean her up.

I’m sure she will retaliate when he least expects it.

The wild flowers are just starting to bloom so Patti is back in macro mode.

Today we are going to the Kofa Preserve for an overnighter. I don’t think Kathi is not too happy with this but she is at least willing to try. I will let you know how it turns out when we get back

03-10-11

Yesterday we took a ride to the Bill Williams River which is about 50 miles north of Quartzsite. With us was Kathi, Bob, Becky, Dennis, Missy and Junior. We drove to the small town of Bouse and got onto Swansea Rd. Most of the road is wide and well graded.

I had loaded a track on my GPS from a former trip into the area but I didn’t realize that there was another route already on the GPS. As a result we followed the wrong route and didn’t get to the place on the river that I was looking for. We drove around in confusion for a while and then decided to forget about trying to get to that place and just enjoy the drive.

We had lunch in a wash

that was a lot of fun to drive in as there were several moderate challenges to negotiate.

Eventually we came back to a road and followed it north.

I recognized the road as one that Patti and I had followed last year. I realized that it would eventually take us to the river. Along the way we explored a couple of narrow side canyons that were just wide enough to drive in.

We drove as far as we could up one particular canyon and then walked to this spot with a large overhang.

 

There were some other narrower cracks along the road that were not drivable so we climbed into them on foot.

We eventually got to the river and walked around there for a while.

There is one rock outcrop near the river that resembles a dogs head.

On the way back we saw two healthy Coyote’s. As usual they were hard to photograph but Patti managed to get a couple of shots.

 

Even though we weren't able to get to the exact place we were looking for we still had a fun day in the desert. 

03-07-11

On Saturday, Kathi, Bob, Patti and I drove to Goodyear (about 100 miles east of us) to see Dianne in the rehab facility there. She is getting very good care and is looking much better than the last time we saw her.

Her attitude and sense of humor is much improved. She still has a ways to go before she can go home but is making very good progress.

Sunday, we went for a desert run with Joanne, Dave, Kathi and Bob. The trip I planned took us to one of my favorite areas in The Kofa reserve. We took highway 95 south to the Crystal Hill turnoff where we stopped at a large parking area, to let J and D unload their quads.

We headed along the road to the turnoff that goes by Scotts Well and headed south toward  Del Osa Well which takes us through some beautiful canyons and across the very lush Kofa desert.

 

Along the way we passed this propped up Saguaro Cactus. Every time I see this cactus I wonder why with all the thousands of saguaro’s in the desert here, why would anyone go through the trouble of propping up this particular one?

It doesn'’t look like anything special to me.

The scenery along the way is spectacular.

 

Joanne’s quad vapor locked so she had to be towed to the lunch spot. After lunch the quad started and gave no further trouble.

We had lunch in a beautiful canyon.

On the way out of the canyon we passed an arch that we had not seen before.

When we got near the main dirt road we came upon a guy living in a Yurt.

  

It must have taken a while to erect the yurt so I guess he will be there for longer than just a couple of days.

Another good time in paradise!