From Mexicali it was a short drive over to Yuma where I treated myself to a hotel room to celebrate another successful trip south. After that, I wanted to do some serious dispersed camping and my first destination was the Kofa (stands for the King of Arizona - the name of a major gold mine in this area about 100 years ago) Wildlife Refuge. This is a huge area in the desert that is managed by the BLM and so there is plenty of free camping along any number of dirt tracks. I loved it up here and early April was a perfect time to be there, weather-wise.
pretty much my full campsite, shovel for latrine duty
I tried out 4 different campsites over 12 days. At night you'll often only hear coyotes and an occasional owl. In the daytime you'll sometimes hear the occasional soft thud or "whomp" of distant explosions from the Yuma Proving Grounds, which surrounds the Kofa on three sides. Patton trained his troops for desert fighting there and it's still active.
king snake at my campsite in the Kofa
And you might see snakes. My first night I walked around the FJ to get something and immediately noticed a stick on the ground that wasn't there earlier. My instinct told me right away this was no stick. I went around to the other side to grab a flashlight and my camera and snapped this blurry photo just as it was slithering away. A couple of weeks later I was able to ask a park ranger about it and he thought it was most likely a king snake. They like to eat small critters, and even other king snakes! That's not very nice.
lots of birds around in early April
my backyard at the first campsite
I had some beautiful, peaceful sunsets
the first Kofa campsite
there had been some rain before I arrived so there were lots of bright ocotillo in bloom
After six nights I drove north to Quartzsite, a renown RV oasis where many thousands of snowbirds gather every winter. Most had thankfully gone north by the time I rolled in and it was a good place to take care of some business. Looking for a combination laundromat/$7 shower/café for lunch place? They have one of those. Also plenty of drinking water kiosks (5 gallons for a dollar), small grocery stores and a public library (wifi!). And, perhaps most famously, Reader's Oasis Books. You'll find plenty of pictures of the owner on-line. He's a 60-something, very wiry, very tan nudist who wears only a knitted pouch over his private bits in order to conduct business. It's different, I'll say that. Bottom line, though, he has a ton of new and used books for sale. Then it was back to the Kofa and a place called Palm Canyon. For all of the zillions of palm trees you see in Arizona, this tiny canyon is supposedly the home of the only native palm trees in the entire state. It's another beautiful area and it was relatively green when I was there as I hope this picture shows.
from my campsite: Palm Canyon is in the distance where the dirt road ends
that dark sliver of a side canyon is where most of the palm trees are
the view west from Palm Canyon
I hiked the canyon the next morning, a somewhat slippery walk uphill. You really need to go on-line to see clear pictures of what this group of trees looks like. I was there in the morning and the sun only lights them up for a short period every afternoon.
in the Mittry Lake Area
After a drive down to Yuma to resupply (the Fry's grocery store on Fortuna is awesome and has wifi throughout) and grab a shower at the '76' truck stop (very clean, excellent and private full bathrooms for $12), I went north to the Mittry Lake Wildlife Area, a recreation spot along the Colorado River. I only spent one night, though, as it got crowded with locals and military guys letting off steam. Plus, it was very buggy being next to the water. After that I found another campsite back in the Kofa that was along a more remote dead-end road where I only saw two other people over 3 days. Now, that was nice. I had crystal clear days and nights with an amazing blanket of stars above.
view from my 4th and most remote Kofa campsite
Finally, it was time to move onward. First, I dropped into Yuma and Fortuna Road again for a shower and supplies. Fortuna might be my favorite road in Yuma. Besides the '76' and the Fry's there is a strip mall a few blocks further south. Here I found a great laundromat and while my clothes were washing I dropped into the barbershop next door for a quick $12 haircut.
I recommend the French dip
Afterwards, still in the strip, I walked over to Rob's Grill for, literally, one of the best French dips I've ever had. Rob was telling me that maybe 90% of Yuma's population is snowbirds and when they leave his business drops accordingly...I was the only one there. But, he still cooks everything from scratch, including the top round used for the dip (which he buys at Fry's! Talk about a virtuous circle). Just outside of town on I-8 there is a border patrol stop, right there on the interstate. I thought that was strange and a bit inconvenient. It being, you know, an interstate. Anyway, I made good time east to the Sonoran Desert National Monument where I spent 3 nights camping (#130-132 on the map at top).
my Sonoran friend
The main event of my time here was the rattlesnake that crossed through my campsite. I was lazing around in the shade of my tent (it was now getting into the mid-90's) when I saw a rodent out of the corner of my eye. It was frantically jumping up and down. It was then that I noticed the reason...a snake. I quickly grabbed my camera. It started to curl up as it sensed my presence but I think the solar panel was too slick for it get any traction. That was kind of exciting.
South of the Sonoran is Organ Pipe, my first opportunity for a stamp in my National Parks passport book in some time. Still looking at the map at the top of this page, you drive through the small town of Ajo. I liked this town and they have a very southwestern-y central square that was neat as a pin and very inviting. I then took a quick detour down to the border to see Lukeville. I thought Lukeville might actually be a small town but it's really just a border crossing with a duty-free shop and gas station and a restaurant that was already closed for the season (I was hungry). Oh, well.
organ pipe cactus in the park
Ireturnedto Organ Pipe where I wandered the visitor's center and took the driving tour and then checked out the campgrounds. It was too hot for hiking. The campsites are, like most other park campgrounds, jammed too close together for my taste so I went north and found a free spot in the desert on a far side of Ajo (#133).
one of the great views from Kitt Peak
southeast Arizona
Hoping for cooler weather I continued east across the very large Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation. This part of the desert is a bit more bleak than what I had been seeing, but eventually you come upon a mountain rising out of the desert with white globes on top of it. This is the most excellent Kitt Peak National Observatory, "home to the largest collection of astronomical telescopes in the world", 27 I think. Just driving the winding road up to the top is a visual treat.
a couple of the telescopes
Various tours are available and I took one ($8) led by a retired astronomer. This woman had started working here in the '60's - almost from the very beginning - and she had some great stories. We all got to look at the sun and some of its' sun spots through one of the telescopes. Cool. Kitt Peak also offers nighttime programs to the public, including the option to stay overnight. Check it out on-line (though it ain't cheap).
I continued east into Tucson for food and then south to the Sonoita area. Just north of Sonoita is the Las Cienegas Conservancy Area. This former Empire Ranch is now managed by the BLM and offers free camping among the rolling grasslands. While cattle still roam this property I also saw antelope and hawks and heard many coyotes at night, some who seemed a little too close for comfort. As a precaution, I always keep my bear spray in the tent. You never know.
the grasslands of Las Cienegas
I stayed three nights in this peaceful setting. You can walk around the old ranch house and all of the support buildings to get a sense of what life was like. It must have been a magical place to live, even with all of the hard work.
I didn't go in...next time
The southeastern corner of Arizona has many sky islands. These are elevated mountainous lands surrounded by the desert. This makes for very pleasant days - at least in April - and cool nights. It's also one of my favorite parts of Arizona, as the beautiful sky islands have not only the grasslands but forests and rivers and some really neat towns like Sonoita and nearby Patagonia.
under the sycamores
I camped in a nearby canyon for the night (#137) near a lazy creek under a big sycamore tree. The next morning in Sonoita - the center of town is basically a crossroads with a few buildings - I had an excellent breakfast burrito at a little café owned by Laura located just east of the crossroads. It's in a building with a "Sonoita Fuel Stop" sign on its' side, but it hasn't been that for a while. You also get a bottomless cup of good coffee. Recommended.
From there I drove through some very rural country with dramatic landscapes down to the Coronado National Memorial, located hard on the border and another opportunity for a parks stamp. This park commemorates the Francisco Coronado expedition that came through the area in the 1540's. A hike up a trail at Montezuma Pass affords an expansive view in all directions. This short video starts looking east (you might spot a sliver of the border wall in the distance), then turns to the south and around. You'll hear...it was pretty windy up there.
The dry weather and high winds inevitably led to fires. There was a serious fire near Sonoita as I was leaving the area, and then as I headed towards a forest east of Tombstone lots of smoke from another fire made camping unadvisable. This was, unfortunately, the end of 21 days of free camping, my longest streak yet. Instead, I took a room in Benson (#138).
the guys killed at the OK Corral
death by mistake!
The next day I drove back down to Tombstone to check it out. This is a very touristy place and everything costs money, including the $3 to get into Boot Hill. If I remember right this isn't the original cemetery location and they've spruced up all of the gravestones, but it was still interesting to walk around and read some of the famous inscriptions.
it doesn't look like much from the street
At one end of the unpaved main street is the OK Corral, but of course it costs money to get in to see the reenactment of the shootout, which was scheduled for some time later, so I just took a picture.
camping in the Cochise Stronghold area
After a decent lunch at the Longhorn it was time to bounce and I headed east again into the nearby mountainous sky island. None of the camping options looked appealing so I continued east then north to the Cochise Stronghold for more free camping (#139, 140). Cochise really did hide out in this area of rugged, rocky canyons and I don't blame him.
some of what's left of Fort Bowie
one of Geronimo's children is
buried here
The next day my first stop was the Fort Bowie Historical Site, somewhat off the beaten path. You have to earn you parks stamp here as you need to hike in for about 1-1/2 miles to reach the fort and the visitor's center. It's well worth it as you walk an interpretive trail that relives the history of the area, including an old stage line and the Cochise conflicts.
some of the standing up rocks at Chiricahua
Next was the Chiricahua National Monument, another sky island that is home to a large area of hoodoos. The Apaches called them "standing up rocks". The scenic drive takes you through a beautiful canyon and up to the hoodoos. It would have been worth exploring if the weather was better.
a flowering cactus
I drove north into more desert and a nice, remote BLM campground called Fourmile Canyon. It was worth the $5/night. It only has 10 sites, but the bathrooms had flush toilets and sinks and real mirrors. Outstanding! I was the only one there for 3 nights (#143-145). I'm guessing it gets busy during hunting season.
After doing laundry and groceries in the pleasant town of Safford I drove up to theGila Box Conservation Area. There are lots of free camping opportunities and I found a nice spot above the river for the night. It was on the windy side, though, so I headed north the next day.
a gorgeous section of the Gila River, known as the Gila Box
a tiny sliver of the mining operation
Route 191 takes you up into another beautiful corner of Arizona, the mountains of the Apache National Forest. First, though, is the drive through the historic towns of Clifton and Morenci. Morenci is the home to the gigantic Freeport McMoran open pit mine. It stretches north for a good 10 miles and you drive right through it. Lots of giant trucks with giant wheels.
a view from the Blue Vista Overlook (even the name is great)
I camped for four days in a National Forest campground that was actually free, a rare find in my experience. This was a well-treed spot in a old, raggedy campground that was built during the Depression by the CCC. Except for a ranger that stopped by and talked to me for a while, I had the place to myself. Further north and you climb higher into the mountains and the road goes by the Blue Range Primitive Area - the only designated "primitive" area left in the country - and the Hannigan Meadow, where there is a small resort. The entire serpentine drive from Morenci to Alpine is a National Scenic Byway and it's mesmerizing. New Mexico and Colorado: May 8, 2017 - May 27
northwest New Mexico
After 35 days my trip across southern Arizona came to a close. The weather was turning worse as I crossed over to New Mexico and into the National Forest south of the town of Quemado. As a matter of fact, it got down into the 30's with rain and lightning during the night (#151)...terrible. The bad weather continued the next day so I simply drove up to Gallup and got a room to wait it out for the next two days (#152,153). The heavy thunderstorms and hail even knocked out power to the entire town of Gallup for about two hours.
the drive up to Farmington on Route 371
I drove straight up to Farmington under sunny skies and over to the small town of Aztec and the Aztec Ruins National Monument.
a portion of Aztec Ruins
a tradition, this is along Route 550
On the edge of town, these ruins are a small, contained sight of adobe homes and kivas. Interesting enough, I suppose, but I've now seen a number of these and I kinda blazed through, grabbed my stamp and headed back into Colorado.
The town of Durango keeps getting bigger every year and the roads were jammed so I kept driving west until I got to Cortez, a quieter slice of Colorado I've grown to like.
one of the towers, not bad for 700 years old
The next day I drove north and then west on dirt roads into the BLM managed Canyons of the Ancients. Within these lands is the Hovenweep National Monument, consisting of a series of scattered ruins. What's different is that the people, besides the usual adobe homes and kivas, also built towers, many of them round, making this a unique area to explore.
western Colorado
I was able to find a free spot where I hung out/lived for the next 9 days (#155-163, with one trip in the middle to resupply in Cortez).
