Bailey (the cat)and I head south in the winter to explore the back roads, deserts, coasts, forests, beaches, of the southern US! I 'graduated' from full time work, and have been enjoying the complete freedom ever since. I'm normally in southern climes during the winterand all over Alberta and Canada during the summer. Come along for the ride. (Photo is of former co-pilot Harley).
Lately, other than the usual readers from US & Canada, there have been visitors from the following countries as compiled by https://livetrafficfeed.com
I don't think Bailey has any idea how many people know about him! And I doubt he cares, as long as the food dish is full and there are places to explore and things to hunt!
I guess I should mention that Bailey was preceded by Harley, and Hailey who both starred on the blog earlier
February turned out to be quite the month for weather! We were camped in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, near the historic Empire Ranch headquarters.
Weather was rather cool, with overnight temperatures dipping to the freezing mark on occasion. And, during the day, it was often windy enough to discourage getting out on the bike like usual. So, it was time to move on, and move we did!
After a quick stop in Benson to re-provision, we took I-10 eastbound, almost to the New Mexico line. We turned off in Bowie, toured through many Pecan groves, and found our way to Indian Bread Rocks on the Happy Camp Canyon road. The spot I had in mind was occupied, and the further you go past the picnic area, the rougher the road gets - at least for a larger rig. We eventually managed to get turned around, and ended up finding an even better and more private spot along a large wash.
It seems to be a great area for bird life, and my app showed some of the ones that it heard in the vicinity of camp.
A Northern Cardinal came by!
There is some great hiking and rock scrambling just behind camp, so I took every opportunity to get higher up for a look around. I spotted what appeared to be an abandoned ranch yard a few miles away in the hills. It was a good excuse to get the bike out for a run.
I wanted to spend a bit of time at the Hot Well Dunes site to the north of Bowie, but didn't want to go on a weekend, as then it would be full of noisy, dusty off-roaders. And the route up from Bowie has a section of dirt road that can be very ugly with washboard, and I didn't want to check that while towing. So one day, I did a day drive up just to check it out. I had a quick soak in the hot pools before heading back to camp.
Another day, it looked like a good time to head over to Fort Bowie National Historic Site for a hike. It is a rather unique site in that most people must access it via a 1.5 mile scenic hike, with lots of historical remains and points of interest along the way. (There is a back road in, for those unable to hike, call ahead for info).
One spot along the way is where Cochise escaped from his captors and ran up the hill in front of you. Note the hill in the photo - behind the sign.
There is a very nice little museum and visitor center on site, and you can take a self guided walk around the ruins of all the buildings that once comprised the fort. The visitor center is adorned with video cameras - just in case Cochise shows up unexpectedly?
It's nice for hikers that water taps are available to replenish your canteens. And they may even award you with a pin to commemorate your hike in to the fort!
There is an alternate route along a ridge line leading back to the parking area, so of course that's the way I returned.
Meanwhile, back at Indian Bread Rocks ...
Like many of my camp spots, it is a cow pasture, but there is very little human garbage, save lots of empty brass, and one Mexican coin!
A few times, Bailey attempted to chase cows out of camp, but in this case it was just a stand-off!
Other times, the local population attempts to blockade the road. It was tense, but I made it past!
Bailey likes to chew things. I guess he is still a 'puppy' at heart! Sometimes even sharp things!
After quite a few enjoyable days biking and hiking around Indian Bread Rocks, I thought we would make our way to Hot Well Dunes to camp this time. It was Sunday afternoon, so it was hoped that most of the weekend atv crowd would be leaving. The dirt road north of Bowie was getting rougher, but we survived a lot of it by driving in the ditch - which is smoother.
Rain was threatening when we got there, but a late afternoon soak was enjoyed, before the solar powered water pump allows the pools to drain for the night. Like my visit the week before, a nearby camper had his generator running all day long. I can't imagine trying to enjoy a campsite with that sound roaring all day (or night). O well, perhaps they were powering a necessary medical device? I moved even further away, but thankfully it was turned off for the night. Morning was cloudy, but I did manage another late morning soak, when all available hot water was diverted to a single tub.
From there, we headed back down the ditch-driving route to Bowie on I-10, back through Benson, where we took advantage of the free dump site at the Maverik station at the junction of 90 south. This time we chose a nice spot in the southern end of Las Cienegas to spend a few days. At this higher elevation, night time temperatures were hitting the freezing point overnight, and strong day time winds limited enjoyable outdoor pursuits. My friend stopped by again, and we toured the historic ranch headquarters building, before dropping down into Sonoita for lunch.
The winds finally died, but the coldest night yet convinced us to head out. Next stop was our 'usual' spot in the southern end of Ironwood Forest National Monument . It's a great spot because it is only a short drive into downtown Tucson, but much of the surrounding lands are owned by the city, and are only used to collect water, so there is basically zero traffic in the area, and even though distant lights are visible, it is very quiet day and night. Of course, the cows sometimes express their opinions vocally.
Being at a lower elevation, and with warming trend underway, there was more of a concern for heat, not cold. I like the heat, but don't like to leave Bailey alone in camp in case it gets too hot for him. So, we've been somewhat confined to camp some days, sitting in the shade. Sometimes I spritz him with water to cool him off - which he quickly got used to, or sometimes he just lays in front of the fan!
Time to start thinking about a northern route, especially if the heat continues. We only have a month and a half to get there, and it took a full month to get down this far last fall.
We continued to enjoy our stay along the Bates Well road, south of Ajo, Az - me out hiking and biking around, and Bailey keeping the lizards on their toes, as well as the local quail, and a lone cottontail.
There are lots of options on places to camp, though not all are suitable for a larger rig, and I won't camp anywhere with abundant cholla cactus. Other types are not as hazardous for little paws and noses.
Larry the lizard.
When it was time to go, we packed up and headed down to Why, then east on 86, through the large Tohono O'odham Nation reserve. Topped off propane at Three Points (Robles Junction) before heading south towards Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Good thing I waited to fill the propane, because it was $4.89 in Ajo, and $2.29 here - a slight difference! Just south of Three Points, I swear this line of mail boxes gets longer every year! Check out the video!
We've camped in Buenos Aires for quite a few times over the years, and have changed favourite sites a few times, always finding a slightly better place. So, I had this one site in mind, just hoping to find it vacant. Well, the stars must have aligned in our favour! Less than half a mile from the spot, we met a couple of camper rigs exiting the area. The gravel road is very narrow, so I pulled over and stopped to let the other rigs safely past. Well, the guy pulling the big 5th wheel stopped beside me and asked if I was looking for a site; then informed me that he had just departed Site # (witheld), and had raked it and cleaned it up nicely, ready for the next camper! Well, that just happened to be the spot I was hoping for! If we had arrived a half hour earlier, we likely would have driven past, seen it occupied, and had to settle for a lesser spot! This is the spot.
Lots of primitive roads and trails to explore in the area.
It does have a few cactus, but very few of the really nasty varieties. If you haven't camped here before, you are required to camp in desgnated camp spots - usually something I avoid. But the refuge has likely 60 - 70 individual sites, spread out over miles and miles of back roads and trails, so many are a half mile from the nearest neighbour - which suits me just fine. No noise, music, or those infernal generators running at all hours! And, other than a new group camp area along the highway which might have a fee, all are free to use for the usual 2 weeks!
As usual, the trail cameras were out, and usually capture more activity in the dark, but this resident coyote was running late on his rounds, and stopped by in early morning.
There have been a fair number of nefarious border crossers here over the years. I found the remains of this old carpet-bottomed boot cover, designed to reduce the tracks left by such individuals.
Bailey was disappointed that the lizards he chased last year were nowhere to be found. But there were still plenty of Kangaroo Rat dens, and thick grass areas to explore.
Local ravens wanted to star in a podcast, performing in front of a trail cam.
There was a fair bit of Border Patrol traffic in the area, and flight tracking shows some of their activity along the border.
Trying out some new additions to the solar array.
Mighty hunter lying in wait for prey. Or butterflies!
Made a couple runs into Tucson during this time, for a fuel fill and some groceries. Also had to pick up a couple of Amazon packages - one of which became a challenge. One item would not fit in the convenient Amazon lockers, so I had it sent to Tucson Pack - n - ship, which I had as a possible on my Amazon app. But, being proactive, I tried to phone the business to confirm they provided this service? The phone call led nowhere, and their web site was poor. A Google Streetview check of the address looked a bit suspect. I tried to cancel the order, but it was too late. Fortunately, my timing was good, and I was waiting in front of this closed and locked business (nothing to indicate it had ever been a shipping place) when the delivery van showed up.
Weather during this time was a bit on the cooler side, and we were forced to turn on the heat some times at night, or at least in the morning. Backup locations on the Texas coast looked worse, and much of the central US had snow and ice, (same at home), so nothing to do but find a jacket I guess!
When it was time to depart, we headed back up the road to Three Points for some more cheap propane, then through the southern edge of Tucson, then back down the the south-east, bound for historic Empire Ranch, in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. We have camped here quite a few times, and have some preferred spots. But some of them have sprouted new fences and gates, and others have suffered a bit of road damage from flooding. Also, a large area usually full of campers has now been fenced off for some reason? While we had no desire to camp in those spots, the closure might force other campers to relocate into our preferred terrain. But, we found a nice spot, previously scouted, that would be just fine.
As I've seen in the past here, there was some sort of hunting dog competition going on, whereby a group of horsemen follow after a bird dog across the landscape. My camp seemed to be right in line with their course! While I was away one day my trail cam caught the whole posse riding by!
Made a day-trip down to Patagonia, and out to Harshaw to look at some previous camp spots. But, as expected, the big new mining development just past Harshaw has essentially ruined the area for camping, as most sites I've used are directly roadside, and now there is heavy mining traffic 24 hours a day.
Did a few more day trips in the area, including Madera Canyon and Greaterville. Also did a lengthly day excursion with a friend through Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Douglas, then to Rodeo, NM, before taking a rough forest service road through from Portal, to the entrance of Chiricahua NM, and then retracing our route through Tombstone, and back to camp. Lots of great scenery, and even a tiny bit of snow and ice in the high mountain pass. There was plenty of snow at even higher elevations.
It will soon be time to move along down the road. Distance and direction - to be determined!
