Stuck in Arizona!

Both Wandering Willy and I had been finding strange droppings on our outdoor mats in the morning.  He of course, blamed my cat, but my camera finally caught the real perpetrator!

The huge pile of poles growing near the road finally stopped growing, presumably for the Christmas break.  I assume the wire wrapped around the bases of the poles has something to do with grounding them –  or for lightning protection?

It was decided to change time zones for Christmas and New Years.  Last year we spent this time camped at Mittry Lake so we could spend time hanging out with relatives in Yuma for the winter.  I also checked out spots at Redondo Lake and Fortuna Lake, but found one unappealing, the other crowded.  So we ended up in the desert out west of Foothills which worked out well.  Far enough out to be quiet, but near enough to all the amenities to be quite convenient.  The spot provides a good view of all the communications towers up on Telegraph pass, and an interesting but steep access route.

Next day, it was discovered  that the entire trail up there is actually a very narrow road, all concrete.  This made for good footing, but very steep in places.  Unfortunately, the best parking spots just off the interstate are well marked with no parking signs, so it is a rough up and down hike of over a half hour just to get to the actual trailhead – which has porta potties and a garbage dumpster.

I thought I had my good camera in my pack, but when I got up there I realized that all I had was my iphone .

But still, I did a 360 degree photosphere from the top (Google now just calls them Streetview?)

Check it out HERE :  <------

We did the social circle in Yuma with lots of relatives from all across Canada and the Caribbean.  Some of the younger crowd managed to get a rented car stuck in the sand out in the desert, which necessitated a rescue pull from the big GM! 

Friends and new full-timers (and soon to be bloggers?) Ernie & Deb pulled into town.  They spent a few nights in a park to facilitate cooking of a large bird for celebratory purposes, then joined me out in the desert.

Next thing you know, we were all hiking up the Telegraph Pass trail again.  This time I had my camera!

Looking first east, out towards Wellton, and west down I-8 and 32 Ave in Yuma.

At the last minute, I decided to continue my annual tradition of attending the Leafs/Coyotes game in Phoenix, which always seems to fall near the same time of year.  I headed in to Phoenix early to I could stop in at Fry’s Electronics to pick up a joystick!  Google Earth has a built-in flight simulator feature, but I have never had a fast enough connection nor enough data to make this worthwhile previously.  Now I have both!  You can fly using a mouse and/or keyboard, but I find that counter intuitive and prefer a joystick.  Though I have several at home, I wanted to get a cheap one for this purpose while down south.  Well, things have changed.  I thought I could grab one at any Walmart or Radio Shack, but no one uses them any more apparently – each modern gaming device having it’s own special controller.  I checked Walmart, Best Buy, Target, GameStop, Az Market, and a few Dollar stores in Yuma without success. I found one at Fry’s in Tempe, then headed for the game.  I got there early to find a good parking spot, then spent an hour at nearby Cabelas, looking at the latest gear.

It was a good game, especially for the thousands of Leaf fans in attendance, with a final score of 7-4.  They had a moment of silence for the passing of legendary Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower.  And local boy Austin Mathews scored on his home town Coyotes as well.

One day, we took Ernie & Deb’s jeep and headed for the hills back of us to hike the Jester’s trail.  Part way up on a particularly steep and narrow ridge, there was a stuck pickup truck stuck partially blocking the route.  While attempting to go around it, we partly slid off the other side!

The banks are much steeper than they appear in the photo and video – courtesy of Ernie & Deb!

With a locked universal and a winch tug from a side by side from Red Deer, and me pushing from the downhill side, we were soon back on the road and past the blockage.  But the epic was not over!  We watched the rest of the action from various spots on Jester’s trail, high above.  Apparently, the original driver had called a tow truck, which eventually arrived on scene.  But it was soon stuck in the very same spot we had been with the jeep.  Not daring to move for fear of tumbling down a very long ways, they called for a second tow truck.  It was able to approach from the other side, but that required about 1/4 mile of backing up, both up and down some very steep and rough terrain to finally remove both stuck vehicles.

Top of Jester’s trail.

ATV traffic had increased somewhat where we were camped during the holidays, but not as much as at Ocotillo Wells, where the constant dust eventually chased John & Nicole out of the Borrego area to wait things out in Indio.  There was also a lot of ATV and off-road travel out in the Ogilby Road area when I went out there later to check on Wandering Willy and John & Brenda.

With all the holiday festivities behind us, Hailey and I decided to pull up stakes and head out!  Why!  Why, Az of course.

California–headed for Arizona

Glad to report that after having several rodents a day invading the rig for a while, either the moon phase or the price of gold (or perhaps the can of expanding foam I used), seems to have (knock on wood) completely eliminated the invading forces!  I never did try the two different types of spray deterrent I bought, nor put any more lights underneath at night.  And I never had to set the big rat trap now in my arsenal.

There were a few consecutive cloudy days at Borrego Springs, so I took advantage of that to schedule the monthly exercise program for the Honda generator – just so the gas doesn’t get stale or it fails to start after too much inactivity. 

After a few days at Borrego, John & Nicole showed up and proceeded to cycle hundreds of kilometers on roads in the area – including some incredible hills and mountain passes.  I keep my bike safely in the back seat of my truck .

We went for a hike and scramble through the nearby slot canyon, and watched some jeeps slide down a steep trail into the canyon. We found some neat arches as well as some small wind caves.

I went for an exploratory mission one day down the Old Kane Springs Road.  There were some unique dwellings out in the desert, but no tempting camp spots.

 

Another day, I was pleasantly surprised to find the trail down the San Felipe wash from Texas Dip was reasonably smooth, and I’d be tempted to camp down there sometime, but most of it had no cell coverage with AT&T, but I did find a spot at the junction of Slot Rd where the download speeds on AT&T via my Mobley were 20 Mbps download speeds!  Hmmm, I wonder if I could drag the 5th out here some time!  Continued following the road and headed back to the highway via Hawk Canyon and the Buttes Pass road.

Hawk Canyon looks like a neat place to camp, with about a half dozen available spots.  It would be a bit tight on any sort of big rig however.

I ended that expedition with a drive up Goat Trail for a look around.

One day it was time for the annual excursion out to the Blair Valley and the Marshal South homestead on Ghost mtn.

I also drove further out past the Blair Valley as far as the Butterfield Ranch area, exploring every side road along the way.  Several of them had great potential for a van or truck camper, but not very suitable for something bigger.  It’s tempting to bring the truck camper down here again some time …

On the return from the Blair Valley I took the longer route through Ranchita, which would bring me back into Borrego down the Montezuma pass road with great views over the valley as you go down the long descent to the valley bottom.

Turns out, John & Nicole wanted to go to Blair valley the next day, so we did it again, but this time we also checked the Potreros and pictographs.  While there, we were momentarily shocked when a huge bird weighing several tons and travelling hundreds of miles an hour passed silently right over our heads – only to be followed immediately by an ear-splitting, ground shaking blast of sound.  And two seconds later, the whole scenario was repeated again!  All I could tell was that they were military jets with a single tail fin, on edge going through the canyon.  No photo, of course.  For some great jet photos, check out John’s A-10 photos  from Why, here -  John & Brenda 

I like to do the Palm Canyon hike up behind the campground at least once per Borrego visit, so managed to find time to do that one again.

Water was the lowest in the creek that I have ever seen.

After a while at Borrego, I put new batteries in the calendar and discovered that we had been there a few weeks.  Hailey was patient, but probably wasn’t enjoying all the time being on leash because of all the cholla cactus in the area.  So it was about time to hitch up and head down the road.

We decided to head over almost to Arizona, to the Ogilby Rd boondocking area as rumour had it that both phantom bloggers Wandering Willy and Jean & Skip might be in the area.  We’d heard that there was a lot of construction on I-8 between El Centro and Yuma, so chose the quieter route from Brawley up 78 to the northern end of Ogilby Rd.

Sure enough, Wandering Willy was in his usual spot, but sporting a brand new trailer with 2 doors and a power awning!  Just up the wash was Jean & Skip, also in a different Class A, with a different toad!

Strangely, there is a single ‘no camping’ sign at one of the main entrances to the most common boondocking area, but no other signs anywhere.  The west side of the road has always been a no camping area, but never on the east side.  It’s a bit of a mystery, but BLM rangers came in one day and visited a couple of RV’s in the area, who subsequently moved.  But one large group only moved a 1/4 mile away and set up again!  Other RV’s in the same general area were not contacted.  At the same time, trucks have been arriving seven days a week and dropping off huge loads of power poles nearby.  I’m assuming that a new power line will soon be running through the area, and only certain rigs were asked to move because they might be in the way?  Only time will tell.  We could always ask someone who knows, but where’s the fun in that?  In the meantime, it keeps Wandering Willy entertained, wondering what day or time he will be kicked out .

Meanwhile, out on the I-8, west of Yuma the construction continues and the lanes and barricades change daily.  Generally there is one lane traffic in each direction on the interstate, but entry and exit ramps are closed in many cases.  For example, you can exit onto Ogilby road if you are eastbound, but not westbound.  If you are westbound, you’ll have to go up to the next interchange west and come back.  Entry and exit onto Sidewinder road had been affected, but heading down to Algodones appears to be unaffected at this time.  Access to the ‘California Customs’ varies by the day.

Hailey is enjoying the freedom without leash or harness here, but wants to come inside if it is too windy.  We also have a mystery nighttime wildlife visitor who leaves droppings on our outdoor mats.  Cameras are watching for the next visit.

Hailey and I will likely be moving a bit closer to Yuma in the next few days in anticipation of Christmas dinner invitations that may be coming our way.

Loving the AT&T high speed unlimited data internet with the Mobley device for $20/mo.  Too bad the plan is no longer available for new customers.

Merry Christmas to one and all!