Tuesday, December 6/2016

Headed out

It is moving day today so there is more activity in camp today and the cats are wondering just where we are headed now.  Apparently it is to the Harquahala Mountains.
The Harquahala Mountains are the highest mountains in Southwestern Arizona.   Originally called "Aha qua hala" by the American Indian tribes, it means "water there is high up".  The mountains are 32 kms long and reach 20kms at their widest point.  They consist of two prominent peaks, Eagle Eye Peak and Eagle Eye Mountain.  The highest peak is Harquahala Peak which rises to 5681 feet.  Man, it is a good thing there is Google cause that is where I get all my information from!!

The ride to the recreation site was relatively short and for that, I am sure that the cats were happy. They are pretty good about all the travel and seem to have settled in nicely.  We made a quick stop for ice then headed to the recreation area.  We camped right at the staging  area and it didn't take the cats long to come out of the trailer and start to check out the new "digs".

The Harquahala Mountains

Our destination for today

The recreational site was created in 1990 and is an area of 22,880 acres of desert ecosystem.  There are several trails in the area but we are only doing one.
The highest peak is Harquahala Peak, which rises to 5,681 feet.  Of course this would have to be the peak that is on our agenda!!  The summit can be reached by a rather rocky, steep roadway.  It was used by the army in the 1880s as a heliograph station and then in the 1920s the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory was built and used for 5 years before it was moved to the State of California.
We settled into camp,  John and Kay went in search of some firewood and I got supper ready.  They returned with a good load and we sat around the campfire and enjoyed the sunset.   Life is good!!

Monday, December 5/2016

In the wash - trying to keep out of the dust

OMG....We actually found The Hidden Red Rock Canyon today!!  Holy Buckets, it has taken us three days but we did find it!!  We started out from camp, crossed the wash then hit the main road which took us to Love's Camp.  We then continued along the main road and eventually, hung a right off the trail and entered the canyon.
I guess what strikes you first,  is the color.  It is rather breathtaking and I am sure one never would get tired of looking at it.  The canyon walls rise far above you on both sides and you are immediately cocooned by them.  It is you and the rocks and that feeling is quite intimidating.  One definitely would not want to be in this tight area during a rain storm as the smooth surface of the rock is testament to the erosion from the water that flows through this canyon during a storm.  Of course when you ride in this area, you know to stay clear of the canyons due to the ever present dangers from flash floods.  John and I have ridden in many flash flood areas throughout Utah and Arizona and have actually seen the torrents of water that flow in the Hassayampa River through Wickenburg and in Bo Canyon and it is something that you definitely want to avoid.  It is life threatening and very scary.
Red Rock Canyon is only a couple miles long but it is well worth the trip.  It is something that sits "hidden" in amongst the many washes and saguaros and really, if one did not know that it was there, it would be easily missed.

incredible sand

Up against the cliffs

inside Hidden Red Rock Canyon

Some tight squeezes

Henrietta in the canyon

Once we drove through the canyon, we accessed the main road again and headed back towards the Lake.  We wanted to get down to the edge and just sit and enjoy the water.   We had been down to the edge of the water about 3 years ago and we remembered it as being quite soothing.

Dead end

Path big enough for one vehicle

Dwarfed by the canyon walls

Beverage Time

Face in the rocks

We travelled for a few miles before finding the turn off and headed into the Rawhide Mountain Wilderness Area.  This would take us to the lake's edge.

Rawhide Mountains

We passed several tall saguaro cactus and palo verde trees along the way.  It reminded me of a saguaro forest as there were so many and it was a real nice ride.  Really, I still don't see how anyone could be bored driving through this environment.  It is an ecosystem unto itself and the will to survive is present in all the flora and fauna,  This harsh environment shows no mercy.

Saguaro Country

John and Kay beside Lake Alamo

Eventually we got to the lake and spent some quiet time there.   It truly is a birdwatcher's paradise as the variety on water birds on the lake was immediately apparent.  There were a few variety of ducks and of course the mudhens and we actually scared a heron when we first arrived and he flew off into the sky leaving us far behind.

Egret at the edge of the water

As we sat, a hawk soared quietly across the water and landed on the far side of the little bay we were sitting at and then, we were blessed by a beautiful white egret who landed and entertained us for quite a while.  It walked along the shore line in search of food and doing its "egret" thing!!

Wild Burros

It was soon time to head home and once again, we were blessed to see a small herd of burro.  They were not too afraid and stood long enough for me to take their pictures.
It really is something to see these "survivors" of this harsh environment but they do come with much controversy.  They are not a native species and therefore should really not be here.   They were introduced to the area through the miners.  When the mines fizzled out, the miners had no further use for them and simply let their donkeys go to wander in desert and meet whatever end that was to come.  Unfortunately (or some would say, fortunately) the donkeys survived and that has lead to the current issues with the Arizona burros.   There is an estimated 5000 plus burros in the state of Arizona and apparently the state can only support 1200 or so.  They are reeking havoc on the grasses and other vegetation in this fragile environment and actually making survival for the native species near impossible.  It is quite an issue and one that is not easily solved,  There is as many people supporting a much needed cull as there are people wanting to "save the burros".  Unfortunately, if something is not done soon, the food sources will run out for both the native species and the burros and that will lead to mass starvation.  A tragedy all the way around.  Hopefully the issues will be addressed before this happens.

Sunset

We got back to camp in good time and sat around the fire while John cooked supper and we got to enjoy a final Alamo Lake sunset.  Tomorrow, we are headed out.  Time to move and seek more adventure.    Life is Good (and I am getting closer to my bath tub)!!

Sunday, December 4/2016

The sun is shining this morning and there is very little wind.  That in itself is a marvel.  I think the wind blows here most of the time.  I really don't mind a gentle breeze but it is often much more than that and that sucks!!
It is Football Sunday so the day will be spent watching TV and cheering on our teams.

Saturday, December 3/2016

crazy cupboard cats

Today is a quiet day.  We were going to make a third attempt at finding the ever elusive Red Rock Canyon but everyone decided that maybe I could use a 'day off" from all the jostling and smashing and crashing around that occurs when riding trails.  My back and my guts were more than happy to hear that!!   I was stiff but not as bad as what I had thought I would be.  I have a few minor scrapes on both my knees and a few bruises on them as well.  I have a huge bruise on my left thigh but that is all the injuries I can see.  I was lucky for sure!! No broken bones and my glasses are intact!!

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Alamo Lake

One of the boat launches

Road into the dam

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Since we had never actually been over to the Alamo State Park, we took a trip over to there and checked out the sights.  It is a rather barren little park and since I did not see any sort of beach area, I wondered why anyone would want to spend time here.  Well, unless you were a fisherman as there is some really good fishing in this lake.  The campground was a reasonable size and there were camping "cabins" available for rent.  It was very clean but I felt the site itself leaves much to be desired.
We took the road up to the dam and that was interesting.  We had a great view of the lake and the surrounding area.  Man, the capacity that this area has to hold water is quite phenomenal.  It was interesting and it was quite apparent that the wild burros found this area agreeable as well.  There was burro poop everywhere!!
We then headed into town and took on a few supplies then headed back to camp to spend a very quiet evening.  The cats played outside and where in and out of the trailer 900 times.  They too enjoyed their evening!!  It was early to bed as tomorrow is football Sunday so we need our beauty rest to cheer on our teams.  Who knows, maybe I will win the pool again this week!!    Life is Good!!

Thursday, December 1/2016

Wow, it is the first of December.   Almost Christmas!!   We usually land in Wickenburg the first week in December so we are pretty close to schedule.
It is cloudy and dreary out this morning so hopefully the sun breaks through and we are able to climb the temperature chart into the mid 60s!!    Time will tell.

down one of the many washes out this way

We have heard of a canyon called Hidden Red Rock Canyon so our goal today is to find it and knock something else off our bucket list.   We set out with great enthusiasm towards the wash and the other side of the lake.  Our destination was .... North and we even had coordinates to the canyon.   Woo Hoo!!  With them punched into the GPS we dropped down into the wash, through the salt cedar trail and over to the other side.  We quickly found Loves Camp and followed "the arrow"!!  It soon took us through a wash and then another wash and by the time we hit the end of Alamo Lake for what seemed like the fifteenth time, we decided that the GPS was full of shit!!  Sometimes I think all this fancy technology is really not worth the price you pay for it.  Despite the fact that we had not found the canyon, we did see some pretty remarkable sights so the day way not a total loss.

Sand and Mountains

We put on about 32 miles today before we had to admitted defeat.  Man.....that damn canyon is REALLY hidden!!  We had even phoned Ray last night to get some directions and although they were rather obscure directions, we did pass some of the things he said to watch for like the "old bus" and Loves Camp.  We were on the trail but there are so many off shoots that it was really hard to follow.

Tons of trails

Salt Cedar Trees on both sides of the trail

Love's Camp 1991 - one of the landmarks out this way

more wash and more sand - sand cliffs!!

lots of saguaro in this area

sand and big rock cliffs

Thinking this is a cottonwood trees minus its leaves

We stopped for a beverage at the "old bus" (one of the sights that Ray mentioned) and John talked to a couple of quadders that had just come from the canyon.  Could this canyon possibly be a real place??  We got directions from them and low and behold, there was another way to the canyon they said......."simply follow this trail and it will take you right there, Oh by the way, it is rough and rocky"
They mentioned that we were probably 15 miles from the canyon and since it was getting late in the day and we had been wandering around on the millions of trails for most of the afternoon, we decided to head back to camp and try again tomorrow.   Now, that sounded like a good idea so that is what we did.
It was a football night anyway so we settled in front of the TV for the evening.  It was a chili dog supper night and it was in my opinion - awful.   I cannot grasp the idea of a hotdog and chili on a bun covered in green onions and cheese.  Somehow, that just seems wrong.  Kay and John loved them and between the two of them cleaned up a can (yes, I said can - another reason to stay clear of them) of chili and a package of hotdogs!!  Me, I have a much more refined palate and had left over chicken and homemade potato salad!!

an old abandoned bus

Refreshment break in the middle of the desert

Henrietta and Kermit

Through a canopy of salt cedar trees

pretty cool stuff!!

Our camp site at Alamo Lake

Sunset

All in all, it was a good day and although we didn't reach our destination, I had no doubt that we would find it tomorrow.  We usually always find our destinations!!  Time will tell and in the meantime........Life is Good!!