2002 – 03 . . . Episode 10 - Zion, at Last!!

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Zion National Park has a special significance for us. It was over three years ago that we had to forego our return visit to the park to get back to Calgary to start a project that we found out (when we hit the Canadian border) was put on hold!! It was that happening that set off this great adventure for us. I became overwhelmed with the sense the I just wasn't having fun anymore and needed to do something different!! Not that I didn't like what I was doing but I felt like I was being controlled by situations and circumstances that were beyond my control.

This is when we started getting rid of all our belongings (the stuff we had accumulated over the past 30+ years), put the house up for sale and started planning for a future to bring the fun back into our lives.

Zion is a National Park in Utah north-west of the Grand Canyon. The Virgin River is to Zion Canyon what the Colorado River is to the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is absolutely awesome . . . Zion Canyon feels more intimate . . .

up-close and personal. Rather than the spectacular view from the rims of the Canyon (like the Grand Canyon), in Zion, you are in the Canyon looking up at the rims.

People actually climb mountains like this . . . straight up! Climbing is one of the favourite activities (No, we didn't try!!) and the hiking trails are everywhere.

When we were first there, we drove the Canyon road and up along the switch back highway towards Mount Carmel as well as the Canyon road. Because of the high volume of traffic, private vehicles are no longer allowed

   

along the Canyon and they have introduced a shuttle bus. The bus takes visitors up through the Canyon making about 10 interesting or scenic stops. At each stop you can get out, explore the area, take a hike or whatever and then catch another shuttle to take you further or back.

Our major hike and exploring was at the Temple of Sinawava, which is the last shuttle stop at the head of the Canyon. It's not a long strenuous hike but so much to see!!

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trail head starts at the narrows . . . then progresses into a marshy area along the river.

 

 

From there you travel along right up close to the rocks.  

Our little friends were there to help guide and entertain us.

Zion . . . our last but definitely not least adventure on this trip! It was everything we hoped it would be.

We happily travelled on back to Canada with only a horrendous wind (around Helena) and rain (Great Fall right into Lethbridge) to contend with.

2002-03 . . . Episode 9 - The Desert is more than Sand and Creosote Bushes - The Painted Canyon - Ancient Sites and Wildflowers

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The Avi is the Avi is the Avi is the Avi . . . they are expanding . . . the RV lot has moved but some of the same people are there that were there last winter. The Casino hasn't changed and they still have a great buffet and the 99 cent ham and egg breakfast plus $1.10 for coffee. There was lots of movement in and out as people stopped there on their way up north. We met again with people we met at Benson, our friends from Yuma and our neighbours from Quartzsite but the most incredible experience was exploring the Painted Canyon.

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The desert can feel so desolate and barren. In some areas all you see is sand, the creosote bushes dotting the terrain and the occasional Prickly Pear cactus. During the winter, even the creosote (greasewood) looks lifeless and there are few signs of any wildlife. As spring comes on, the creosote starts to show life . . . the small leaves, the buds and then the delicate yellow flowers.

As you gain elevation, different growth emerges . . . there is the mesquite shrubs and then different varieties of cacti, the Joshua Trees and wildlife that is less nocturnal and therefore seen more often.

Our visit to the Painted Canyon in the Dead Mountains gave us the opportunity to experience a different perspective of the desert and surrounding areas. We were fortunate enough to be invited to join John (a fellow who is interested in ancient sites and photography) to visit some ancient sites and see if the wild flowers were in bloom.

The Painted Canyon is in California in the Dead Mountains, one mountain range beyond the Reservation at Fort Mojave, NV. We drove as far as we could and then hiked in the rest of the way.

I realized how terribly delicate the desert is.

 

The flowers are so minute,  fragile and delicate but the colours can be so vibrant. Yellow seems to be predominant colour for the flowers but there are brilliant purples and blues. What more can I say, we'll let the pictures do the talking.

We also encountered some interesting wildlife . . . the active beehive (which John said he had never seen in the desert before) and some very lazy lizards that camouflage themselves so well in their surroundings.

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Ancient Sites and Petroglyphs

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In all our travels through the Indian lands in northern Arizona and New Mexico, we were never able to see the Rock Art that we saw with John in the Painted Canyon. Of course, we were never able to be with anyone who was as knowledgeable and passionate as John is. He is not only interested in the Rock Art, he is a photographer and an explorer . . . especially around the Fort Mojave area.

As we travelled into the canyon, we saw, literally, hundreds of petroglyphs, many of them in panels where a group of travellers would (maybe) leave messages for others travelling this way. There is such wide controversy over the purpose and meaning of the petroglyphs . . . some say they tell those to follow what lies ahead, others say they tell of what happened there, still others speculate they carry a spiritual meaning, and maybe they just tell stories. Regardless, considering they are reputed to be thousands of years old, it is inspiring to see them, touch them and speculate on what they are trying to say. Apparently, the ancestry stems from Hohokam peoples but in the books I have had a chance to read, there is very little written about this part of the South West. My challenge this summer is to learn more and try to understand them better.

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Onto Zion . . .

2002 – 03 . . . Episode 8 - The Changing Desert (Our People Time)

Each place we go is a new adventure. As we move on, we reflect on what we did, what we learned and what we are able to take with us. Mexico was a great time for us . . . good location, good people, different things to do, something we really enjoyed.

The next adventure was dry camping on the BLM lands. "Boon docking" (dry camping) is another experience we have enjoyed. This is where we encountered our first RAIN in the DESERT . . . we never really considered it before . . . last year it sprinkled a couple of times the whole time we were down here but this was a real RAIN! It rained (quite heavy sometimes) for almost 3 days. We were parked beside a wide wash (like a dry creek bed) and watched it go from a dry creek bed to a fast moving stream back to a dry creek bed in a matter of a few minutes . . . we watched the buds come out and then the start of the flowers and the grass!! Everything just started to turn green.

It's interesting to compare the "life" in the RV parks/resorts with the dry camping. In the parks, there are rows and rows of RVs one after another, all kinds of organized activities, all kinds of rules and they tend to be quite cliquish. They generally have a lot of amenities like a club house, swimming pools, spas, golf and the like to attract the winter visitors and keep them comfortable. When you "boon dock", the RVs are scattered all over the place, going every which way, in groups or just sitting there all by themselves. You hear the generators because there is no electricity to plug into but usually by 10 pm everything is quiet. There is more movement because you need to go out to fill with water and empty your holding tanks. Evening campfires often dot the whole area with people sitting around talking in small and large groups and they will usually invite a stranger to join them. People seem more incline to talk to each other, to share information and visit right out there in the middle of nowhere. There is a different "spirit". This phase of our winter has been a real "people" time for us.

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Yuma and Beyond

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I don't particularly like the Yuma area. It could be because I "feel" like the locals resented the winter visitors . . . BUT . . . we did meet some great folks and that was special.

The desert around Yuma is barren with a scattering of creosote bushes and very few cacti. This is interspersed with lush cultivated fields of vegetables and alfalfa that are heavily irrigated. They seem to harvest one day and replant the next.

The City of Yuma is bustling this time of year with representation from all over the U.S., Canada and Mexico. I don't know how much the "visitors" get involved in the community, itself, and tend to stick to their own RV resorts/parks (and that could contribute to the resentment as well) but they definitely do spend a lot of money around there. Walmart has discovered this and they have set up their "Super Centers" accordingly.

Algondones, Mexico was all of 5 miles away. We went down a number of times and I got my teeth cleaned, another pair of glasses and cigarettes for $13.49 a carton. This is where Americans go for dental, optical services, to buy their prescription medicines and some medical procedures like kelation therapy. There are about four square blocks of drugs stores, dentists, optical outlets, doctors scattered amongst the leather, clothes, T-shirts and other of the usual Mexican paraphernalia. The hawkers coax the passing touristo (Gringos) to "get your prescriptions filled, glasses, dental work here - guaranteed lowest prices". They compete to promote Viagra or any other medication you may be looking for. The various medicines and their prices are listed in the windows and they have doctors on hand to write out the prescriptions for you. The medications we saw were all brand names from the major pharmaceutical houses. With the amount Americans are charged for their medications and medical services, I don't wonder so many go down . . . BUT . . . there are even more who are so scared to leave the States, they won't take the chance to the five miles south to save up to 75% on what they pay for meds at home.

One of the neatest things we saw was a group of Mexican artists who did the most incredible work with spray paint (cans) and pieces of scrunched-up plastic and paper. They would spray and smudge and wipe and streak and create the most unbelievable scenes. In hind site, there were a number of interesting photo opportunities, but, I just wasn't into taking pictures so . . . maybe next year.

The land we stayed on was actually in California a few miles west of Yuma. It was not BLM land but owned by the Indians and they were fine with us staying there (us and about 150 other RVs). At this particular place (Sidewinder Road), we spent a lot of time with our nearest neighbours. The fellas' were heavily involved in finding out about the power and battery systems. This particular couple has been on the road for about 5 years and were at the point that they needed to produce more power to accommodate their life-style. They have 3 solar panels and the motorhome generator but this still wasn't meeting their needs. The fellas spend hours searching and researching the best way to go to get that extra power. An outcome of this is that Fred managed to move and upgrade our batteries, hook the portable catalytic propane heater to the bigger propane bottle and now we can enjoy our amenities more when we dry camp. They taught us a few new card games and we spent most of our evenings playing cards with them and talking.

On a trip into Algondones, we met another interesting couple. He is a retired lawyer/ judge and she was an Executive (Management Development) with McDonald's. They both retired and spent 4 years "sailing" on a 40 ft boat. We went out to dinner with them and spent some time talking and sharing views. I even gave him a hand with his resume (I just don't get away from it) because he wanted to get involved in the University in North Carolina.

We spent over two weeks in Yuma before we started heading north again . . . next stop Quartzsite. Quartzsite is at the junction of Hwys 10 & 95 and is where they have the HUGE swap meet (what we would call a flea market) in January and February every year. Fortunately, we missed it. They contend that there were about 100,000 RVs in and around the area for those two months. By the time we got there, it had pretty well thinned out. There were still a number of tent sites and vendors set up but the vast majority had moved on.

We did stay on a BLM campsite (Hi Jolly) there and were fortunate enough to choose the one that hosts a Blue Grass jam every year around the second week-end in March, after all the big Blue Grass festivals in the area are over. Well! . . . when we moved in there, there were a few scatterings of RVs - we went to town one day and WOW! . . . when we got back a few hours later . . . there was at least 250 RVs with a dozen or so jamming session going on all around the area. They stayed there for over a week and there was music day and night.

Quartzsite attracts a lot of interesting/different types - musicians, artists as well as some burned-out desert rats. As with most of the retail sites in Quartzsite, the book store is in a huge tent and has most everything you could imagine. It is run by a small skinny fellow who wears an old straw hat and a G- string. He has a great selection of new and used books and scurries around there like a little mouse looking for a place to nest. He and his wife lost their daughter in 1995. She was born seven years before as the smallest baby born in Canada (1.25 pounds) and over the years captured the hearts of many who met her. In her memory, Cecelia's Rainbow Garden is set on 8 acres of desert donated by the BLM just outside of Quartzsite. It seems the whole community has become involved. They sell plots and people create garden sites and memorials in whatever way they choose. They encourage people to donate something live so there are a lot of the unusual cacti, trees and shrubs that don't ordinarily grow there. Some of the flowers and cacti were just starting to bloom when we went out to a community picnic and tour there. All the work is voluntary and people design, construct and care for their own sites. Interesting things happen on the desert!

We took advantage of several shuttle trips up from Quartzsite to Laughlin while we were there, so probably spent more time there than we would have. The trigger for us to leave was the weather . . . it started to get very hot!

Next stop Laughlin and back to the dry camping area at the Avi.

2002-03 . . . Episode 7 - Cactus and Ruins

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

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I noticed as we were going down to Mexico, the desert terrain really started changing just as we were coming into the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument area and became even more pronounced as we got across the Mexican border - more Cholla, more Saguaro and certainly more Organ Pipe Cacti - so learning a bout the differences and going through the park was very interesting.

The cacti we saw are actually more resistant to the cold but need more moisture. The park, itself, includes a lot of higher areas like the Ajo Mountains mountain ranges and they claim it is the only area that the Organ Pipe grows in the U.S. but it is most abundant on the Mexican side of the border.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is part of the Sonora Desert and just north of the Mexican border. They have set it aside to preserve the Organ Pipe Cactus.

We had our first experience staying on BLM lands. The Bureau of Land Management lands are unimproved areas where you can camp. There are different areas - the long-term costs $125.00 for a season permit and you can stay there for the entire season. Where we stayed, there was no cost, but you are only allowed to stay 14 days at a time. O.K. by us, we've discovered that two weeks works just fine. Being on the BLM land is certainly different experience. Rigs are scattered scarcely over several square miles some in groups and some individually. These folks have actually developed quite a community. We even went to a community breakfast in "Why" and met people from all over.

I became even more struck by the desolation of the desert here because there is so little civilization around us. Again the sunrises and sunsets are most spectacular. The lush farmland from Gila Bend up to Casa Grande is quite a contrast to the mountains and the desert we'd been in for so long.

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Casa Grande

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Casa Grande National Monument is another ancient ruins site.

The Hohokam lived in compounds with a 7 foot high wall surrounding them. The Casa Grande (Big House) was built in the early 1300's and stood about 35 feet high. They thought it may have functioned as an observatory and calendar. There are windows that align with the sun or moon various significant times of the year. It contains hundreds of imported wood beams that was only accessible over fifty miles away. The special building material (caliche) they used is concrete-like and found a few feet underground. Layers of caliche were piled up about every two feet.

The vision of the ancient people living in the dwellings and compounds and

building those huge structures and canals with no machines . . . unbelievable! I am astounded at how many different tribes there were down here and how far back they date. There's evidence of settlements as far back as 9000 BC and there must be over a dozen different, distinctive cultures. The tribe that settled the Casa Grande area were the Hohokams and they actually were farmers and had extensive irrigation systems.

 

The Tohono O'odham (near where we camped) traditionally seem to be much closer to the Navajo. They depended a lot more on the wild life for their food. I've been looking for some traditional foods but haven't found any yet.

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