Week ending Feb 18, 2016 Gila Bend, Organ Pipe Cactus NM, Vicksburg

Friday was a lazy day, getting a few things done in preparation for our Saturday move.

Saturday we were off early as our planned destination was Holt's Shell station at Gila Bend  which does not take reservations.  We arrived at Holt's just after noon. Paid for a full service site for 2 nights, got the satellite aligned and settled in to watch some provincial men's curling semi-finals. This rv park is one of the best deals we've ever had. With Passport America, only 13.00/day.full service, wifi and cable tv.

Sunday headed to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument which celebrates the life and landscape of the Sonoran Desert. In this desert wilderness of plants and animals and dramatic mountains and plains scenery three unique desert habitats converge within 500 square miles. The Monument exhibits an extraordinary collection of plants of the Sonoran Desert, including the Saguaro and Organ Pipe Cactus, a large cactus rarely found in the United States.  There are also many creatures that have been able to adapt themselves to extreme temperatures, intense sunlight and little rainfall. Sonoran desert plants and animals, found no where else in the United States, are protected throughout the Monument and elsewhere in Arizona. We completed the Ajo Mountain Drive, a 21 mile one way dirt road that took more than 2 hours,  it was a very rough road.  We gave  to the truck a break part way along the drive so that we could do a 2 mile hike to view the Arch. As is often the case, the closer we got to the arch the poorer the picture opportunity. But it was a nice hike. The entire loop with hike took us about 3 hours, so we were glad to have started early to avoid hiking in the heat of the day.

Organ Pipe Cacti

Ocitillo in Bloom

Dead Ocitillo showing internal structure

The Arch

As we pulled onto the highway heading for Gila Bend we saw the  Border Patrol in action. They were placing  a couple of people in the back of their cruiser. As this monument is on the US/Mexican  border we had to go through 2 border patrol checks on the 60 mile drive back to the trailer.  We stopped for a few pictures in Ajo, a pretty town north of Organ Pipe.  This might have been a good place to stay. 

Church in Ajo

Monday  morning, we saw a Purple Finch sitting on our utility stand.

Purple Finch

John took the truck up to a mechanic to find out why our check engine light was on. Just a glo plug, which can wait until we get somewhere with more services. After John returned we headed out to Painted Rock Petroglygh.  This is an ancient archaeological site containing hundreds of symbolic and artistic rock etchings, or "petroglyphs," produced centuries ago by prehistoric peoples. There are also inscriptions made by people who passed through during historic times. 

Many well- known events in Arizona history occurred near the Petroglyph Site, including the expedition of Juan Bautista de Anza that founded San Francisco, the Mormon Battalion and the Butterfield Overland Mail. Formerly a unit of the Arizona State Park system, jurisdiction of Painted Rock Petroglyph Site reverted to the Bureau of Land Management in 1989. This area is by far the most prolific when it comes to petroglyphs that we have ever seen.  On the way back to the trailer, we drove along a farm road, where we saw irrigated fields along the Gila River.  

Tuesday we packed up and were to free camping in BLM land by Vicksburg.  We arrived around lunch. Found a reasonably level spot close to an area that has nice hiking. We promptly got our solar panels set up and then went for a walk.

Wednesday we went for a walk early in the day, in the cool of the day. This area has numerous claims staked, but as long as all we are doing is walking it's not a problem. We hiked up a hill to get the lay of the land further out and discovered there was a shallow mine on the hill we had climbed. The temperature was over 80, time to dig out the hammock and lawn chairs.

Thursday morning dawned cloudy as promised. Imagine a rainbow in the desert. No rain, just a beautiful rainbow. 

We walked into Vicksburg, where there are no stores, no restaurants, just a few dogs quite protective of their yards.   There is a gas station a few miles away. Just want to mention that our solar panels are not over productive on a cloudy day, but the sun has promised to return this afternoon.