My Trails

No Arms

There was a story told to me by two people camped here at Gunsight Wash about a woman and her son who lived in the desert behind the BLM boondocking area. She was known as the crazy lady. Sometimes people get an unflattering label attached to them just because they are different than what we perceive is normal. This story is based mostly on rumor but here is what was told to me:

Long before this land was BLM, a woman and her son lived in Ajo, AZ. It is not altogether certain if the son got mixed up with the wrong crowd and got into drugs or if he was afflicted by some disorder like severe ADD, but whatever the reason, the mother took her son and moved to a remote part of the desert. No one knows what they lived in or much of anything more about how they lived. The story is that every day the woman would walk her son two miles to the road where he would meet the bus. There are rumors of how they lived but the only fact that can be substantiated is the display of rocks that the boy crafted during their time there.

I wanted to see if there was any evidence of the rock art that still existed so I rode Honda back through the desert yesterday. The people camped there gratiously showed me around and told me what they knew about the lady and her son. Apparently, the son did most of the work of carrying stones, laying them in heart-shaped rings around every bush and tree, making walkways, and building rock gardens. It was probably some kind of therapy activity.

The people that are camped there now are cleaning up some of the trash left. I guess not all the old lady and her son’s activities were making home beautiful. Eventually, the land became BLM and they moved all squatters out.

Ajo was home to the first copper mine in AZ, but since it closed the only thing that keeps the town alive is the tourists driving through to visit Organ Pipe National Monument, and the modern, mega complex located a few miles south in Why, AZ., comprising the headquarters to hundreds of boarder patrol agents. Every day the helicopter stationed there takes off to patrol the surrounding area.

Organ Pipe cactus don’t like frost. They are mostly indigenous to Mexico but some thrive in the south part of Arizona. This is all part of the Sonoran Desert, a place so arid that here the Saguaro have trouble getting enough moisture to make arms. Where I’m camped about the only thing growing is creosote bushes. Everyone says that no one is enforcing the 14 day limit. Even the camp host says that if a ranger comes through and says anything we will just play musical chairs and shuffle everyone up.

Petroglyphs

13 gallons of water

For over a week in the middle of January, I was one sick puppy. I had a fever that flirted with 103 degrees and the energy resembling that of a slab of meat. Concensus is that it was the flu, and if there is even a remote chance it can be prevented in the future, I will certainly get that flu shot next year. Even now my energy level is not quite up to par and I still have a bit of congestion deep in my lungs.

I have been to Mexico for dental and my annual meds. I still have one more trip tomorrow for the permanent crown. There is more work to do on my teeth but I’m trying to space it out each year so as not to break the bank. It is a toss-up whether the fixes will ever catch up with the damage. Like most of us this age we all wish we would have taken better care of our teeth.

Yesterday I rode Honda up to Imperial Dam LTVA. I keep hoping that AT&T has put up another tower and now I will be able to get cell signal. Imperial Dam LTVA is the best long term facility that I have ever stayed at and they keep making improvements to it all the time. They now have separate lanes to fill water tanks and relieve congestion at the faucets. For the long term visitor, Imperial Dam has everything you need except….. AT&T cell signal.

Of course I had to stop at Imperial Date Company and have one of their delicious date shakes. It has been quite some time since I’ve had any ice cream and that shake sure tasted good.

The trip wouldn’t be complete without stopping to wander through the old war tanks on display outside the Yuma Proving Grounds. There is a new building on site that advertised itself as a visitors center but it was locked tight. I looked through the window of the door and thought I saw chairs arranged in front of a screen. Maybe there is a time they will show a film.

I drove back through Yuma and stopped to pick up a couple cheeseburgers at Burger King. I would like to take some fresh fruit back to my camp but I’m always afraid the checkpoint entering California will trip me up. There is probably no worries because I have always been waved on through whenever I have been on my motorcycle.