My Trails

For the last few days I have been homesteading in Quartzsite, AZ. Well… homesteading may be a misleading term, but I have staked out a small piece of desert real estate where I have parked my house. No one seems to mind or even notice that I’m here – I’m only one of thousands of recreational vehicles camping this public land. The town of Quartzsite is hosting it’s annual, giant tent sale (really just a huge flea market), drawing droves of retirees and vacationers to the area.

Richard and Dianna are parked at the La Posa LTVA south of town. It is only 5 miles from my site so it is easy for us to get together. We’ve walked through the market place a couple of times, browsing numerous booths of tools, clothes, jewelry, hardware, housewares, hats, and bangles, everything you could ever imagine never needing.

I’ve been devoting a couple of days for making improvements to my van. Thanks to Richard, my solar panel is now generating all my electrical needs. Richard is an expert at solar-systems for RVs, and he walked me through the process of hooking everything up. Yesterday I built a battery box and mounted the solar controller under my bed. The next step will be to fasten the panel to the roof of my van.

I also found a reasonably priced antenna for my TV. We are in such a remote area of AZ, my rabbit-ears just wouldn’t cut it. With this new amplified antenna I mounted on the back of my van, I now get several stations from Phoenix and Yuma.

We have enjoyed riding motorcycles around town, and yesterday we rode south to a place called Stone Cabin where they have delicious ice cream. Dianna said that the girl who usually works the counter, dips huge cones. It was probably good that we didn’t eat more of the sweet desert and resolved to make it our dinner.

Today was a hiking day. We drove to a place called Palm Canyon, situated at the end of a washboardy, dirt road about ten miles south of Q. Although it was a short hike, the terrain and rock-scramble made for a good workout. At the end of the main trail we came to a sign that pointed to a grove of Fan Palms, high in a side canyon above us; it is the only place they grow in the southwest.

Tonight it has started to rain. The forecast is bleak for the next few days so we may be spending time resting, more repairs, or taking the car on an excursion. Hey, its kind of nice to be able to do whatever we want.

Everytime you drive from Yuma to Quartzsite, you pass through a Border Patrol checkpoint. The Agents are always polite and nice, and I knows I have nothing to hide, but I still get a little nervous when I pull up. I think in the back of my mind I’m paranoid that I will act suspicious, and they will tear the van apart piece by piece looking for contraband.

I’ve been spending some time in Quartzsite. The snowbirds are here in full force and many more are coming in every day. It is always easy for me to find a good spot to park in the campground, though – I can get into a lot of places the big rigs don’t dare go. I like to park way back in, preferably near a grove of trees, situated out of site of the camp host. You are supposed to register with the host, even when you park in the boondocks, but I don’t think many do. Most of the time, the camp host is off-duty anyway. I don’t want to register because I’m afraid they will ask me if I’m self-contained, and then they will tell me to move on when they find out I’m not.

Tomorrow I will drive my motorcycle to the town of Bouse – the scene of the crime so to speak. It is something I am compelled to do. I’m not sure why, and it really makes no sense. Logic says to stay away and reason says don’t go back there, but until I see the place again and pass through to the other side, I can’t put it behind me.

I will spend a couple more days here and then head back to Phoenix. I have some modifications on my van that I want to make, and parts are easier to find in the city. The timing will be good too – Richard and Dianna should be arriving soon.

Yesterday was a gloomy day here in the desert. It’s quite unusual for gray, overcast sky to prevail for any length of time in the southwest, but prevail they did for almost the entire day. In the campground where I spent the night, rows of monster RV’s, with plates of black, shiny, solar panels reaching from their roofs, were denied Arizona’s most natural resource – sunshine. I was denied the warmth of a solar bath.

I stayed last night at the Imperial Dam LTVA, a few miles north of Yuma. Of all the LTVA campgrounds I’ve been to, this one is certainly equipped with the most services. Flush toilets, trash service, drinking water, 4 dumping stations, and even showers (as long as you like cold showers), were situated in the main parking area. The only drawback for me was the absence of any cell signal. I tried every knoll and knob but to kno avail.

This morning I moved a few miles north to a place called Fishers Landing. There is a dry camping area, equipped with restrooms, showers, and a small store nearby. I will stay here for a couple of days and then inch slowly back toward Quartzsite.

While passing from CA into AZ, the road takes you by the Yuma Army Proving Grounds, a desolate Army base, built by design in the harsh conditions of the desert. The base was and is one of the major places used to train soldiers and test equipment in the extreme environment of the desert.

Tanks

A few miles from the base is a display, featuring all types of war machines. I stopped and spent an hour or so browsing rows of obsolete tanks, rocket launchers, and howitzers. It was quite interesting to read their statistics and how they were used.

I think I may have given you the wrong idea. There is no way, especially this time of year, that I’m even thinking of attempting a thruhike of the PCT. I know that’s what I said before I started the AT, but rest assured that, if nominated I will not hike. The PCT is a young man’s hike and takes a lot of planning, all together different than my ‘fly by wire’ approach. All I’m trying to do is scope out some small day-hikes for spring.

For the last couple of days, I’ve been playing the tourist. I stopped at the Imperial Sand Dunes and talked with two nice rangers at the visitors center. The area is playground to hundreds of vacationers with off-road vehicles. The dunes are alive with dirt bikes, quads, and buggies, all racing across the sand like ants disturbed from their hill. As long as I was there, the rangers suggested I drive down to the site of the old plank road.

Back in the early 1900’s, automobile travel between Phoenix and San Diego along the southern route was almost impossible because of the deep sand dunes barring the way. Some guy got the idea of building a wooden, plank road across the sand, enabling old Model-T’s and the like, safe passage to and from the coast. It only lasted a few years – drifting sand would bury the road every few days, making it very difficult to keep open. They still keep a piece of the road as a historical site.

I am happy to report that I’m back riding my motorcycle. I even went a couple miles on a dirt road. It wasn’t hard to get back on the bike but it has been hard to ride when it’s so cold!