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This will be a short story today, before I continue writing about our travels in Arizona and our turn west toward home.  Because I knew nothing about this location when we visited, I needed to do some research before I wrote about it.

Overview of the location of the Fort Bowie National Historic Site

As I wrote in the last post, it was still early in the afternoon when we turned north on Highway 186 to return to Willcox.  Neither of us wanted to end our day at such an early hour, and as we approached the dirt road leading toward the east, we decided to take it, despite the rough, unpaved surface.

Apache Pass to the right of this photo along Highway 186

The sign said, “Fort Bowie National Historic Site Trailhead – 3 Miles”.  Ok then, with only three miles to go, we decided that the washboard gravel surface would be tolerable in the Tracker.  We will avoid washboard gravel roads at all costs in the MoHo, but the Tracker is a 4×4 and handles rough desert roads with ease.

What wasn’t clear from the signs was the actual location of the Fort Bowie Site, and as we approached the trailhead after 3 miles, we learned that the fort site was reached via a three-mile scenic loop hike.  But along the way, we also saw signs that indicated there was an “accessible” route to reach the fort.

We passed right by the trailhead, where there were several parked cars and some hikers with poles leaving their vehicles to begin the hike.  However, additional signs said that people needing the accessible location should continue over the summit of Apache Pass another 3 miles.  After reaching the summit, the road descended toward the valley and the town of Bowie, located adjacent to Interstate 10.  Within a couple of miles, the dirt road turned to pavement, and we had no way to figure out where we were headed since the phone wasn’t working well in this part of the desert.

This is the road sign along Apache Pass Road traveling back west toward the pass from the town of Bowie.

Once again, we saw a sign with an arrow pointing to the accessible parking for the Fort, and once again, the road was rough and unpaved.  After meandering around a bit, with some interesting looking homesites along the way, we came to the park boundary, and finally, around the last curve, we saw a parking lot, some residence trailers, and the park headquarters.  There was one lonely accessible parking slot, and we were lucky to find it empty.  There was another sign pointing uphill toward the Visitor Center and a phone number to call for a shuttle to pick up anyone who couldn’t do the walk.  Except there was also a sign saying that the Visitor Center wasn’t open on Monday, and it just happened to be a Monday.

Short trail from the park headquarters to the Fort Bowie site

I decided to take the walker on the rather steep road so that I could at least have somewhere to sit if I had trouble.  After all, we had been hiking in the Chiricahuas most of the morning, and I was a bit worn. We figured it wouldn’t matter too much to miss the visitor center, but in hindsight, I wish we had done a bit of research before attempting to visit the site without any historical background.

View of what remains of the Officer’s Quarters at Fort Bowie

Meandering up the hill, we saw our first views of the old fort grounds.  Most of the site is a group of ruins, in varying states of decay, and black and white or sepia photographs of what the ruin looked like when it was in use.  

Most of the time, we walked around the area. We were the only people there until a young man caught up with us on the trail, and another couple with a dog followed us toward the mess hall ruin.  At first, it was merely interesting to see the old ruins, but then a particular photograph took my breath away.  

We were standing on the edge of a meadow area that was the exact spot of the surrender and detainment of Geronimo.

The mountain behind the group of people at the fort in the photo was right in my line of sight, making it even more dramatic to be standing in the exact spot where Geronimo stood.  I remember so many stories as a kid of the terrifying Apache and the evil Comanche and of Geronimo and Cochise, who were supposedly the “bad guys” in all the stories back in the 50s when I was growing up. The stories have changed, and the perspective has shifted. They were merely trying to survive the invasion of the white settlers into their ancestral lands.

Image of Fort Bowie in 1894 (photo copied from the park information website)

Fort Bowie was built in 1862 by 1,500 Union Troops whose intended job was to drive Confederate forces out of New Mexico Territory, which included Arizona at the time. The reason for building the fort was because of a battle between the Chiricahua Apache led by the great Cochise and a local rancher who falsely claimed Cochise had kidnapped their son. You can read about this battle at the link here.

Then, in 1862, another clash occurred between the Chiricahua and the Union troops over control of Apache Spring, a water source needed by both groups, resulting in the death of 10 Chiricahua and two soldiers, known as the Battle of Apache Pass.  While researching this battle, I came across this film called “The Battle at Apache Pass“.  I have no idea how to view the film, but it might be fun to see if I could find it.

In 1868, a second Fort Bowie was constructed for use as a military base of operations against the hostile Chiricahua. By 1872, most of the Apache had been captured and relocated to reservations.  However, one group led by Geronimo escaped and avoided capture for another ten years.  Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886, and his group was brought to Fort Bowie.  

As we walked the grounds toward the Visitor Center, the silence of the golden afternoon was mesmerizing.  Mo and I sat on the porch of the Center, rocking in some beautiful reproduction rockers.  In the silence, I could imagine the sounds of horses and men and all that would be part of a busy, working fort in the late 1800s.

I was a bit sad that the Visitor Center wasn’t open because there were many areas of the fort that were labeled but still a bit hard to understand what they may have looked like at one time.  Some areas had old photographs and others only had labels near crumbling adobe ruins.  I think a visit to the center may have added a great deal to our understanding of what we saw as we wandered around the grounds.

I especially wish I had taken a photo from the elevation of the high wooden porch at the Visitor Center, but by the time we were settled into the rockers to rest a bit, I had to turn off my phone.  I had neglected to carry the heavier camera that late in the day and forgot that with even a little bit of ambient heat, my phone would get very hot.  It is an issue that I plan to resolve the minute I can upgrade this Galaxy S22 Plus, which has overheated since I got it almost three years ago.  Longtime readers may remember I got a replacement for this phone back in Maryland on our cross-country trip in 2022.  It was a huge kerfuffle! I carry an ice pack in my purse most of the time, but I certainly didn’t think of that at the end of a long day of hiking and traveling rough roads.

Yes, most of the time, when it isn’t too hot, it takes great photos.  I will be upgrading to an S24Plus, which my daughter has had for some time now and insists it NEVER overheats.  We will see.

I thought perhaps I should explain why I took so few photos on this interesting exploration into an area we had barely heard of before visiting.

We left the Tucson area knowing that our drive would be a short one.  Our destination was the small town of Willcox, Arizona, located only 89 miles east of Tucson on the I-10 route less than 60 miles from the New Mexico border.  We have traveled this route several times over the last 18 years that we have been RVing, most often on our way east toward Florida.

Several times in the past we have looked longingly toward the south and the Chiricahua Mountains with a promise that we would get there…someday.  Often we have been stopped by snow, but on this trip we got lucky and the snow predicted for Sunday was to end on our day planned for the national monument on Monday the 10^th of March.  Finally.  Mo had visited the park many years ago when she was stationed temporarily at Fort Huachuca, in Southern Arizona, but I had never seen it except in photos.  I was excited.

With a check-in time after 1 PM at our park in Willcox and only a two-hour drive, we were not in a big hurry to arrive.  We decided to take the extra time to go off the main route toward the south on the Dragoon Highway to visit a spot recommended to us by Wes and Gayle.  What a terrific choice and a great surprise to find this world-class museum nestled in the hills in the middle of nowhere.

The Amerind Museum was created to foster and promote knowledge and understanding of the native peoples of the Americas through research, understanding, education, and community engagement.  What began as founder William Shirley Fulton’s personal passion for archaeology grew into decades of research advancements and cross-cultural understanding.

As we explored the museum and the surrounding grounds, we were impressed that all the buildings and exhibits were privately funded by the Fulton family and descendants and by private donations.  Many of the exhibits were donated by various tribes throughout the country and philanthropists who chose to have their private collections curated and stored in optimal museum conditions.

The fee to enter the museum did not include an additional fee for hiking and exploring the surrounding trails that are part of the museum property.  Mo and I were content to explore the museum and save our hiking energy for our next day in the mountains.

We found a large area with plenty of room to park the MoHo and turned on the Fantastic Fan to keep Mattie cool while we explored.  We found room after room of well-displayed and curated exhibits with kind and knowledgeable docents who helped me with access for my walker.  I can hike a mile or two, but slow walking with a lot of standing in between is killer so I avoid it when I can.

As is often the case, we were not allowed to take photos inside the museum, but I did steal just one tiny shot with the phone from an upstairs room that was a replica of Fulton’s office in Massachusetts.  The beautiful patina on the wood paneling was real, with the original paneling brought across the country and used in this recreated room.

Without the ability to take photographs of what we saw, I am left with the superb website of the museum that has full explanations and illustrations of the various exhibits.  If you wish to see some of what made this a superb museum, click on the link here.

Sue near where we parked in front of the museum

Other exhibits included  Apache Presence and Continuity with Basketry, the Lindsays’ wedding vases. with their donated collection of more than 300 two-spouted vases, and a beautiful room filled with hundreds of pieces of a century of shiwi (Zuni) and Diné (Navajo) Jewelry.

It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon and we had plenty of time to arrive at our campground at a reasonable hour.  When we made the reservation for Willcox, there were a few choices:  some seemed a bit dicey.  When I attempted to speak with another park, the person who answered the phone said, ” Oh Honey, don’t you worry at all.  We have a lot of people here year round but I am sure we can fit you in.  Just call when you get to Willcox”.  That park was only $70.00 per night.  With a bit of grumbling from Mo, I settled on the KOA in Willcox, Arizona.  

At $101.00 with taxes per night, it was crazy expensive for us and even so, reviews mentioned the noise from the interstate as a problem.  

Site 8 at Willcox KOA

It turned out to be a great choice.  We were met at the check-in area by a very helpful guy named Mike who led us to our site, checked to be sure the BBQ was ready for us and clean, and filled us in right away with some much-needed information about visiting the Chiricahuas the next day.  If it weren’t for Mike we may not have made the effort to leave the park at 7:30 in the morning to be assured of a parking spot at the more popular trail sites.  When we checked in, I mentioned that I had heard highway noise was an issue.  The kind woman at the desk pointed me to a small dish filled with cleanly wrapped new earplugs.  “Oh, Honey, we have that covered here.”  Why does everyone in Arizona call me “Honey”??

Mattie loved the warm sunshine at our patio site at the KOA

The park was exceptionally clean, and the dog park was fenced and clean as well, with agility toys for Mattie to play on and plenty of doggie poop bags. I slept better that night than I had since we were on Ogilby Road with the help of those very good earplugs.

On the morning of March 10, we woke to the rising sun and a temperature of 27 F.  The air was so dry and cold that it crackled.  It has been a very long time since I felt air that is this dry or this cold.  When it is 27 degrees in Grants Pass there is icy fog shrouding the views in all directions.  Here the views seem to go on forever.  We could see the Chiricahua Mountains in the distance, our destination for the day.

When Mo returned from the early morning dog walk,  her white breath came into the rig as she rubbed her hands together wishing she had taken some gloves.  A little hat I knitted years ago warmed her head.  We were excited to see something new and different on this day ahead of us.  We have traveled so much that it is sometimes hard to find places we haven’t seen that interest us.

Leaving in the early hours of the morning has its own special rewards.  The road south toward the park, Highway 191, was almost empty.  We had the road to ourselves.  The combination of vast expanses out the windshield, the empty highway, and the invigorating air triggered what I call a “Joy Moment” for me.  

I don’t get these moments very often and there is no formula that I can use to make them happen.  They come out of nowhere for no reason I can discern.  I had my first recognized “Joy Moment” more than a decade ago as we hiked in Joshua Tree NP, and another one that I remember as I sat in our yard watching the sun wink in and out of the leaves of one of our huge old oaks.

It took less than an hour for us to arrive at the park entrance, with a moment to stop and photograph a group of three javelinas, also known as collared peccaries.

The northwestern entrance to the monument

Chiricahua National Monument is an unexpected treasure in the wild deserts of eastern Arizona.  The geologic forces that created this place of “Standing Up Rocks” as the Apaches called it, are repeated throughout the West.  Layers of the earth’s crust built up over eons suddenly bulge from increasing pressure beneath and a volcano erupts. The result was catastrophic, more than 5 times the volume of the Krakatoa eruption in Indonesia in 1883 and more than ten times the volume of ash and debris expelled by Mt St Helens in 1980.

As the ash and pumice flows slowed, the particles settled in layers of solid rock called welded rhyolitic tuff. The enormous volume of molten rock expelled from the magma chamber caused its roof to collapse, forming the Turkey Creek Caldera.

Mo on the Massai Point trail with the caldera wall in the distance

Faulting and erosion over time have erased all but a few walls of the large caldera.  A bit of this caldera wall is visible from the Massai Point overlook toward the southern end of the park.  As the tuff cooled, it shrank and fractured, forming a series of long, perpendicular, vertical joints, that today look like rows of columns. As weathering and erosion from wind and water have continued over the millennia tall spires and pinnacles developed.

The Visitor Center at Chiricahua National Monument, constructed by the CCC between 1934 and 1940

In addition to the spires and hoodoos in the park, there is a multitude of plant and animal life that reflect the four ecosystems that come together in this “sky island” surrounded by the relatively level plain of southern Arizona and New Mexico deserts.  Four different zones meet right at the center of the Chiricahua National Monument, including the Rocky Mountain zone to the north meeting the Sierra Madre zone of Mexico to the south, and the Sonoran Desert to the west meeting the Chihauhaun Desert on the east. 

The Massai Point Overlook was constructed by the CCC

We decided to skip visiting the Visitor Center until our return trip from the upper parts of the park so that we would be early enough to get good parking for the trails.  Mike had encouraged us to park at Echo Canyon first because it is the most popular, but I wasn’t sure about my ability to hike all the trails. The most dramatic structure built by the CCC workers at the park is the Massai Point Overlook, and I didn’t want to miss hiking to it. 

The trail is an in-and-out round trip of just over half a mile, but it isn’t exactly flat, with some steep sections and rocky stairs at the beginning and end of the hike.  I was thrilled that I could still manage a hike like this one, especially since the views in all directions were so spectacular.  However, I made no attempt to climb the winding narrow rock stairs to the top of the overlook structure.

See the overlook structure to the left of Sue

Mo climbing the stairs on the return to the parking lot on the Massai Point Trail

After this hike, we drove back to the Echo Trail Head where we decided to try the mile round trip route down to what is called the Grotto.  By this time the parking area was nearly full, but with our little blue tag, we found a parking spot.  The temperature was beginning to warm up and there were a lot more people on the trail than earlier in the morning.

I love this image of one of the amazing stonework walls created on this trail by the CCC

At this link is a fascinating pdf for anyone interested in reading about the details of the CCC at Chiricahua National Monument. The CCC camp NM2A at Chiricahua existed for six years between 1934 and 1940. In that short span of time, enrollees and the foremen who directed them built an entire recreational site and associated NPS management district, including 17 miles of trails, eight miles of reconstructed roadway, a campground, an administrative center, and housing and maintenance facilities. Chiricahua’s landscape is dense with CCC accomplishments; there are few places in the park where visitors will not experience a constructed feature of that era.

After returning from the Grotto trail we drove up to the trailhead for the Sugarloaf Mountain Trail.  At the top of Sugarloaf Mountain is a lookout that was also built by the CCC.  The trail was long and steep and some hikers returning said that there was ice on the trail and they decided to turn around.  We walked up a little bit just to get a feeling for the views from this high point in the park.

Snow near the beginning of the Sugarloaf Mountain Trail

Panorama from a point on one of the trails showing the Arizona desert in the distance

After our hikes, we drove back through the canyon to the Visitor Center which by this time of day was rather crowded.  I spent some time looking at a few goodies and did manage to find a very nice tee shirt with Chiricahua Rocks on the front.  I have soooo many tees from so many desert places, but I do wear them out so it is nice to have another one that is still new.

We were able to take Mattie with us for our early morning hikes because the temperatures were cool enough that she could wait in the car safely.  Dogs are not allowed anywhere on the trails in the park with one exception.  I remembered that a short paved trail was accessible for wheelchairs and walkers and dogs were allowed on the Bonita Creek Loop Trail near the entrance to the park

I appreciated that the trail was paved with concrete rather than asphalt so it wasn’t terribly hot for little dog feet even though the air temperature was in the 80’s.

The sun felt warm and skies were blue and as we left the park boundary, we were surprised that it was still only 2 in the afternoon.  What to do?  We had noticed a dirt road meandering off toward the east as we drove toward the park earlier that morning and wondered where it went.

Next Post:  What did we find at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains?

Joanne and Mo saying goodbye as we get ready to travel again

We traveled easily from our boondock site at Ogilby Road, leaving Phil and Joanne with hugs and promises of meeting up again somewhere along the way as we return to Oregon.  Mo and I traveled south to I-8, turning west toward Yuma, appreciating every mile of smooth pavement on that highway. 

George Yates at Blogger  Fest 2016

As we traveled, we chatted about old friends and old memories that we made over the years.  Ten years ago Mo and I visited with many popular bloggers of that time at a celebration called “bloggerfest’, hosted by a well-known and well-loved blogger named George.  Like many others of that time, George taught  me so much and it was great to meet him in person.  Also, like many others who were so well known during the great hey-dey of RV blogging, George has passed and his memory lives on in uncounted ways. 

As we passed several huge RV parks in Winterhaven along the interstate west of Yuma, we recalled some of George’s stories of staying in those parks in the winter. George and Suzie Yates were from Ontario, and spent winters boondocking on Ogilby Road and staying in the big parks with swimming pools and lots of friends to share happy hours and trips to Algadones nearby for various medical treatments. 

Kelly (Gail) and Al Bossence at Bloggerfest 2016.  RIP sweet Kelly

Not only has the RVing world of full-timers completely changed, but how people communicate on the road has shifted immeasurably.  In those days we were all struggling with internet connectivity, and now many are working on the road with Star-Link.  Many back then were older retired people with huge 40-foot motorhomes or fifth-wheels, and these days the roads are filled with a younger generation of van lifers working from the road, home-schooling their kids, and traveling in much smaller rigs as a general rule.

The trip to Tucson was uneventful and we kept in touch with Phil and Joanne, checking in with them as we turned from I-8 toward I-10 and Tucson, passing Picacho Peak State Park along the way where they would be camping for several days.  After being on the road together since mid-February, I found I was missing their company.  We each had people to visit from opposite ends of Arizona.  They would continue north toward Camp Verde and Mo and I continued south and east toward our favorite spot to camp in Tucson, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The Boneyard Vista Family Camp at DM AFB is a perfect home base for spending time in Tucson.  Mo and I did stay at Catalina State Park one year, north of the city, but the reservation window for that park is tight and popular, and getting a site is nearly impossible.

This year at the Air Force base campground we had the choice of several full hook-up sites but chose instead to park out in what is called the “overflow” area, without hookups.  It is an easy place to dry camp, with spacious sites, plenty of open areas for dog-walking and all the amenities we could possibly need to dry-camp comfortably.  

Best free dump site we know of

The morning after we arrived, we pulled in the slide and drove around the corner to the perfectly angled RV dump, filled up our water tanks, dumped our garbage, and drove back around the block to settle in once again to our site.

The laundry room is roomy and the price now is 2 bucks a load instead of buck a load.

I then walked a few hundred feet to the biggest, cleanest, nicest bathrooms we have experienced on the road for a long very hot shower.  We decided that the laundry could wait another day and left the base at 12 to be at Wes and Gayle’s home in Sahuarita by 1PM.   

Gayle often has some sort of activity planned for our visit and this time she had tickets for a musical show at a local venue in nearby Green Valley at the Community Performing Arts Center.  As always when we visit, before the show we were treated to an afternoon of what I call “Gayle cocktails”, with sugared rims, fancy glasses, and interesting ingredients.

Their home is so inviting, and the art is much like visiting a lovely southwestern museum, with a few pieces that defy categorization.  Every time I am here, I wander around asking Gayle again where she got a particular piece, and she is very knowledgeable about various southwestern artists.

Before happy hour we walked the desert gardens of their home that Wes tends so lovingly.  Wes is meticulous about his gardens, and we are always reminded of the beautiful patterns he raked in the gravel in the forested property where they lived next door to us in Rocky Point in the snowy part of Oregon not far from Crater Lake.

As always, after happy hour cocktails and “snacks”, as Gayle calls them, we were treated to another one of Gayle’s wonderful dinners in their lovely dining room.  Gayle has a tree in that room that always reflects the season and this time the tree was trimmed in honor of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day.  

The table setting was all in greens and golds and browns to fit perfectly with our supper of an old-fashioned layered dish with stuffing, chicken, and sauce served with a side dish of some sort of amazing potatoes, and asparagus drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It was all so comforting and so yummy. Wes made a chocolate éclair dessert cake that was decadent and wonderfully creamy.

I stole this photo from the All American Girls website.  A bit fuzzy but you get the idea

The show we were to see was called “All American Girls: Celebration of Women in Country”.  Gayle didn’t have a lot of confidence in how good the show would be, especially since she isn’t particularly a fan of country music.  We were all surprised at the great show, with the three girls singing some awesome country music in three-part harmony.  However, the two women who stole the show and had me clapping so hard I bruised my hands were Heather Stricker on the electric fiddle and Mitzi Cowell on the electric guitar.  Wow, just wow.  As is always the case, we were told that absolutely no photos were allowed during the concert. 

Tucson native musician Mitzi Cowell’s music is a gumbo of desert swamp funk and unique songwriting in a base of blues and old-school R&B. Mitzi is an Arizona Blues Hall of Famer, as well as the winner of the 2012 Tucson Folk Festival Songwriting Competition. 

The show was great fun and we had a really good time listening to musicians and vocalists that rivaled the best.

By the time the show was over and we traveled back north to the base it was dark.  The area around Tucson is darker than most thanks to some of the dark-sky laws in place throughout the area.  I like those rules except when we are trying to navigate an area that isn’t familiar to us.  We chose to return to the base via the I-19 freeway between downtown Tucson and the Mexican border, a mistake we didn’t make again.

I called Gayle when we arrived back at the rig to ask if we could have an early dinner the next day so that we could be sure to leave their place no later than 6PM.  Wes just laughed at me, since he is used to navigating Tucson roads and Tucson drivers.  Don’t ask my opinion of the majority of drivers in and around Tucson.  We dealt with what were most certainly drunk drivers, aggressive drivers and a couple of young men who walked right out in front  us nearly colliding with our car.  I was a wreck when we got home and I wasn’t even driving.

The next day, we did laundry and some shopping at the commissary before traveling once again to Wes and Gayle’s home for another entertaining afternoon of cocktails, “snacks” and conversation.  Someone decided a game would be fun and Mo taught our friends to play the domino game we like best, “Racehorse”. 

We had great fun while Gayle played the game, jumping up and down and making several Asian dishes that she had fully prepped before we arrived.  Dinner was amazing as always and I have no idea how she managed to get it together while playing dominoes. 

Again, the table was perfectly coordinated with the meal with a beautiful setting that included chopsticks on holders from Thailand and a lovely, enameled wine holder from their recent trip to Viet Nam and Cambodia.  During supper we enjoyed more great conversations about their trip and their plans for travel in the coming months.  It was a wonderful visit with our friends, especially treasured because they won’t be traveling to Oregon in the coming year, and we decided that we will probably skip traveling all the way to Tucson when we go south next winter.

Our trip home that evening was much simpler and more relaxing after we discovered a back road south that avoided the freeway completely. All those funny little loops as we get closer to the base reflect the fact that the only gate open after 6 p is the main north gate.  I realize that anyone who isn’t retired military cannot camp at these family camps, but I do like to share how nice they are and what a remarkable benefit for retired military personnel as Mo is.

Arizona is well known for its amazing sunsets and our last night at Davis-Monthan didn’t disappoint.

Katie met us for breakfast in Tucson

The next morning, before packing up to continue eastward in Arizona, we met with an old friend at a local breakfast spot.  Katie was a young soil scientist when I met her when we both worked in the Klamath Falls soil survey. We kept in touch and I knew she was working in Tucson, and called to see if she wanted to meet.  The breakfast place, Joe’s Pancake House, was a popular spot and we were lucky to get a table after just a short wait.

Some of my favorite photos of Katie include her dog Bud and her kitty Flower (now passed).  Bud and Flower were Katie’s constant companions as she hiked and explored all over the wild parts of the west.  They both hiked with her off-leash and kept her company on many a road trip.

Catching up in person with Katie was delightful, even though some of her news was a bit sad.  She is now the watershed manager and soil scientist for a large National Forest in Wyoming and will shortly return there for field season.  Sadly, her three tech assistants were fired in the recent firing of probationary or part-time employees working for the US Forest Service and other agencies that are under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture.  Katie was trying to imagine how she would manage all the field work alone in addition to running the program and handling all the soil science work as well.  It sounded daunting. 

Mo and Mattie resting before we continue our travels 

Our time in Tucson was more about visiting with friends this year rather than seeing the sights.  The next few days of our travels would be just for the two of us visiting a place I have wanted to see for years.  In the past, we have been thwarted by snow but this year the snow prediction was to end the day we planned to arrive.

Coming up:  We visit Chiricahua National Monument and the Fort Bowie National Historic Site

At last, we are in our happy place, soaking up the sun and the silence of the open desert on Ogilby Road north and west of Yuma, Arizona. It is so completely different from our life during the previous week at Catalina Spa.

On Monday morning, we readied the MoHo for travel, filled with anticipation for the next step in this winter journey.  The routine is familiar, yet each time we pull out of the driveway of Catalina Spa for the last time for the winter, the view of the magnificent eastern slope of Mt. San Jacinto takes my breath away.   

The winds were still blowing over 25 mph, and the snow level on the mountain was much lower than it had been during our entire visit.  The arrangement was to meet Phil and Joanne at the Chevron station on the corner of the turnoff to Anza Borrego at Salton City.  However, Joanne was having some serious back issues and finally reached her tolerance limit.  She left the campground early that morning in the car, leaving Philip to follow later in their Unity Leisure Time motorhome.  We kept in touch as best we could via phone calls and text messages on our way south and east through the wide and fertile Imperial Valley toward Westmoreland, where Mo and I filled the vehicles at a fairly new, very nice, spacious Loves station. A little side note here:  we have the Loves app, which allows us to save ten cents a gallon with a swipe of the bar code at the pump.  However, the swipe never works, and I have to go inside, stand in line, get the swipe, and prepay.  The cashier and I laughed together about this process, guessing that Love’s wants to be sure we go inside and buy stuff.  After fueling, we then turned toward Brawley, where Phil was waiting with Joanne at the Valley Immediate Care, hoping for some answers as to what was wrong and what was causing her pain. 

It is hard to be ill when so far from home, seeing doctors you aren’t familiar with and who have no clue about your medical history.  Joanne received a prescription for something or other and let us know they were waiting at Rite-Aid to have it filled. Mo and I found a nice wide side road in Brawley with plenty of open parking for the MoHo and Tracker on the shoulder. It was a perfectly sweet spot for us to relax a bit and for Mo to take Mattie for a nice walk along the grassy path adjacent to the roadway.

Another text message let us know they would be leaving soon, and Mo and I decided to continue east toward Glamis, amid the dunes. It was only about 20 minutes or so before Phil pulled up behind us in their rig, with Joanne following in the car. 

Mo and I like to stop at a historic site along the road before we reach the turn south on Ogilby Road.  I told Phil it would be a good spot for him and Joanne to hook up their car before continuing our quest to find a precious open spot in the wide open desert.

The wind was still blowing so strongly that Mattie looked as though she had stand-up ears.  Even with the wind, the temperatures were warm, almost perfect, and Mo and I changed to lighter clothes. 

Last year when we camped at Ogilby I marked a spot on google maps and planned to use the gps coordinate for that spot to get us back to the same sweet space. I found the spot but it was all different and I couldn’t find the entrance to the level desert pavement location that just didn’t look quite right.  It is a bit disconcerting to be leading our little group to a perfect spot and not being able to find it.  We all turned around at the Tumco Historic Site road and backtracked a bit until I found an entrance to the desert that worked well enough to let us drive far enough off the road to escape too much road noise or for anyone to bother us.  Whew!  After a bit of a long and disjointed morning, it was wonderful to finally be in the silence of an open desert with very few distractions.

Mo and I know exactly what we love about boondocking in a place like Ogilby Road, but we also know that it is an acquired taste. I was a bit nervous about introducing my friends to this kind of camping and hoped they wouldn’t hate it.  There is just no way of knowing if the open empty desert will appeal to someone.

There is less than 3 inched of precipitation per year in this most western and southern portion of California, bounded on the south and the west by the huge an shifting Imperial sand dunes and on the east by the rugged peaks of the Picacho Peak Wilderness Area to the west of the Colorado River and the lush landscape of the Imperial wildlife refuge.

With only 3 inches of rain, there is very little vegetation and the landscape that isn’t mountainous and too rugged for a big motorhome is often dominated by “desert pavement”. Not  being a desert dweller, Phillip wondered aloud if the smooth, evenly sized and shaped rocks that formed the surface of the landscape had been hauled in.  Nope, desert pavement if formed by the repeated cycles of shifting and settling  through wind erosion and rare wetting of finer particles of soil and sand sifting down through the rocks before they become much like cement glueing the rocks together in a solid layer that is much like pavement. Once you have found an extensive level spot, often marked by stone fire rings from previous campers, it is highly likely that leveling the rig will be straightforward and there won’t be any shifting sands beneath your feet

The lack of rain of course make for limited vegetation except of a few small plants in the sinuous draws that divide the upland areas of desert pavement.  Fewer plants also means fewer bugs, and it is rarely necessary to worry about closed screen doors when camping.

For us there is a beauty to this kind of emptiness, a retreat from the sounds of life and civilization at home.  It is a kind of meditation to be in an empty desert that isn’t filled with distraction. The eyes rest on the shifting shades of brown and chocolate that color the rugged mountains around us. A bright  blossom of a struggling ocotillo in the draw is spectacular by its simplicity.  Mo gets out our bright red chairs and when we walk the dog for a bit of distance those red chairs stand out like beacons against the flowing browns and tans of our rig which blend right into the mountains around us.

Phil and Joanne found their own sweet spot just a few hundred feet from us and before long, Phil was climbing a nearby hill to get the lay of the land. Mo and I took Mattie for a long walk and watched Phil from a distance, knowing he would be enjoying the wide open spaces that opened out in all directions from the view on that small hill.

As the sun set and evening settled in, the four of us gathered chairs to visit a bit and talk about our day and our plans for the next day in the desert.  The wind was still rather chilly, and we didn’t last long outside before retreating to the warmth of our rigs to settle into a silent and dark sleep.

I slept better during that first night on Ogilby Road than I had slept on the entire trip and woke up easily and gently into the quiet warmth of a desert morning after the wind had died down.

 The next morning, the four of us agreed that it would be a good day for each of us to explore on our own.  Phil was interested in exploring the area around the American Girl Mine, a few miles south of our boondock site.  Mo and I decided it was a good day to explore the meandering dirt roads we could see leading into the hills to the east of us.

Wandering desert roads into hidden canyons has always been something that Mo and I have loved to share since we first knew each other.  Nothing for us is quite as sweet as putting the Tracker into 4-wheel drive and pointing in an unknown direction to see where we end up.

On this sunny and finally windless morning we meandered up the road to discover an old mining site.  Online it is called El Colorado Mine, but the stones said La Colorado Mine.  We didn’t find the shaft that I read about, but Mo found an old dump with cans and broken glass.  

Mo used to travel the deserts of California when she taught there and has a large collection of old bottles.  The treasure is always the bottles with lavender glass that has changed in the desert sunlight.  There were no old bottles at this site, but it was still fun to poke around a bit there.

After exploring as far as we thought was safe in the car, we returned to Ogilby Road and drove south a couple of miles to the entrance to the Tumco Historic Townsite road.  We were stopped at a gate with another mile and a half walk up to the actual townsite.  

The path was rocky and uneven and we decided that it might not be worth the effort to hike up the slope to the town.  From what I could see there aren’t any actual buildings left and the hike would take us to signs with photos of what was once there.

The following text is from the BLM website about the town of Tumco:

“Tumco is an abandoned gold mining town and is also one of the earliest gold mining areas in California. It has a history spanning some 300 years, with several periods of boom and bust. Originally named Hedges, the town was completely abandoned in 1905, victim to speculative over-expansion and increasing debt. Renamed Tumco in 1910 — after The United Mines Company — another attempt to go after the gold proved just as costly.

By 1911, the diminishing prospects of the mines forced the miners and their families to return to Yuma, signaling the end of Hedges/Tumco as a community. Gold was first discovered by Spanish colonists as they moved northward from Sonora, Mexico. According to legend, two young boys came into their camp one evening with their shirts filled with gold ore. These muchachos cargados (loaded boys) were the namesake for the Cargo Muchacho Mountains, where the Tumco deposits occur. Following the first discovery of gold, numerous small mines were operated by Mexican settlers for many years.

In 1877, the Southern Pacific Railroad completed the Yuma to Los Angeles line of its transcontinental route. With the presence of the mountains, a gold rush into the area began. This initial rush to stake mining claims soon gave way to mining companies that moved into the area, purchased claims and developed the mines on a large scale. A 12 mile wood pipeline pumped over 100,000 gallons of water from the Colorado River per day, and the railroad carried mine timbers from northern Arizona for use in the expansive underground workings. Ultimately, over 200,000 ounces of gold was taken from the mines in the area. Tumco was a typical mining town of its day.

Historical accounts talk of rich eastern investors, unscrupulous charlatans and colorful characters in the raucous townsite and the mining boom ultimately leading to financial ruin. Although little can be seen of Tumco, during the boom time of the 1890’s, it supported a population of at least 500 people and the 40 and 100 stamp mills of the mine produced $1,000 per day in gold.”

After wandering a bit we sat on a nice little bench with a bit of a shade shelter and enjoyed our picnic lunch.  Egg salad sandwiches are another tradition for the two of us on back country trips.  Sandwiches, fritos, and diet pepsi are always healthy and nourishing under the desert sun. 

Back on Ogilby Road, we drove south to the intersection of Interstate 8 at the southern end of the road where it ends at the Imperial Sand Dunes.  We were hunting for a place for Mattie to run in the sand, one of her favorite things to do.  She loved the sand, but had to be encouraged a bit to run up the steep dune hills.  Our little sweetheart will be 11 this August and just like us, she is beginning to slow down a little bit.

We arrived back at our campsite in mid-afternoon just a few minutes before our friends returned from their explorations.  Phil had some very interesting photos of the American Girl Mine pit, which I had never seen before. 

I started to research a bit to write about the mine, and my research led right away to a post by Nina Fussing, our friend who now lives in France.  Nina is the one who first taught us about boondocking in this area with this eloquent and informative post about the American Girl Mine.  No one can write quite like Nina, so rather than attempting to come up with something myself, if you are interested, you can read all about it at this link.  https://www.wheelingit.us/2011/12/10/in-search-of-gold-american-girl-mine-ca/

The afternoon was perfect for resting in the warm sunshine and soft breezes.  The four of us agreed to meet at 4pm for happy hour and possibly a card game. Mo decided to skip the game and Phil, Joanne, and I happily played Skip-Bo, the game taught to us so many years ago by John and Carol.

Phil and Joanne went back to their rig for their supper and Mo got out the bbq  so I could make pork chops and baked potatoes with a salad.  We have discovered the hard way that keeping fresh salad greens in the MoHo fridge isn’t very easy and packaged salads that are based on a cabbage and kale base seem to keep best for a week or so.  Dinner was luscious.

While I cooked supper, Mo readied the campfire for our last night on the open desert.  Phil and Joanne brought their chairs over to our place and the fire was incredible.  The wood that I picked up for free at Catalina Spa from a camper who was leaving was dry and burned hot and long.  I think that small fire lasted for several hours.

We got out our phones and tried to figure out how to use the Starwalk app to track what was above us in the desert night sky.  The crescent moon lit the west and Venus looked huge.  We found Jupiter and Mars, Orion and the Great Bear (Big Dipper).  Cassiopea was right  where she was supposed to be.  Stars always remind me of my smallness in the space and time of the Universe.  I love that they always show up no matter what is going on in the world.

The night was perfect, a wonderful sendoff for shared time with our friends until our paths cross again on the route home.

Traveling South on Arizona Highway 191 toward the Chiricahaus

I haven’t kept  up well with the blog since we left Desert Hot Springs on March 3.  Everyone knows what that means.  We have been having too much fun and moving along fairly quickly with little time to write.  I have managed to process photos and write a bit each day about where we are and what we are doing, but that writing still needs a bit of polishing to be blog worthy.

Leaving Catalina Spa and RV Resort

Since I left everyone hanging after Mo’s birthday I thought this morning it would be good to do a quick update.  More posts will follow with the stories and photos of our adventures.

March 3  and 4 Ogilby Road

Settled in at a boondock site off of Ogilby Road

We spent two beautiful days with our friends boondocking in the open desert.  Sunsets, sunrises, silent nights and a wonderful campfire were highlights.

March 5 through March 9

Our very pleasant overflow site at the Boneyard Vista Campground

We drove east on Interstate 8 toward Interstate 10 and Tucson where we camped in the lovely open space of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base family camp at the Boneyard Vista campground. While there we visited our friends Wes and Gayle not far away in Sauharita and enjoyed two lovely “Gayle” dinners.  We connected with a work friend of mine before continuing east toward Winslow, Arizona.

March 9 and 10

We spent an incredible time in the area, stopping for a visit to the Amerind Museum along I-10 before settilng in to our park in Willcox.  It was a perfect location for our day spent touring and hiking in the Chiricahua Mountains and a little side trip to the Fort Bowie National Historic Site.

March 11 and 12

Settled into our park in Wikenburg, we visited our friends Mike and Janna.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner and Mattie and their pup Kayce had a fantastic time running and playing together

At the moment, we are sitting in the cozy MoHo with full hookups.  Last night’s rain has stopped but everything is still wet and the skies are gray.  Our plans for today are simple.  We are relaxing in preparation for our trip home.  The next four days are filled with all sorts of weather advisories including wind, rain, snow, and flooding along our route.  With a full schedule of appointments beginning on Monday morning, there isn’t time to dawdle.

Daughter Deanna sent a message to me at 5:30 am this morning asking if we were going to be safe.  She was watching the weather for us and was getting the advisories.  It reminded me of the days when she and Keith were full time truckers and I would watch weather for her and we would text back and forth.  Daughters Deborah and Melody are also anxious for us to be back home as well.  Even my friend Maryruth is ready for me to be back at Sunset House just a mile from her home in Grants Pass.

It is funny that even though we are as close as a phone call or a text message, it still feels different.  I am at that stage of a trip as well.  Most of the adventurous part of this journey is behind us and like a horse to the barn, I am ready to be home.

I will continue to flesh out our recent travels with words and photos so there will be more to come.  I just thought a short update might be in order since I am no longer posting regularly on Facebook and many long distance friends may be wondering where we are.  Till later: