Katherine Landing Sunshine and Mojave Desert Preserve, Finally!

Thursday, March 7^th, the sun came out and we needed new plans. The Lake Meade area is one we have explored in the past, and any farther north would be too cold. It was now too cold to go to Mojave Desert Preserve. We would have to wait again. The warmest and driest weather appeared to be in the Bullhead, Arizona area, so we drove south to explore the southernmost tip of the Lake Meade National Recreation Area. We found a campsite, (dry again), at Katherine Landing just north of Davis Dam that holds back the Colorado River here, and forms Lake Mojave.

Enjoying our Katherine Landing campsite, screened by lush oleanders

Apparently, houseboats are big on Lake Mojave!

Lake Mojave at Cabinsite Cove

Since we needed to have mail sent from our mail forwarding service in Florida, we requested that it be sent to the Bullhead City UPS store. That was going to take a week, so we settled in at South Campground just up the hill from the marina. We managed to escape the rain most of the week, except for one day, but, that cleared by late afternoon. Another day we drove the area and explored the back roads. We came across the first wild burros we have seen in all our travels in the west! They really wanted to be fed, but looked quite healthy.

Wild burros stalking their prey!

Moving in for the kill....

This one claimed to be a housebroken lap-burro but we did not believe him.

Greg did a little biking, but there weren't many places to go without huge hills! We enjoyed walks down the hill in late afternoon to visit the quiet marina and check out the lake, ducks, fish and boats. We took advantage of being near a good sized town and bought groceries, did laundry, and treated ourselves to lunch out at a really good Mexican restaurant, El Charro.

Huge carp and ducks begging for treats in the marina.

Katherine Landing Marina

Wildflowers thriving after the rain

Finally, the mail arrived on Wednesday and Thursday, March 14^th, we decided the weather was clear and warming, so we traveled to Mojave Desert Preserve. On the way to the park we passed through a Joshua Tree forest, past a huge solar electric generating station, and climbed up to over 4,000' where it was 45 degrees! After a descent to 2,000 feet and warmer temperatures, we drove off I-15 at Baker, California and into the Preserve. It was warm, but still very windy, and there was a sunny, cloudless sky. We knew that we wanted to boondock where we had stayed 5 years earlier, in a wash along a lava flow, just off the road in the volcanic part of the park. It is one of our all time favorite boondocks. Since we are encountering lots more RV'ers in parks and boondocks this year, we were not optimistic that the site would have room. Greg had pinpointed it on Google maps using the sattelite imagery to locate it. As we crept around the curve on the desolate road, we were amazed to find the area completely empty! We backed up into the narrow wash and settled in.

Our Mojave boondock site

Camped next to a lava flow that shielded us from the north wind.

Looking down from the top of this 10,000-year old lava flow.

Last night was glorious! The high overhead half moon was bright enough to cast shadows in the clear desert air. The stars were competing for attention, but were still visible in the moonlight. No one was in sight. After the constant roar of the generators in the campground at Katherine Landing, the quiet was divine. For now our solar panels and batteries are keeping up during the day with the clear skies. We are learning that we have less solar capacity for boondocking with the trailer than we had with the View, and no built in generator as we had in the motorhome, to top off the batteries. So, Greg has been researching our options for increasing our boondocking power.

Exploring the nearby washes to see what creatures left footprints.

Barrel cacti love the lava

Evening strolls up the wash

Kelbaker Road approaching the lava flows.

Old mine prospects

Pencil cholla

Mistletoe growing as a parasite on a shrub

We'll stay here a few nights and wait for the weather to continue warming and then probably head into the mountains on the Preserve to Hole-In-The-Wall Campground to dry camp and use their dump and get more water. After that? We have a few more stops we'd like to make before we head back east. Let's see what the weather has in store! Oh, and the water heater leak is back...