Greetings From Quartzite, Land of Lots of Rocks!!!

Monday, November 18, 2013

We really, really like this place! This is our third visit to Quartzite this year. The first was last January as we headed west to Death Valley. It was the scene of our first true boondocking experience at the Plomosa Road BLM boondocking site. We survived that night, totally self-contained and declared ourselves no longer boondocking virgins! We stopped again for a night on our way back east in March, and stayed at the Dome Rock Road site. Liking that location much better, we would have stayed longer, but bad weather was chasing us on, and we needed to keep going to avoid snow in the Tuscon area.

This visit we intend to stay longer and will be back in January for a View-Navion rally, which is going to be a gathering of a group of owners that travel in the same Winnebago RV that we do. That will take place during the famous, (to Rver's), annual gathering when 100,000's of thousands of RVer's converge on Quartzite for rock and mineral shows, RV shows, craft festivals, concerts, food, merriment, and flea markets. Most people boondock around the tiny town in various BLM areas. Vendors in town provide water and dumping, as well as the larger BLM areas that charge a small fee to camp there. Our new -to- us group will convene in the La Posa South campground where we will pay $40 for a 14 day stay. Don't know if we'll stay that long, the population pressure may get to us sooner!

Saturday morning we left Lake Havasu City in the midst of wind and dust that kicked up the night before. We stopped again at Crazy Horse RV Park, did the necessary housekeeping and drove south along the Colorado River which afforded us glimpses of California on the other side. We decided not to cross over since we'll go to Southern California after Christmas in Florida with Greg's Dad. For now we need to concentrate on slowly working our way back to the Southeast. This is going to be the winter for lots of back and forth!

Moonrise at our BLM camp north of Lake Havasu

Lake Havasu and lots of dust!

Bill Williams Wetlands Preserve

RV Parks, marinas, and vacation homes near Parker Dam

RV Park on the California side of the Colorado below Lake Havasu

After a stop along the Colorado to eat lunch, we drove east out of Parker and then south to Quartzite, which is just 10 miles east of the California border and along I-10, the major east-west route for the Southwest. We drove around town to locate water and dump facilities and gawk. Even in November there are vendors and flea markets. We drove past the store owned by Paul, the naked bookseller. He is a Quartzite legend who runs his bookstore dressed in a hat, a jacket and a thong!

After checking out the La Posa site to get an idea of what to expect in January, we returned to Dome Rock Road and picked out a spot a few hundred yards from last winter's site. This area is along the interstate, but far enough away for the traffic to just be a low hum. It's actually pretty amazing to watch from a distance, the huge amount of trucks and commerce plying their way out to LA and San Diego and back again. So, we are sitting in the middle of the desert ringed by rough volcanic ridges. At night we can see the lights of Quartzite slightly below us in the valley, while the orange moon rises directly out of the ridge behind it. The full moon is so bright that we can see the silhouettes of the mountain ridges 15-20 miles away. With no one close to us we have been leaving the blinds up, even at night, to enjoy the view!

Our camp at Dome Rock BLM. I-10 is 3 or 4 miles behind us

This is the antidote to the crowded campgrounds at Grand Canyon.

Granite Mountain in the middle distance

Sometimes the loudest noise out here is the humming birds stopping by to see if we have put up a feeder yet. They have learned that RVs often have treats.

The "personal-size" volcanoes have cooked the limestones and sandstones around them. Prospectors are still digging around them for gold and silver. Greg found some nice Talc and Arsenopyrite, but nothing valuable.

Greg has been getting back on his bike and exploring the old mining roads that criss-cross this area. Yesterday afternoon we took a walk to explore closer in. The washes are full of interesting vegetation that can survive during the mostly dry weather here. There is evidence of jackrabbits, mule deer, and snakes. There are a few birds around. Two Gambel's Quail did a quick two step through our site today. Greg found a dead tarantula on his bike explorations. Today we sat outside, very still, and watched the lizards creep and dash past us.

Greg demonstrating safe snake handling

Beautiful light right before sunset. Once the sun goes behind the mountain, it gets cold in seconds.

This Quail needs to learn a musical song rather than a pitiful whine!

We are back in the land of the Saguaro cactus, as well as ocotillos and chollas. Palo Verde and a few cottonwood trees occupy the washes. Most notable to Greg are the ROCKS, everywhere. Our campsite is rocks, our view is rocks, the roads are rocks. We eat dinner looking out the window at Granite Mountain, and there is quartz everywhere! Big white chunks with a rusty design on them. Also, lots of volcanic rocks, black, grey, rusty red, maroon, and green. Greg's bike rides take longer because he repeatedly has to put the bike down and scramble up to look at abandoned mine workings and test trenches.

Saguaros everywhere we look

I dare you to Touch It!

Saguaros are apparently delicious and a good place to live

Other shrubs are managing to flower

Cholla are NOT soft and fuzzy

Look, I found a rock!

BLM cages to keep idiot geologists out of abandoned mine shafts

We had planned to leave tomorrow, but Greg wants more bike time, we are still ironing out details for the sale of the condo and have really good connections here near the interstate. So instead of showers this afternoon, we are conserving water for a longer stay. Greg did an outdoor sponge bath with the rest of the water in his bike bottles, so, I guess that will do for now!

According to our map, somewhere near here is a 46-armed Saguaro cactus, so I guess we can stick around longer to look for it. Haven't found it yet! Suppose it wouldn't hurt to see another great moonrise over Quartzite!

Do You See Any Rattlesnakes?

Friday, November 15, 2013

Yesterday we decided it was time to get off our lazy duffs and explore a bit. We've been in slow down mode since we hit Lake Havasu City and our chance to boondock. After a busy and expensive summer in Atlantic Canada, we need to conserve a bit to keep this lifestyle going. A week of free camping and no fuel costs fills the bill. Besides, camping in the quiet of the Southwestern desert is something we have found out that we really love.


After breakfast we took off up Craggy Wash to explore. The information we found on the internet said that the road we are camped along goes on up the wash about three miles into the jagged volcanic peaks and lava flows. We are camped near the 1.5 milepost, so we wanted to hike up to mile 3. Along the way we passed a few other boondockers, who nodded a hello. Most people camped here want the solitude and unless they make a point to speak to you, it is polite to just move on.

Walking up the wash, this is as much "road" as you get

We passed two elderly men with white hair and beards sitting at an outside table playing a game with lots of dice rolling. They nodded. Most campsites seemed devoid of life. Yesterday was in the 80's and with the intense sun, most campers were inside in the shade of their rigs. There are not many people up the wash now. In January and February it is supposed to be quite crowded.

We checked out the volcanic rocks, the Palo Verde trees, the holes everywhere, (hmm...who lives there?), saw a few lizards and avoided spotting any rattlesnakes. We shaded ourselves next to the large rocks, (Greg shades and examines), found ourselves some Cholla and Ocotillo cacti and decided to turn around past the three mile mark and come back. Don't know how far the road went. Don't care...it was getting too hot and time for lunch!

Kathleen cooling off lizard-style by leaning on cool rocks.
The romantically fuzzy focus is caused by sunscreen smeared on the lens.

Holes of various sizes were everywhere, left by gas bubbles in the thick, silica-rich lava,
many contained nest materials

Cacti appeared several hundred feet in elevation above our camp

Ocotillo

Cholla

The hot walk finally forced our hands and we decided to use up some precious water on a shower! Our shower is basically used as a closet. The former owner built removable shelves in it, so it has to be disassembled to use it for its intended purpose. Lots of complaining later, (by me!), we were reasonably clean, but I still need a better strategy for hair washing. Greg's strategy was to have me cut his hair so short that a little soap and a little rinse takes care of it. I'm not going that route, but I understand the women who do!

Storage closet

Shower

Another beautiful sunset, (I know, I know, but we never tire of them), no one else in sight, (the tenter left), an almost full moon, a good meal, and good company (thanks, hon!), a little TV (can't give up all the creature conveniences), and we settled in for a good night's sleep in the desert.

Early sunset behind our personal volcanic ridge

Dramatic Sky to the North

Moon rise

Clouds for artistic effect

Today we spent some time roughly planning out the next few months of travel. Tomorrow, after another visit to Crazy Horse RV Park to take care of the “plumbing”, we will leave Lake Havasu City for a few nights of boondocking in Quartzite, AZ. The scene of our first ever boondocking experience!

Lake Havasu - Learning to Boondock

Wednesday, November 13, 2013


Yesterday we celebrated a year on the road! We settled on our house in Maryland on November 12, 2012 and started south. November 9^th was Greg's last day at work. The year has flown by! No regrets. It's been a great decision for both of us.

One Year On the Road Celebration in the Arizona desert

After four nights at the BLM spot outside of Lake Havasu City, AZ, we finished, for now, connecting with our realtor, and signed the contract papers to sell our rental condo. We 're praying that all goes well to settle on December 17^th. With that done, we drove the short distance into town. We stowed all our gear, and didn't leave anything behind to save our spot. We wanted to try the real Craggy Wash boondock.

We decided to leave behind the off-roaders and their dust

And look for even better sunsets

After stops at WalMart, and Home Depot, to resupply our food, and look for a few odds and ends, we drove along the lake to Crazy Horse RV Park. The host at the last boondock told us that for $5, we could dump there and get more water, which was actually our most urgent need. They had a trash can as well, so we rid ourselves of our trash. Boondocking is “take it in, take it out”, as far as trash. We had to find room in the outside bins of the RV to store our trash. No room inside, and animals outside, so we rearranged a bit to fit it in an outside storage bin. We are generating more trash than usual, since we are using more disposables in order to conserve water. I hate to do that, but it's one of the tactics we need to use to live out here in the desert with no hook-ups or access to water. The longer we can stretch our water and tanks, the longer we can stay in this spot for free.

Lake Havasu "Landscaping"

London Bridge- Yes, someone disassembled it and moved it here years ago!

Original London Bridge Lamp Posts

After dumping and filling the water tank and four more five-gallon jugs, which are stowed on the floor in various places on our “spacious” floor, we drove back through Lake Havasu City. Seem to be lots of retirees and snowbirds here. Coming from the moist East, a town in the middle of the desert always seems rather bleak and dusty no matter how much people try to landscape it. Fun to visit, wouldn't want to settle here.

We found the entry road to Craggy Wash just past the airport. It took us a mile of driving on the dirt road before we passed all the no camping signs. There were lots of campsites and fire rings, but we guess that the front area got overused and they are trying to let that area rebound a bit. Stopping at the sign that said Camphost, we got a new slip of paper to count our 14 day limit here. We traveled another mile up the road, passing a few campers in RV's and tents, and found a spot that suited us. We are in a site that has been used before, which is what BLM encourages, and are a little more off the road than some of the other sites. That cuts down on the dust when people drive by. We can see a tent down the road, but otherwise, it's only us. It's mostly quiet. Occasionally we hear a small plane take off from the airport over the ridge.

The track up the wash. Campers mostly tried to stay out of sight of each other.

Sunset is early here behind the little volcanic ridge

The moon is bright enough to cast clear shadows

Sunset on a volcanic plug nearby. The cinder cone eroded away,
leaving the lava throat (estimated to be 6 million years old)

Remote enough to be quiet, but close enough to get local TV, cell phone and data.

Greg is enjoying the volcanic geology. We've seen a few lizards and a hummingbird. This area is supposed to have Big Horn Sheep, Bobcats, and Coyotes, but we haven't seen any. Just taking the days slowly and deciding when to move on based on how soon our feet get itchy, or we run out of water, or decide we need a “real” shower!!!