The Sonoran (Green) Desert

 

 

At precisely 3:10 we crossed the Arizona border into Yuma just ahead of the train, waved to Russell and went straight to the laundrette for the first of our fortnightly chores. Sound boring, well no, it’s where we get to meet the local folk, all kinds of locals!!! In the U.S. these facilities are very much in demand, well decked out with machines of all sizes and some even have café’s attached.

The not so mighty Colorado River at Yuma, it no longer flows into the Gulf of California as it's contents are siphoned off by all the states it traverses and the last trickle by Mexico

One of the many canals draining water from the Colorado

In addition to washing we had to dump the holding tanks and fill the water tank, a task that requires much planning as preferably we have to find a location that can cater to both needs not just one or the other. We found one on our Sanidump App 12 miles out of town so we headed out only to find a queue lined up which we were happy to join. Just before our turn the guy in front of us decided he needed to get closer to the water hose and in doing so caught the pipe on his rear bumper and then right in front of my eyes he went forward ripping it out of the ground and broke the pipe sending a stream of water into the air. We’re in the desert where water is precious and he came up and said “oh well at least you can still dump” and I said “what under an umbrella do you happen to have one because I don’t”.



Our camp outside Yuma

Anyway we took off before anyone could blame us or claim we were an accessory to the fact and headed back into town to try our luck again and maybe god forbid have to pay. We did strike it lucky at another location having to leave my driver’s licence as security for a key to unlock both tap and dump lid.

Masses of vegetable crops growing in the desert thanks to the Colorado River

 

In addition to all this we still had to gas up, fill the propane tank, buy more beer and get some fruit and veges, lucky our next camp was close by. The camp was about 10 miles out of town along East 7 ½ Street, only in the states would there be a ½ street and yes it was between East 7 and East 8, obviously we know this because we drove straight passed it didn’t we!! It was a dirt track and barely a street at all so we guessed it made some sort of sense.

The desert back roads are a pleasure to drive on and thankfully don't attract too many trucks

The next day we continued on from Yuma heading north deeper into the Sonoran Desert which covers 260,000 km2 the whole of southern Arizona and northern Mexico east of the Colorado River and west of the Continental Divide. The temperature is nice in winter 5 – 25 Celsius and blistering in summer getting above 60 Celsius, hence us being here now!! It’s our intent to zigzag our way east through this desert region to see how it varies from north to south and west to east while trying to keep warm in the process.



The Dome Mountains one of many ranges that rise our of the desert

Another of the uniquely carved desert mountains

In the first section west of Phoenix we found some very peaceful BLM camps with fantastic views of the weathered mountains which sprung up everywhere around us. The vegetation is spectacular in this sparse area and uniquely beautiful with not only cacti but bushy trees which have adapted to these harsh conditions. The Sonoran Desert averages only 8 inches of rain per year, winter rain is light and soaking while summer rain comes in violent storms causing flash flooding and much erosion.

The Saguaro (pronounced sa-WAH-row)  Cactus an icon of the Sonoran Desert. They grow for 150 to 200 years taking as long as 60 years before the first arm shoots out 

All the Saguaro are different with individual shapes and remind us of alien sentinels standing guard over the desert

A baby saguaro, every summer when mature they have red berries on top which the local Indians very carefully collect and make Saguaro Jam

 The animals in the desert are separated into 2 groups, daylight dwellers which are primarily birds and insects with the other night time dwellers which are mammals and reptiles, the food surprisingly very plentiful and water mainly derived from within the food they consume. Many of the smaller mammals live in burrows underground to avoid the predators and the heat of summer.

Very much a day dweller this Golden Eagle is on constant watch for any critter not paying attention

 

The infamous Road Runner, photographed here in very slow motion, they do literally race across the road in a blur

A very pretty Pyrrhuloxia is very careful not to land on a spike


It was a very pleasant Xmas relaxing in the desert recovering from a bout of gout which had reoccurred after our trip to Mexico. We headed for Phoenix to Cruise America where we purchased the motorhome. Since we were passing we thought we may as well pick up our replacement rear bumper which was damaged in the rear - ender we suffered at Fresno in 2016. In addition we got a couple of new shower tap knobs as one had previously broken and a replacement window catch which was damaged during last year’s bumpy trip to Alaska. The items were purchased at cost courtesy of Cruise America but still attracted the local taxes of nearly 8% a bargain compared to the retailers and their XXX% mark-ups pre-tax.

The coyote like our dingo is very cunning and needs to be watched carefully, they also hunt in packs. We hear these guys howling most nights we camp in the desert.

Phoenix is the cheapest place we have found so far to buy booze, 30 carton of full strength Coors beer is US$17 and a 1.75 litre bottle of quality rum is US$18, admittedly not cheap, cheap like the Philippines but the best in USA and Canada, even Mexico can’t match these prices. We now have enough beer and rum to last the whole trip and enough for our duty free return to OZ. It’s also the cheapest gas we have found @ US$2 per gallon about A$0.65 per litre, shame we can’t buy a whole trips worth in one go.



Generally a night dweller the Gila (pronounced Hee-lah) Monster a major member of the desert clan



With all the tasks completed in the big smoke (literally as Arizona is backward compared to most other states with the bulk of their power derived from dinosaur non-renewable technology polluting the area with masses of smog). We departed Phoenix and 2 hours later found a camp in the dark just on the outskirts at a small town called Buckeye.

We left Phoenix with stinging eyes due to the persistent smog that hangs in the basin.

Despite the roads around Phoenix being monstrously wide up to 6 lanes each way the traffic was very congested and a nightmare to travel on, as vehicles and trucks if not hurtling along at 70 mph were pushing and shoving their way in front. Over here they don’t believe in 1 car distance for every 10mph they tailgate at 90mph even if the posted limit is 75mph which is very fast anyway. You have to watch every direction virtually at the same time. We hate and try to avoid the cities and interstate highways for this very reason. On these roads sometimes you have to cross 5 lanes to make a turn so the planning needs to start a long way before. Despite the deathly speeds they all travel we must admit the yanks certainly know how to build highways to move the masses.

You need eyes in the front, back and both sides of your head to drive the highways here

It was good to be back in the wide open desert headed south again, this time to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, its located just north of the Mexican Border and pretty much dead centre of the Sonoran Desert. The park is host to masses of cacti from the very small to the enormous Saguaro and of course the Organ Pipe variety which are only found here within the USA, mostly located in Mexico below the frost line.

The Organ Pipe Cactus are more common in Mexico and only survive in the NP where it can avoid sub zero temperatures

A Cholla (pronounced CHOY-yoh) Cactus one of very few still with its yellow seed pods

The Prickly Pear Cactus in its native environment is not a pest and plays a very important part in the Sonoran Desert's ecosystem



A birds nest cactus making the most of its neighbours kindness



We drove the 21 mile one way loop road despite officially being too big (long and wide) at a maximum speed of 10 mph, which was a far cry from the previous couple of days. The dirt road was badly corrugated and rutted for the entire length but the scenery was fantastic as we climbed up and around the desert mountains.

Almost a mirror image these 2 saguaro have many arms

 About half way around we went for a short 2 mile hike which turned into a 4 mile mountain climb as we confused the trail entry sign for indicating a looping trail which did in fact not loop at all but went straight up and up. We were informed half way up by a pair of jovial returning climbers that we were numbers 11 and 12 for the day, we were only half way and luckily we had worn boots and taken water. It was very strenuous and we were more than relieved when we returned to Arvee. Certainly more relieved than the pair that passed us on our return asking if we had seen a cell phone. OH BUGGER!!!

The double arch above Arch Canyon Trail

The view from the top of Arch Canyon looking south to Mexico and over the Organ Pipe Cactus NP

Many of the desert plants live a symbiotic life with other plants and also animals to ensure continuation of their own species even if it means destruction of its host when the appropriate time comes. The adaptive abilities of these plants and animals is amazing and a part of this is the local indigenous people Tohono O’odham Indians who live in a reservation adjacent to the NP. They have survived the harsh desert conditions for eons living comfortably from what they sourced here.

A mature Saguaro cactus still living with its host green stemmed Palo Verde (pronounced PA-loh-VAIR-deh)



Indian wall mural in Ajo (pronounced AH-hoe) depicts a much more serene existence

New Year’s Eve was spent trying to sleep in what seemed to us a war zone at Tucson City. Private fireworks, mainly bungers were going off all night along with constant gunfire as the “cowboys” celebrated. The idea of the city providing a communal fireworks display would be abhorrent to the wealthy town folk here ensuring none of their taxes were used to entertain the poor or less fortunate, unlike in OZ they don’t count over here. This behaviour is pretty standard across the USA where public money is directed in appropriate amounts back to those from where it was derived. It’s very much a pay as you go society a system that thrives and grows on greed. Communal spending of public money is virtually outlawed. Obamacare the U.S. version of our Medicare is a classic example!!

This Indian wall mural depicts a landscape long gone but not forgotten

Heading southeast from Tucson we left the lower desert and went back in time as we came face to face with the wild west.  Back in the 1800’s people swarmed across the Mississippi River in search of their very own fortune believed to be locked up inside the hills of the west country. Gold fever hit and along with gold every other precious metal that could be found was extracted as quickly as possible so no one else could get it. Along with this came wild living where life was worth less than the cost of a whisky.

This bloke was only worth a beer

 

Lavender Pit lies within meters of the township of Bisbee and is an example of environmental vandalism remaining 30 years after it last operated as a very profitable copper mine

A prospector left Tucson in search of his fortune and was told he would find nothing but his own tombstone. He did in fact find massive silver  ore deposits and named the place Tombstone after the sanctimonious torment he received. The town quickly became the epitome of the wild west as we have all seen in movies with The Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday cleaning up the town by killing as many people as they could. Only here in the good old USA would they glorify a gunfight where people untried by a court are killed as a matter of convenience. The “Shoot Out at the OK Corral” was one such event and for 363 days a year is re-enacted 3 times a day for the meagre price of US$10 per person.

The 3 Earp brothers in black from left Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt with Doc Holliday making their way down to the OK Corral for what turned out to be a very famous gun fight





The famous Chiricahua Apache Indian Geronimo had a very tough life with his 1,000 strong tribe constantly being attacked by both the U.S. and Mexican Armies, but he, his son Chappo and his tribal chief Cochise were defiant to the end

Tombstone is a quaint trip in history but if you look closely today, society is still driven by greed, cowboys still have horse power under their arse and police kill who they chose, so nothing much has changed really!!!

I think the author here sums it up, shame our politicians don't have the same wisdom

 Bye For Now.

  

 

Beers and Cheers with a Coors stubby at the Doc Holliday Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona
 
J&J