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Tag Archives: Organ Pipe Cactus

Arizona and Unfriendly Weather

20 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Bushes and Blooms, Travels

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ajo, Arizona, Bisbee Arizona, Catalina State Park, Mt. Lemmon, Organ Pipe Cactus, Picacho Peak

Ed and I have joked for years that we’re a bad/weird weather magnet.  Back in the 70’s when we tent camped a lot it always seemed to rain or snow on us and last year we often seemed to drag rain and snow along with us, but of course southern California loved us.  This year it seems abnormally cold temperatures are the camping surprise we’re dealing with.  In fact the temps were so cold and windy heading out of Texas into New Mexico and Arizona that we fled to the border with California in a 3 day hard driving marathon. Landing on Christmas Eve at Cattail Cove State Park just outside Lake Havasu City, AZ we settled in for a few days of wind and cold nights.  While like all the Arizona State Parks we’ve stayed at, Cattail Cove is very nice and we did see a Big Horn Sheep, neither of us sees much point in making this area a destination. 20151227-_EKP4670 Lake Havasu City was developer Robert McCulloch’s dream based on the recreational draw of the dammed Colorado River and The London Bridge which he purchased, disassembled, shipped and reassembled here as a tourist attraction in 1971. I remember we laughed about this when it happened, and now that we’ve seen it we’re still shaking our heads.20151227-_EKP4665-Pano

We had a looming problem in that our little home’s engine was way overdue for its 40,000 mile check-up and being a Mercedes Benz with each additional 20 miles it beeped and sent us a “HEY” message.  We contacted the nearest California MB Sprinter dealers and they said nope, no RV’s can’t help you or sure, in a month. So even though night time temperatures were still in the low 30’s and high 20’s we headed back to Chandler, AZ to get the work done.  Got there for our appointment and the guy says, sorry our lift broke when we off-loaded the RV before you, all we can do is the oil change!  So, after they did that, we headed for our favorite AZ state park Catalina outside of Tucson where we are familiar with the MB dealer in town.  Loving this area that we consider a MVL (must visit list) place (last year’s Catalina blog) we settled in to do some hiking, do the drive up Mt.Lemmon and welcome in the New Year. Our water line only froze twice 🙂

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See us having fun on our hike?

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Windy Point Overlook on the Mt. Lemmon summit drive.

BTW, to our Sprinter Skinny Winnie friends, we were impressed with Chandler MB and we’ve dealt with Tucson MB twice now and trust them although so far they are the most expensive MB dealer we’ve ever encountered.  😦

Braving the cold we decided to visit some or our favorite MVL places from last winter.  We popped down to Bisbee (where it poured cold rain) planning on dinner and drinks at the wonderful Santiago’s only to find them closed due to a water main break outside their door. We did however have a delightful afternoon (beer was involved) at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company and of course breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club.

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From our Picacho Peak State Park campsite looking across the valley, a clearing storm over the Picacho Mountains gave us a wonderful gift.

We revisited another one of Arizona’s wonderful state parks Picacho Peak State Park where I went on a steep, rocky, wonderful hike up the mountain without Ed who was suffering from a weak knee problem.

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Marti on her solo hike…

From there down to quiet little Ajo and the Shadow Ridge RV Resort (resort, no, but nice and a good laundry) where part of the fun is hearing and seeing the “boys out to play” in their A10 Warthogs and other really cool jets over the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range.

With the temps once more heading down into the high 20’s we’ve packed up again heading west where it’s a bit better.  Next post will be coming soon…..really….you’ll be surprised 🙂







 

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Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area from Catalina State Park.

 

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Saguaro Cactus family portrait.

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Bird’s nest in a saguaro cactus arm.

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Sutherland Wash in Catalina State Park.

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That’s a big Barrel Cactus…

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Hoodoos on the Mt. Lemmon summit drive.

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Picacho Mountains on Marti’s hike up the Peak trail.

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We always have gorgeous sunsets at Picacho Peak State Park.

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Tillotson Peak in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument south of Ajo, Arizona.

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Lots of very sticky sharp things on a Saguaro Cactus.

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Palo Verde trees have green bark which does the photosynthesis usually done by leaves. They also have leaves which drop in winter.

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Does this rock make me look fat?

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Gniess rock.

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Nice flower.

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One last photo of the Picacho Mountains with I-10.

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Why Not and Beyond

14 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Travels

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Arizona, Besh Ba Gowah, boondocking, Border Patrol, Box Canyon, Catalina State Park, Globe AZ, Kartchner Caverns, Organ Pipe Cactus, Titan Missles, Why AZ

The beauty and wildness and ever changing landscape in the bit of Arizona we’ve been traveling is wonderful. With elevation changes and just curves in the road, the geology and flora changes, often radically. The minerals in the rock means that color variations can be both subtle and stark, but also beautiful. Those minerals also mean there are mines all over the state and most are huge and very destructive. We know we need the materials, but we also believe our stewardship of this land means we must not take and not repair regardless of inconvenience or cost.

Mining operations and tailings just outside of Globe, Arizona

Mining operations and tailings just outside of Globe, Arizona

So hang onto your hat as we cover a lot of ground and add places to your MVL (MUST VISIT LIST 🙂 )!!

Local Mercantile, gas station, restaurant and Mexican Insurance dealer.

Local Mercantile, gas station, restaurant and Mexican Insurance dealer.

We did our first boondocking outside of Why, AZ, a tiny blink of a town at the “Y” intersections of State Hwy 85 and 86. The USPS being what they are would not let the local folks have the name Y for their town because a town has to have at least 3 letters…go figure …hence…Why. Boondocking mostly on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management), National Forests, State Land Trust lands means 98% of the time, no fees, no hook-ups (water, electric, sewer) and no “real” camping sites. Just pick an obviously used spot (worn, probably with a stone fire ring) and claim it as your own, but not too close to your neighbors if there happens to be some, and at Why there were. We found a nice spot with a tree and heard our first coyotes….all good.

Full Moon, Gunsight Wash, boondocking on BLM land outside of Why, AZ

Full Moon, Gunsight Wash, boondocking on BLM land outside of Why, AZ

By the way, we have been told that the only Kyy-Oh-Tee is the one named Wiley. A hard habit to break, the proper pronunciation is Kyy-Oat.

We visited Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument which shares a long border with Mexico. The Border Patrol are ALL OVER southern Arizona and we often go through their road check points. Here in Organ Pipe we chatted with two officers heading out on horseback to do their thing. These horses are wild mustangs who are naturally strong and “smart” about the desert.   After being caught they are broken & trained by prison inmates and then given to the USBP.

Border Patrol on horseback

Border Patrol on horseback

Smuggling Sign

At the Visitors Center, we had to talk our way into being allowed to take our RV (technically 3 feet too long) onto one of the two loop roads through the park. It’s beautiful and we had a great time. Put on your MUST VISIT LIST. (but only in a car).

Organ Pipe Cristate

Organ Pipe Cactus with cristate growth

Organ Pipe Road

Organ Pipe Cactus loop road

Arch Close up

Two arches

On our way to Painted Rocks we passed through Gila Bend… don’t bother with the town but west of there is the Solana Generating Station and miles and miles of irrigated alfalfa fields that are next to a huge factory dairy cow operation.

Solana Generating Station

Painted Rock

Solana Generating Station and a Painted Rock

Then we reversed directions and went east over RT 238 to Maricopa and eventually to AZ 60 and the Tonto National Forest for the night. Put this National Forest on your MVL!! Just beautiful!! We boondocked at Oak Flat Campground.

Oak Flats Campsite

Oak Flats Campsite

This land is sacred to the Apache and is under direct attack by the mining interests and sneaky political tactics. In fact the evening we were there while out for our walk we passed a young Indian doing some quiet ceremony next to a huge “bowl” in the local landscape. The place just felt special.

We went to Globe for lunch and happened into the Drift Inn, a local saloon that’s been in business since 1902 and is quite colorful.

Also in Globe we went to the Besh Ba Gowah Ruins. This small ancient pueblo and the little museum are excellent and should be on your MVL.

Besh Ba Gowash

Besh Ba Gowash

Being children in the 1950’s/’60’s we know all about “duck and cover” and the next day to our surprise we saw a sign for the Titan Missile Museum. Of course we had to visit. It holds the very last of 54 Titan II Ballistic Missiles in its silo! Yes, not only disarmed but with a hole cut in the cone so the world’s satellites can see that it is! Titan Missle NoseThe installation is exactly as it was when it was operational (minus the bomb and rocket fuel) and part of the tour includes a simulated (to an extent) launching of the missile. The tour guide randomly picks someone to be Commander, one of the two people who had to turn the launch keys. As it turns out the woman who “helped” launch the missile emigrated from the Soviet Union 30 years ago! She admitted to us later she was a little freaked out by the whole launch experience. Put this tour on your MVL, very interesting.

Box Canyon Road (2)

Box Canyon Road

We drove across the Box Canyon Rd Hwy 62 to Sonoita. While in hindsight we know we were foolhardy to have taken this 23 mile narrow, windy, twisty dirt road, the drive was magnificent and we survived! At the top of the canyon at 4000 ft. elevation, the surprise is that there are extensive grass lands and cattle ranches across large rolling hills. It is very pretty and a welcomed change from cactus and barren dust and rock.

High Plains Grassland

High Plains Grassland

The last tour we’ve done was at the Kartchner Caverns State Park, which by the way is a lovely campground. These unknown caverns were discovered in 1974 by two young spelunkers, who not only kept this living cave’s location secret but managed over the course of 14 years to keep their find hidden from the general public. Along with the Kartchner family they persuaded the State to buy the land from the family and with huge expense and creativity to safely open it to the public while preserving its pristine and unique formations. Ed and I both separately and together did some caving in our teens and 20’s we cannot believe the beauty of the place and the vast amount of effort it took to open it to tours while not inhibiting or altering its continued growth! It’s an absolutely fabulous story and an extremely beautiful cave. Put this on your MUST VISIT LIST!!! (sorry, no photos allowed but the web link will show you some)

We are back at Catalina State Park where after the rains of two weeks ago the hills are actually showing some green.  We are here for a few days of R&R and housekeeping chores. We even went to an RV show! We’re loving Arizona and hope you’re enjoying Ed’s photographs.


To replace our much missed plastic yard flamingo, our kids made and gave us these stick-on variety to decorate the RV.  We love them. Kids and flamingos both.

To replace our much missed plastic yard flamingo, our kids made and gave us these stick-on variety to decorate the RV. We love them. Kids and flamingos both.

Interior Besh Ba Gowah

"Sphinx" Rock

Interior Besh Ba Gowah and “Sphinx” Rock in Organ Pipe

Picnic spot at the end of Box Canyon Road

Picnic spot at the end of Box Canyon Road

Chain Fruit Cholla (Choyyah)

Chain Fruit Cholla (Choyyah)

Launch Control

Launch Control

Oak Flats Pond 1

Oak Flats Pond

Rock Strata on Gila River-Panorama web

Gila River Cliffs Rock Strata

Box Canyon Road Panorama

Box Canyon Grasslands

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