March 27, 2004
Winterhaven, CA – Algodones Dunes
During our drive from Phoenix into California we experienced winds of 20-30 mph buffeting the RV. Gusts like this, when hitting the side of the RV, makes for an exhausting drive. You must keep a constant tight grip on the steering wheel to make sure you don’t get pushed out of the lane. It’s almost a workout, because when the drive is done your arms are truly tired from the tension.
Immediately across the border into California is a small town called Winterhaven. We stayed here with the hopes of some more sand-sledding in Algodones Dunes (Imperial Sand Dunes). It would’ve been too dangerous though because of all the dune-buggies, atvs, dirt-bikes, etc that were racing all around. I’ve never seen so many, or such a variety of off-road vehicles before. We started to consider how much fun everyone was having and looked around as to where to rent an ATV, but couldn’t find a place. You may have seen these pinkish-beige dunes before in the movies – they filmed Star Wars here.
Algodones Dunes
Boondockers at Algodones Dunes
We did get to play desert golf, however, while were here. Just imagine: no green grass, sand for your “greens”, and rocks or desert pavement everywhere else. We thought we played poorly before, you should have seen our scores here! We were joking that it was the way to ruin a perfectly bad swing. If you missed the ball, or even just topped it, the impact with the hard surface would jar your entire body. But it was fun, and the course was humorous with each hole being decorated in a very unique style.
Desert Golf - Fore!
Golf Course Markers
Golf Course Markers
I know I’ve mentioned in other posts about some of the desert plants that I’ve learned about and found interesting. Well, here’s two:
Ocotillo in Bloom
The Green Palo Verde
March 25, 2004
Arizona – Tucson and Phoenix
Desert Biking in Saguaro
San Xavier Mission
Hummingbird at Sonoran Desert Museum
Diane at Sonoran Desert Museum
March 19, 2004
Arizona – Benson Daytrips
Our first stop in Arizona was Benson. Benson is off of I-10 in the southeastern corner. We thought we’d stop there for 2 nights to see Kartchner Caverns and keep on moving. We stayed almost a week – what a pretty area. The RV Park we stayed at (Cochise Terrace RV Resort) was just part of the reason we were so content. But we also were not aware of all of the day-tripping opportunities in this area as well.
Historic Town of Bisbee, AZ
We toured the Queen Mine which takes you into the old mine and shows you equipment they used and heard stories from a miner. Did you know that the miners would like to keep the rats around (so they fed them) because the rats could warn them of a potential collapse? If the rats ran out of the tunnels, the miners would follow them! On the way home we drove through the town of Tombstone (no time that day to visit).
We toured the Kartchner Caverns, which were just opened in 1999 and 2003 (another section). This was an interesting experience. The staff is pretty regimented during the tour…almost to the point of being uncomfortable. Their goal is to protect the cave, but I hope they find a better way for visitors to enjoy the beauty without this negative atmosphere. We also went hiking in the Whetstone Mountains at Kartchner. We took the 4.2 mile Guindani Trail hiking through canyons, over 8 stream crossings, up to the summit (there was a 2100′ elevation change), and then down the arid south-facing slope. We saw lots of birds, explored several old mines, and enjoyed the geology of the area. I even saw my first Madrone tree, which has a beautiful red-peeling bark and pink, bell-like flowers.
Andy Enjoys Exploring Old Mines
We biked the San Pedro Riparian Recreation Area and visited the Fairbanks ghost town. We wandered around via our bikes on different trails finding lots of old items: nuts, bolts, nails, cans, spikes and other items. We stopped at an old cemetary and an old mill (where they used to make minerals into a powder). While scrambling around the mill we came face to face with a rattlesnake. Ooops! We’ll have to learn to be more careful.
Mountain Biking in the Riparian Area
Another day we went hiking at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains. It was a pretty area with large rocks and boulders, but without maps or adequate hiking information we did not get to see as much as we would’ve liked. Instead of being *a* trail, the area was a lattice-work of trails. No map = No clue. So we had to constantly pay attention to our return path so we could reverse our hike in order to find our car. Maybe next time we’ll be better prepared.There were more activities we could’ve done in this area, but we decided it was time to move on. Here are some of our ideas for our next visit to this area: Chiricahua National Monument (for large boulders), Amerind Foundation (a Native American Museum), Ramsey Canyon (Nature Conservancy), Patagonia/Sonoita (Also, Nature Conservancy).
March 14, 2004
Deming, NM – Rockhounding
Deming, NM is very popular for rock-hounding. This is a fancy term for looking at rocks. But the geology since west Texas has been beautiful. The color variations and formations have been fascinating. Coming from limestone-country, I guess it doesn’t take much to impress us. But the rocks are pink, purple, red, green, beige, yellow, etc. And all combinations thereof. So we went hiking at Rockhound State Park and hoped to find something of interest (not too heavy or large, though!) – perhaps a fossil or a geode. We did find lots of pretty rocks, petrified wood which you could still identify the bark and rings, wildflowers in bloom, and we saw Ibex (a large persian goat with antlers that curve over their back). All in all, a very good day.
Andy the Rockhound
Heart-shaped Cactus
During our hike around the park we tried to find as many different shaped cacti as we could find – heart, mitten, Mickey Mouse, etc. It was a twist on the treasure hunt, but was quite fun.
Bloomin' Cacti
Rockhound State Park has a nice RV campground. We’ll have to remember this for the future since most of the private ones in Deming are on the highway.
March 12, 2004
New Mexico – Snow, Caverns, and Sand Dunes
Our first activity after arriving in Carlsbad, believe it or not, was not the Caverns, but to drive back into Texas to hike in the Guadalupe Mountains. We hiked in Dog Canyon, which was more remote and generally used for backcountry hiking. We were surprised to find snow on the ground! We hiked the Lost Peak Trail/Tejas Trail. It was beautiful with lots of conifers and canyon views. The rangers were two of the friendliest Park Rangers – well, they are either naturally friendly, or maybe they were just bored and lonely since this section of the park doesn’t see a constant stream of visitors.
Diane hiking Dog Canyon
We also visited Carlsbad Caverns, of course. The caverns are huge. Which was part of the beauty and part of the drawback. Formations were so far away you couldn’t see detail, but the size of the caverns was awe-inspiring in itself. We chose to do the Natural Caverns Entrance and the Big Room. Carlsbad has “backcountry” caves, but it sounded as if most only have vertical entries. If we ever get into serious caving, it would be interesting to come back and try those.
Leaving Carlsbad, we drove through a town called Cloudcroft. As the name suggests it was a summit pass. The elevation at the pass was 8,650 and we had a 6% grade with turns to maneuver. We’ll be confident RV drivers in no time with these types of challenges. We could start seeing White Sands NM in the distance once we crested the summit. At first you couldn’t tell what the “white area” was – clouds? beach? White Sands was much larger than we anticipated.
Sand Sledding in White Sands
Andy Sledding the Dunes
White Sand and Blue Sky
The other thing we enjoyed about White Sands was stargazing. We’d sit out at night and enjoy the immensity and brightness of them all.
Some more of our “Firsts” (not mentioned in the posts): Dirt Devils; using public restrooms to conserve on water; having to drive around to find a spot with cellphone service; having to worry about layers of clothes for constantly changing temperatures.
March 6, 2004
Texas – Sonora, Big Bend, and Davis Mtns
Caving in Sonora Caverns was fabulous – if you like crawling on your belly, through tight holes, rappelling into pitch-black pits, and just getting dirty. We spent 5 hours on a personal tour. Just Andy, myself and Bill the guide. However, it just strengthened our understanding that our navigation is horrible! We would never be able to find our way out if it was just us. Now that we’ve been to several caves (FL, TX, NM, AZ), we still think Sonora was our favorite – it was small and intimate and very pristine. You could get close to the formations – but no touching allowed of course! Sections of the cave reminded me of the coral reefs when we’re diving – delicate and beautiful.
Andy Caving in Sonora
Diane Rappelling into the Pit
At the End of our Adventure
Just to note, in Sonora we had a hailstorm and snowstorm in the two nights we were there, but the caves were a wonderful, humid 72 degrees. We camped right at the Caverns, which was very convenient. This allowed us to do a general tour of the ‘main’ cave the day we arrived before joining Bill for our private wild cave tour – “Adventure Level III” – the following day.
From Sonora, we drove straight to Big Bend Nat’l Park in southwest Texas. As far south as you can go without crossing into Mexico. Most people haven’t heard of it, which is part of it’s beauty. Plus, it’s not easy to get to. It’s on the border of Mexico, just on our side of the Rio Grande River. I have one word to say about Big Bend – “go”. Visit it! It’s beautiful – desert, mountains, canyons, and river. What else could you want? We hiked and biked and kayaked. Well, if you can call it kayaking…the Rio Grande isn’t what it used to be due to agricultural usage and damming up north. It was only several inches deep in spots, even too shallow for our ‘yaks. Pushing off the bottom with our paddles and portaging over rocky shoals was required, but it was all worth it for the views from within Santa Elena Canyon.
Kayaking the Rio Grande
Kayaking Santa Elena Canyon
We’re learning a lot about desert-life: animals, plants, and how much cactus can hurt 🙂 About 10 minutes after Andy complained on a hike about carrying a daypack that had extra clothes, food/water, and a first-aid kit in it while other hikers had nothing, I kicked up a broken branch from a cactus and the barbed spine(s) dug into my calf. So, note-to-self: keep carrying emergency supplies, you never know when you’ll need them.
Javelinas in the park
Hiking Big Bend
Hiking Big Bend
Hiking Big Bend
View of Big Bend and Campground
Biking in the park was also very fun. We almost went as fast as the cars on this unpaved road.
Biking Big Bend
Exploring during a Bike Ride
And you can also enjoy the hot spring right next to the Rio Grande. Just be prepared for solicitors crossing the river to sell you their goods.
Big Bend Hot Springs
Our final stop in Texas was the Davis Mountains State Park and Fort Davis. We also toured McDonald Observatory. Twenty-forty mph winds kept us from enjoying more of the area, so we’ll just have to re-visit this area another time.
More of our “Firsts”: awesome animal sightings: Javelinas, Pronghorns, Canyon Wren, and more; my first tumbleweed; having to rely on payphones to make phone calls due to lack of cell service.
Diandy's RV Travels from 2004 