From Why Az Jan 28th 2010

Jan 28th from Why, AZ
Hickiwan Trails RV Park (N32 14.550 W112 43.394) El – 1850’
This morning, I made my move from Mica Mine Road, near Ajo, to the Hickiwan Trails RV Park just east of Why, Az. This Park is adjacent to and owned by the Golden Hassan Casino, a venture of the Tohono O’odham Indian Band. For $16, I can plug in to 50 amps, dump tanks, get fresh water, free wi-fi etc. I could have done the same without power and site hook-ups for $8.50 at the Coyote Howls Park up the road but the Richards, Hugh and Christine, are here, so that must be worth something, plus, the opportunity to run fresh water through the plumbing system multiple times is an unaccustomed luxury. The plan is to stay here overnight after which I shall relocate to Gunsight Wash, 2 miles south of Why

For reasons beyond my comprehension, the solar black bag water bag (shower) that refused to heat for its initial 3 day “warm-up” is now working fairly well – in fact, temps one day reached 120°, the maximum on my old ski patrol thermometer, so I had to add cold water to make it bearable. The small bees that inhabit this part of the world also love the shower bag, gathering around the water outlet and sucking away. I think it conceivable that they might have a group-mail network or their own- this because on the first day of black-bag operations (black ops?), there were quite a few flying around the leaky water spout. On the following day, those “few” had turned into a swarm as hundreds gathered to sip the now warm waters.

Efforts to improve the setup scheme for the black bag shower became a major task with ropes and pulleys attached to the trailer roof rack. These held the bag at a level where the shower head sat well above one’s head. Unfortunately, the bag, holding 5 gallons of water, weighs in at about 50 lbs and overpowered the stanchions holding the rack to the roof. Metal got bent, screws pulled out, the rack pulled loose and the project had to return to the drawing board for re-evaluation. The next step involved throwing a rope all the way over the trailer and securing it to the stabilizer jack underneath. In this way, I was able to provide an adequate belay to hold the bag. Then, all I had to do was go to the hardware store in Ajo and get some longer, thicker screws with which to repair the roof and rack – the bees, unaware of this ongoing drama, continued to shower and drink quite happily. Over a day, I noted no significant loss of water, so I guess volume loss is a non-issue. With the water being so warm, the little bees seem to get slightly groggy and make themselves easy targets for the swatter. The saga of the black solar shower bag has now reached what I hope will be its final phase. I have dismantled all my exotic systems of ropes and pulleys for elevating the bag and now simply attach it to one end of the awning roller, then lift that up to a suitable shower position.

On January 4th, I went into Ajo, parked on the hill above Shadow Ridge RV Park and was immediately accosted by a local woman who drove up the road in her car. This was the second encounter with this person and I would have to say that her disposition hadn’t improved much from the first time. She muttered out her car window something along the lines of “you people think you can (the rest was unintelligible)….. . .” Summoning up my best Customer Service voice, I inquired as to what issues she had on her mind, who she represented and upon what jurisdiction she felt I might be infringing . In addition, I asked if she managed or owned the RV Park from whom I was receiving a wi-fi signal. To this there was no response except a petulant look as she departed in a cloud of dust. A year or so ago, I visited my friends who were staying at the park, talked to the manager and got the OK to use their signal – on that occasion. Since their signal is unencrypted, I feel quite justified about using it and under no obligation to report to some unidentified woman with a churlish personality.

On this occasion, I had managed to get my group e-mail out, discovered that one or two regulars had been self-deleted from the Hotmail group address list (sorry about that Mckendricks, Medidart and Landerkin.) This happened earlier in the season and I have no way of tracking the fault unless someone writes to grumble about the lack of correspondence. Of course, there may be those who have been deleted for cause. The likelihood of them writing for any reason is quite slim, given that lack of writing rates high on the list of reasons why names disappear from the address list in the first place.

On the same trip, I dropped by Tru-Valu Hardware in town to review the latest trends in bicycle parts and found an inner tube, manufactured by the Slime Company. This is pre-packed with green “slime” and is very difficult to puncture as the slime flows into and seals any penetration created by a cactus spine.

The Richards, Hugh and Christine, left the luxuries of civilization behind (they had been at Shadow Ridge RV in Ajo) and came back to the desert. Deciding not to take up a spot on my entry trail, being a little small and difficult in which to manoeuvre, they took up residence in the same location that they had occupied last year when I usurped their favourite spot just a mile or so down the road from me. The three of us, plus dogs, went on a wood-gathering expedition near Valentine Well. I had previously located a “mother lode” of downed and dead Palo Verde trees, so cutting was plentiful and their firepit had its hunger sated for at least a week. During the process, I managed to graze up against a catclaw acacia bush. This species is one of the most aggressive, arm-lacerating shrubs in the desert so; once again, I was covered in blood.

I biked (4 minutes downhill) to Hugh and Christine’s new camp for the inaugural firepit using our recently acquired wood, then returned to my own cooking pots before dark. I’m not sure what the Border Patrol reaction might be to see bicycle traffic after dark on a remote road known to be a transit pipeline for Mexican visitors and drug smugglers (though I haven’t actually seen any traces of same since my arrival to MM Road). I have heard rumours that George Bush’s 800-mile fence and increased Border Patrol resources may have slowed business in this area. On this same topic, an article in the Arizona Republic newspaper contended that smuggling is often fairly brazen because, under Border Patrol policy, if not US law, those carrying less than 500 pounds of drugs are not prosecuted in the U.S. Also, a person driving drugs across the border in a car not belonging to him or her can claim ignorance of the cargo and get off the hook on the grounds that they didn’t know what they were carrying. A recently developed procedure, however, is to return some of these people to Mexico to be dealt with by the Mexican court system, which has none of the scruples associated with freedom of rights and other democratic principles that get in the path of primitive justice - “the way it used be”! Whether Mexican ”justice” is swift of even exists might be a reasonable question to posit.

The Richards and their friends, the Lewises, found chalcedony (SiO2) in the neighbourhood of the RV Park here. Chalcedony is a type of fibrous quartz often considered a gemstone when in combination with other stones such as jasper, agate or onyx.

One day in early January I took a trip to Ajo for the first of my annual series of defeats playing scrabble with Gayle and Don Weyers. At one point, I enjoyed a commanding lead due to an early game spurt but Gayle, in a last minute, dark horse-like surge, came from behind and showed why she is the tournament player and I am not. I was able to access wi-fi from the house, so had no opportunity to renew my acquaintance with the self-styled wi-fi monitoring lady from the previous week.

On Jan 12th, Dale Carpenter, the BLM ranger, came by my camp on Mica Mine Road, logged me on his notepad and stayed to chat about the eating habits of javelinas (bean pods of Mesquite trees being a favourite) and other desert trivia. Once the “heat” knows about you, the two week maximum-stay regulations kick into gear.

Hugh, Christine, Corgi Penny and I rode down past Valentine Well to the “dam” and back. I have been there several times but cannot quite figure out its function. There is a berm-like structure several hundred yards long, lying across the general downslope of the desert plain and having rocks on the north side with sand/clay on the south. As a diversionary dam, it could take flood waters and direct them to other reservoirs, either left or right of our trail. With so little water here on a year-round basis, it’s hard to imagine the need for any sort of water diversion at any time in this part of the world where rainfall is very sparce. I may have spoken too soon – keep reading.

Much of the USA has been under a blanket of cold air lately. According to the Arizona Republic newspaper, iguanas in Florida are so cold that they are falling out of trees and onto the ground. I guess this is a case losing one’s grip.

The last few days have been marked by heavy rains (3 to 4”) and very strong South-westerly winds (+/- 50 mph, according to the radio, gusting to 65 mph). Given that total precipitation for the 2009 calendar year was only 3’’ in this area (average is about 7”), this was a lot of precip. for a single storm lasting over the better part of two days. The howling gale certainly seemed to threaten the stability of the trailer that was broadside on. However, despite plenty of shaking and swaying, I stayed upright. Small amounts of wind-pressured water entered the trailer via the fridge vent as well as somewhere else leading to one of my electrical outlets (maybe the same spot with water running down the wires). I was able to keep ahead of the flow with some rags. Over in the Tohono O’Odham Indian reservation, 15 houses were apparently destroyed, power was out, schools closed and a local state of emergency declared. Masses of snow (48” fell in the Flagstaff area, Interstate highways closed in Northern AZ and the tents blew down at one of the classic car auctions in Phoenix. Mica Mine Road washes (normally dry stream beds) suffered quite a bit of erosion. At the height of the storm, I donned my sailing rain gear and, in gumboots, went for a hike down an adjacent wash, then around the nearest mountain (about 4 or 5 miles in all). At times I could barely stand against the wind (that’s saying something with my concentrated center of gravity). After several days of this, the sun shone again and storms were just a memory. The immediate damage assessment for me consisted of a snapped golf ball-retriever/wind sock-holder, uprooted wind-break, ripped outdoor carpet, overturned bicycles, missing wheel chock and deck chairs blown under the trailer – in all, nothing too serious. Later on, I discovered that the fridge vent on the roof had a good sized hole in it, whether from recent events or some earlier maintenance by the people who installed my solar panels is hard to say.

Darch Oborne in his new MH, with sister Kathy and husband Bert in their own MH, rolled in on the 18th. Initial impressions of Bert were a bit negative. Because of the roughness of the road, Darch’s speed in leading the convoy and the fact that Darch charged ahead of them into a spot (the trail up to my campsite) where they couldn’t turn around without unhooking tow vehicles, he was quite unhappy.
In the end, everyone got sorted out into a campsite below me but on another trail – lots of space in which to turn around and a giant-sized fire pit built by some previous occupant. In general, it’s not a bad idea to do a little reccy - prior to venturing on unknown desert trails with large vehicles. Later on, Bert managed a wry chuckle (or maybe it was a lingering grimace) all the while swearing that he would never follow Darch again – anywhere!


Since that time, we had some dinners, one at each MH, as well as a campfire in howling winds one night. Kathy and Bert had an Internet dish (Hughes) that also downloads Star Choice TV but, with her encryption (WPA2), my Hawking device would not connect – even when armed with the appropriate code.

On a sunny day between storm systems, Darch and I climbed Ajo Peak in search of the elusive Geocache that is supposed to reside there. This was my third attempt over several years and, again, no luck as the GPS took us right to the top of the NE shoulder and onto fairly exposed cliffs without being able to narrow the gap to less than 50 yds. On the Internet, the instructions talk about a fairly strenuous hike and location at 2450’ (starting below at 1977”) but this led us out in what appeared to be thin air. Anyway, we managed to avoid falling off the mountain and lived to try another day.

In the department of coincidental happenings, the Arizona Republic had an advertising insert for Fry’s Electronics.com the other day. All the HD TV sets (a whole page of them) contained a nice picture of the Lake Louise ski trails with the Chateau in the foreground. I thought this was quite an effective and distinctive way of marketing, even though it may have been purely accidental.

On the day following our big winds and rain, I ventured out for a milk and propane run into Ajo. When I tried to start the truck, I discovered that the storm had, somehow, turned on my running lights, causing the batteries to drain. It took a while of messing around with jump-start attempts before Darch noticed that the lights were on, despite no key in the ignition and all switches off. In the end, I took out the running-light fuse and, with cables to the battery of Darch’s Suzuki plus a hook-up to one of those Canadian Tire Eliminator battery starters (thanks to Bert), the truck started.

The night following the storm I broke down and fired up the generator. Batteries were still at 68% but, as the guests (Darch, Kathy and Bert) were coming for a mushroom pork dinner, I decided to use a few lights and get charged up at the same time. This would have been four consecutive days without much sun or battery input. In actuality, I’m pretty sure that I would have been fine without the generator but, once in a while, It’s nice to turn on all the lights.

Great success as Darch and I tackled the NE exposure of Ajo Peak in search of the elusive geocache. This was quite a steep climb, mostly loose rock but also some places where we had to grab on to hand and footholds. My titanium hip, oiled with a Naproxen (Aleve) tablet, proved up to the challenge and, while the other one groaned a little, both made it to the top. The Geocache location (N32 20.128 W112 54.364 - “A is for Ajo”, on the website) was a bit lower at 2450’ than the actual ridge summit and inaccessible from the top of the ridge proper (or so it appeared). As camp is located at an elevation of 1986’, this was a hike of 469 vertical feet. We approached on a traverse from the North. When the GPS announced that we still had 60 yds to go, Darch went ahead along a fairly narrow ledge; Kiki, the dog, and I “stayed” in place until we heard him shout that he had found the cache. This was an open-topped, lidless plastic candy jar, buried under a mound of rocks. Inside were various artifacts for exchange. I think that Darch took a carabiner while leaving a piece of petrified wood that he was carrying around for some reason. Our descent was also very steep with some exposure down the SW face (Looking up, go to the dead-cat gravesite in the first col above camp to the west, climb vertically to the pillar of rock (west of the SE ridge, east of the Thumb notch), scramble up to its west side and behind it, then follow the fall line to the cache on the main ridge. I can’t help but think that there must be easier ways of approaching this Geocache, something that a future expedition will give opportunity to explore.

Darch and crew departed on Jan 26th for Phoenix and/or Tucson areas. It is possible that we will meet up again in a few weeks

With all the storm water received, one would expect to see flowers blooming in the desert before long. On previous occasions, this phenomenon has taken about two weeks, post rains, to occur, so hopefully we shall see plenty of colour soon.

JW