March 8th- from Gunsight Wash, Why, Az (N32 14.390 W112 45.318 - El - 1778’)




In the several weeks that have passed since the last group mailing from Las Cienegas National Wildlife Refuge, I have covered a few miles, now ending up at Gunsight Wash. One of the regular winter stops near Why, Az., GW is about 12 miles south of Ajo, just north of the border with Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and also roughly 30 miles from Mexico.



Meanwhile, back at Las Cienegas, I had been camped with the Obornes, Darch and Catherine, with Darch’s sister Kathy and her husband, Bert also on site. There, amongst other things, we discovered The Arizona Trail. Stretching from somewhere in Northern Arizona to the Mexican border, this is similar in concept to the Trans Canada Trail, though mostly single-track - prohibited to motorized traffic and designed for hikers, bikers and horses. Darch and I did two rides in the area of AZ Trail. One loop, starting at Kentucky Camp, was only about 7 miles but had plenty of ups and downs with most of our ride being off the actual Trail. The other covered almost 11 miles, all single track, some steeps, switchbacks and single track swooping – very enjoyable but still a bit of a grind with some climbs in the “walking” category for me. The AZ Loop, I would do again, likely not the Kentucky Camp Loop. A post bike ride day trip by Jeep to inspect Parker Canyon Lake to the south was about 30 miles from Sonoita along a narrow paved road. Occasional care had to be taken for sudden dips, potholes and rough spots but this road is quite passable for RVs at moderate speeds. The campground at Parker Canyon Lake ($10), located at 5500’, is quite picturesque but suffers from chilly nights at this time of year. Las Cienegas, at 4650’ also experienced freezing nights but daytime highs were up in the 70s.



High winds, a few rain spatters and a threat of more to come marked my last day at Las Cienegas. Hardpacked dirt could quickly turn to muck if heavy rains arrived, so I made my move on Feb 20th – direction Ajo, the shortest route being through Tucson. Darch and his entourage had moved to Patagonia State Park near Nogales a day or two earlier in hopes of sighting an “Elegant Trogon”, America’s only indigenous parrot (unsuccessful, I believe). In the final couple of miles before Tucson, winds became very strong from the west so I was glad to hole up on the paved parking area at Casino Del Sol again with my nose pointing into the storm. Needing to replace a bike tire tube and also wishing to find another pair of bike shorts, I drove by way of Ajo Bikes (possibly, the best bike shop in Tucson). I got the tube but no shorts available to fit my Diet-Coke-belly-fat physique. The casino and its parking lots were quite crowded (holiday weekend) but generator fiends held off until 7.30 in the morning. That night, I returned to the slot machines to use up the $6.50 credit that remained on my ”Club Sol” card from the previous visit. This disappeared quickly, along with another $5, partly because I never did understand exactly what game I was playing or how much I was betting and just hit buttons at random to get rid of the credit and escape back to the trailer. Sooner, rather than later, lights stopped flashing, all indications were that my stake was reduced to zero and the machine appeared dormant. How the old ladies with vacant stares and cigarette ash dangling down to their shoulders manage to navigate through the bells and whistles is beyond me – nothing personal to some of the younger, non smoking and very attractive ladies who may read this.



Darch and Catherine arrived back at Casino Del Sol, so we dined out at a Chinese Buffet and rode paved bike trails along the dry-bed Rio Rillito (park at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park). Darch became somewhat agitated with the day of driving around in Tucson and chose to vent spleen at the nice English lady-robot (Emily) voicing directions on the GPS, demanding that she be silenced. In fact, the GPS had led us slightly astray on the way to our bike parking at Brandi Fenton Park by routing us along a side street with lots of stop signs, rather than along a main thoroughfare that would have been faster. As it happens, I had it set to “shortest” mode, rather than “fastest”, which might have made a difference – more research on this is required.



On Feb 23rd, I packed up, had a last discount breakfast at the Casino and headed west along Highway 86 to Gunsight Wash just south of Why (approx. 2½ hours). Camping here is easy on mostly flat terrain and access is provided by fairly well-marked trails. This is a hosted area, so, on arrival, volunteers fill out forms for the BLM, issue a pass and monitor to see that campers don’t overstay the two week maximum. Gunsight was relatively busy with about 45 units spread over the 2 mile BLM area. I found a nice spot by a small wash about 0.3 miles in from the gate and hope that the neighbours are solar, not generator oriented boondockers. The co-host (Ev – very friendly) organized an Astrology night run by an amateur astronomer who identified various constellations for us (all named by early Greeks) as we sat in our deck chairs staring up at the stars. He brought along a large telescope and some equally powerful binoculars for public viewing but line-ups were long, the session appeared to have stalled and I went home without a view of Jupiter’s moons.



Feb 26th - strong winds with rain shook the trailer but did no damage other than letting in a little water through the fridge vent. I am now leaving the solar panels flat as they put adequate juice into the batteries without tilting them up. Once we reach mid-February, this seems to be the case every year. I guess that, for those who do not wish to climb up on their roofs to mess with panels, having an extra one, leaving all flat and avoiding the hassle of tilting is one way to go – more expensive because of the added panel, but safer! Ev, the host, noted my bike on the back of the trailer and remarked that someone camping at the BLM had fallen on a creosote bush and ended up with 32 stitches. Generally speaking, the ubiquitous creosotes are quite mild-mannered with no thorns. However, they do splinter when attacked and get damaged, as witness my ripped tire of a few years ago, as well as the biker’s face, so best not to drive over or face-plant into them.



As usual, there is a Border Patrol Post on Hwy 85, about 2 miles south of Gunsight – one can see the lights shining at night. According to Ev, the host, very few “Illegales” have been sighted near camp this year, mainly, one supposes, due to increased patrol activity and agent numbers, as well as the U.S / Mexico fence. As it happens, I have twice seen Border Patrol agents arresting young men. They (the agents), often park their vehicles in dry washes and wait for the Mexicans to fall into their trap. Sometimes, they even have K-9 “officers” with them. Penalties are not severe, as the invaders simply get returned to Mexico unless they also happen to be in possession of large quantities of drugs or other contraband. While I rarely carry money or ID with me on bike trips (not wishing to get mugged and lose them), no one has ever asked me to identify myself. I guess my less than swarthy features mark me as a gringo and therefore harmless.

Having spent much of the winter camped near Bouse and travelling east of Tucson, this is a relatively short visit to the Ajo/Why area. I have been humbled once so far and anticipate another loss in the weekly Scrabble games with friends Gayle and Don Weyers in Ajo. Ghetto Blaster radio reception at Gunsight is quite poor, so I have discovered that, if I use a small inverter and hook the satellite to the main radio speakers, leaving the TV unplugged, I can listen to CBC 2 (or any of 30 other stations) all day with very little power consumption.

This takes about 2 amps vs. 4 amps for use of the large inverter with radio speakers or about 8 amps if I turn on the TV. I have also discovered that the TV, when off (but still plugged in), eats up more power than all the lights combined! It is a mystery to me why the only CBC-1 signal (from BC) that I can get on the dish has to come from Prince Rupert rather than Vancouver, Victoria or the Okanagan.



Off riding one day, I had a flat tire but couldn’t find a thorn or other cause. Two patches and three different tubes later, I determined that my bicycle pump was leaking air at about the same volume as it was introducing air into the tires, so rode home with less than 10 pounds. A new tire and use of a larger pump have rectified the situation but the mobile pump will have to be replaced. At the same time, I lost two spokes and had to remove the entire rear gear cassette to fit in substitutions - thanks to Lynn Wilson, at home on his one day-off-a-week from curling, for providing teleconference advice on how to remove the cassette.



Recognizing that we are now into March with hot temperatures just around the corner, I am thinking about the next move. One option is to see if Walt (the mechanic) and Sue are still camped at Kelso Dunes (approx. N34.53.520 W115 41.958) in Mojave National Preserve. Located between Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks in California, this area could be a launch pad for a return to Canada via the Oregon Coast. I did that years ago and enjoyed the trip – quite a change travelling and camping by the ocean after being in the desert all winter. Anyway, that decision is yet to come. I still have another scrabble session, possibly a flat tire or two and a few days remaining at Gunsight Wash.