Colorado River, Arizona

Camping on the Colorado River, south of Ehrenberg and I-10

We spend about 10 days camped above the Colorado River, overlooking the agricultural fields of California. Brad is just getting sick when we move here from Quartszite. A week later, I come down with the same cold. But in between, we get out for a couple of days and enjoy several beautiful sunsets and a campfire.

An antelope or deer The Blythe Intaglios are across the river on the California side, and north of the city of Blythe and I-10 about 30 miles. The Intaglios are drawings left in the desert by local natives perhaps thousands of years ago. An intaglio is made by scraping the darker layer of top rocks and dirt away revealing a lighter colour of dirt below, or by tamping, thus creating a depression.

A human figure, upside down (better lighting for photo) There are four figures drawn in this area, but all are fenced to keep vehicles from driving on them (so sad that has to be done), and they are so large (the largest is 171 feet tall) they are difficult to photograph from ground level. Three of the figures are of humans and one is of animals.

The Palo Verde Dam lies between Parker to the north and Yuma to the south. The colour of the Colorado River here reminds us of the Niagara River in the gorge.

Camping on the Colorado River, AZ

After two weeks camping with thousands of other RVers, we need our peace and solitude.  The Quartzsite party breaks up and we head to the Colorado River, south of Ehrenberg, Arizona.  We find a fabulous camping spot on the river with no one else around except the farmers across the river in California.  Unfortunately, the campsite we choose is a difficult spot to get a fifth-wheel trailer into because the access road drops sharply from the main (dirt) road, and the sharp angles created by the hitch movement cause the trailer to bump the top of the truck bed - but we squeak by and make it in - who knows if we'll get out!  (We did.)

As I'm walking around the trailer determining the most level spot to park, I hear sssssss - that's not good!  We have sprung a leak in one of our trailer tires.  Luckily, Mr. Fix-It plugs the hole - caused by a small stone of all things - and we get set up, although Grady is not happy about the delay in opening the sides of the trailer.  But he forgives the crisis because he LOVES it here - so much sand and lots of wildlife (birds and bunnies) so there are plenty of good smells.

As dusk approaches, the owls start - and there are many of them communicating with each other up and down the river.  One is definitely in the bush beside us, although we never see it.  I am assuming they are burrowing owls because there aren't many big trees around for them to spend the day.  The coyotes howl nightly too, although we never see them either.  And one day, while we're driving down-river checking out other campsites and what's in the area, we end up at a one-lane, dead-end road.  I get out of the truck to help guide Brad in a 10-point turn and suddenly he's excitedly pointing behind me.  The window is rolled up, so I walk up to the passenger door as he rolls the window down.  "A bobcat just crossed the road 20 feet behind you!"  Huh!  And I missed it!  The cat must have been drinking from the river (it's a steep embankment about 15 feet) and the sound of our truck made him nervous.  We look into the marsh where he ran (Brad said he was just trotting, not in a big hurry), but we don't see him again.  However, the morning we leave, we say goodbye to the river (Brad's idea!) and we see bobcat tracks from one side of "our" beach to the other along the river's edge.  He probably visited during the night or early in the morning.  Wish I'd seen one of these beautiful cats.  Here, kitty, kitty!

We are also near the Yuma Proving Grounds which are just south of us, so daily we hear explosions as they test weapons and F18s roar a few hundred feet over our heads.  It's like our own private air show!

Although the scenery and the serenity are wonderful, there isn't much to do in this area.  We hike away from the river on ATV trails where we find lots of shotgun shells, so perhaps this is a popular hunting area - there are certainly a lot of animal tracks in the sand.  We take advantage of the sunshine and just relax, knowing that in a few weeks we'll be heading home to snowstorms and freezing cold.  Yuck!

	Taking Grady for a walk on the beach.
	Our campsite on the Colorado River, taken from the roof of the trailer. That's California on the other side and is all agricultural; we're in Arizona.
	Brad along the river during our drive to the Cibola Bridge. The river is flowing very fast and is about 55F (12C).
	An old, graffiti-ridden building we found during our drive along the Levee Road which follows the Colorado River. No idea what it used to be.
	Some beautiful flowers growing out of the rock and sand deposited by a stream on the banks of the river. So unexpected in this arid environment.

Lee's Ferry, Arizona

During our trip to Arizona four years ago, we drove out of our way 30 extra miles to Lee's Ferry to see the Colorado River up close and personal.  Lee's Ferry, officially part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park, and bordered by the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, is THE launch site for river rafters.  It was mid-October then and the water at the small, sandy beach area was so cold, it numbed our feet and ankles within seconds; but there were kids swimming - of course they were!  We didn't spend much time here because we were on our way to Page for an overnighter.  This time, we want to see some of what the river and canyon has to offer.

Campsite with river below

There is a campground on a hill overlooking the river rapids; surrounding our trailer are bright red/orange cliffs about 1,700 feet high.  Only 15 miles downstream, the gorge becomes the infamous Grand Canyon, so you can picture what we see.  Lee's Ferry is, reportedly, the only place within 70 miles to get down to the river.  The colour (green) and power of the water are reminiscent of the mighty Niagara River.  The sound of the rapids lull us to sleep at night.  The water level is fairly high (even though Lake Powell upstream is so low!) and the beach we walked on four years ago is now under the current.

The name, Lee's Ferry, originated from the man who started the first (and only) ferry service here - John D. Lee, a Mormon settler.  River crossings were more common then as other Mormon settlers used the service in their pioneering during the late 1800s.  A small settlement grew here and there are several sandstone buildings as evidence of the lives that once called this magnificent place home.  Gold mining was also attempted here, but the technology did not exist to extract the fine, powdery metal from the abundant clay.  A short, interpretive trail follows the river for about 1/2 a mile, exhibiting the old buildings and mining boilers.  The Spencer Trail climbs to the top of one of the cliffs for a view of the gorge, but at 1,700 feet up, we take a pass!

Marilyn climbing down around various dryfalls

We do, however, hike the Cathedral Wash.  This is a short 1.5 mile trail that leads down the wash to the Colorado River.  At first, the hike is less than interesting, although the hardened clay/sand walls contain many fossils from ancient seabeds that once covered this area; in fact, much of the rock resembles a huge sea sponge.  And suddenly, we come to a 25-foot drop - a waterfall, now dry awaiting spring snowmelts.  There is no mention of this in our photography book which has guided many of our hikes on this trip; nor in the Glen Canyon brochure - we are supposed to be able to get to the river.  Upon closer inspection, we spy a way to climb down on the side wall (hope we can get back up!).  This is not our last dryfall we must circumnavigate, but it is the highest in this canyon, which has narrowed to a very pretty slot canyon with 1,500-foot high red cliff walls.  Then we can hear the rushing water of the Colorado River, and our trail ends at a beautiful, sandy little beach.  What a pleasant surprise!

Brad (bottom left) standing in Cathedral Wash

Picnic lunch at the Colorado River
Notice how much higher the water is behind us above the rapids

The sand is soft, there are huge boulders that have been pushed down Cathedral Wash during floods (flash floods are VERY common in the desert, but happen mostly in the summer and early fall after thunderstorms which may occur many miles away), trees and bushes.  There are animal tracks all over in the sand, probably small rodents.  We have lunch on the beach and notice that, looking up-river, we can easily see that the height of the water is some two feet above where we are standing.  It's a bit disorienting as you expect a river to at least look level even though you know it's flowing downhill.  But such a drop I haven't seen except in the Niagara Gorge where we hike down from the Niagara Glen picnic area near the Whirlpool.  The river here is only about 50 or 60 feet across and flowing incredibly fast.  It's a great spot for our picnic lunch, at least until the sun goes behind the cliff wall and we are reminded that it's the middle of December and only in the mid-40s (temperature, maybe 6C)!  Our hike back is much easier now that we know the route (getting around the dryfalls).  Another canyon hike survived.

Making our way back up the 25-foot dryfall (seen on right)