Yuma, AZ

We spend Christmas and New Years in Lake Havasu City, back at the Porters' Party Place with the group. Not going to blog about that other than to say it was lots of fun, eating, drinking, you know the usual holiday drill, so again our heartfelt thanks to Paul and Sue for hosting.

Before we meet back up with the same group and even more friends in Quartzsite for the annual reunion, Brad and I head to Yuma to stock up on grapefruit honey, date syrup, date shakes, lime/cilantro balsamic vinegar, and cheap meds from Mexico. Other than shopping and relaxing, the only hike we take is a brutal 1,200-foot climb up Telegraph Pass. The view here is of Dome Valley and the Muggins Mountains beyond.

And here's the group who met in Quartzsite in mid-January 2017 (photo credit to Carol Ann Dwyer). Mostly, this event is about socializing with friends, and checking out the local shows - rock & gem shows, RV show, and general swap meet. As always, our special thanks to Steve and Carol for hosting spaghetti night, and the Porters and Swains for hosting margarita/quesadilla night. So much great food!

Mittry Lake and Yuma, Arizona

Do you know what I love most about Year 6 of our travels? Being familiar with the places we go - knowing where to camp, where to get supplies, and how to get around town. I love driving into Escalante or Page and just going directly to "our" camp spot without stopping at the BLM Office or Visitor Center to research where we can take our trailer. It's almost like going home, but in about 10 or 20 different cities in 5 or 6 different states. And it isn't boring going to these places where we've visited before; it's a comfort. Yuma is like that.

Yuma - "Winter Lettuce Capital"

Okay, tell me this doesn't look fabulous. An estimated 90% of the lettuce consumed in the United States in the winter is grown here. The city is lush with fields of, not only lettuce, but broccoli, cauliflower, and other unidentifiable leafy crops (I'm no farmer!).

There must be an ecological reason the rows are planted in alternating colours/species, and we're grateful for that because it's just so darn attractive.

Mittry Lake

As always, when we come to Yuma, we camp (boondock) at Mittry Lake just a few miles north of the city out in farm country. We love it here and luck out this year getting this coveted high spot with a view of the lake, Imperial Dam, and Yuma Proving Grounds, with the canal on the opposite side.

When we arrive, we are shocked to see that part of the area near the boat launch has been ravaged by fire. But life continues, and new growth is starting already.

This belted kingfisher's home must be nearby as we see him fishing in the canal many days. Many water birds make Mittry Lake home during the winter including egrets, herons, many species of ducks, terns and of course, American cootes. At night, we hear several owls calling across the steep, rocky hillsides.

Gathering of the Gunfighters

I am happy when I learn that the annual Gathering of the Gunfighters competition is this weekend. We attended a couple of years ago for our first time and thoroughly enjoyed it along with the tour of the Yuma Territorial Prison (of the movie "3:10 to Yuma" fame) where the competition is held. This year, I am not as impressed. I don't think anything has changed except it's never as exciting as the first time. I am reminded how the microphones rarely pick up the voices properly and when a train passes, which they do frequently and only a few hundred feet away, no one can hear anything. Groups compete by enacting a skit about the old west which ends in a gunfight. Fun, but needs some technical assistance.

Algodones, Mexico

Brad and Tom, smile! Friends from Hamilton have a house here in Yuma, and we arrange a day in Algodones, Mexico with them. Americans and Canadians come to this Mexican border town to purchase booze, prescriptions, eyeglasses and get dental work.

Tom, Brad, me and Bev - our reflections in a mirror zoomed in Of course, what's a day in Mexico without a margarita? Well, not much fun. So even I have one (or part of one). Lunch and drinks for all, then a stagger back across the border to our vehicles waiting on the American side. We do have a DD, and today, it's not me!

Mittry Lake near Yuma, AZ

Mittry Lake is a favourite spot of ours, especially for relaxing and enjoying the views. Part of the Colorado River, the lake is north of Yuma and well used by locals for fishing and boating. It's also near the Yuma Proving Grounds so we often hear test explosions and see military planes flying overhead.

This is our bad weather day, so we hike into the rocky hills south of the lake, taking advantage of the cooler temperatures thanks to the clouds. This canal runs through the hills to the many farms in Yuma, which is known as the "lettuce capital of the world". Workers are havesting the lettuce now.

photo P1120473 left justified] If one cairn marks the trail, what do a dozen mark? This hilltop has a row of these cairns for no reason we can imagine other than someone likes building them or it's a silent competition between hikers.

photo P1120475 left justified] Many of the campers along Mittry Lake are Canadian, and we have heard that Yuma's snowbird population is 60% Canadian. So we aren't really surprised to see our flag flying along this trail.

I think when we were here last year, we caught the rising of the full moon. And here's another one. This is the view from our campsite.

What would a trip to Yuma be without a trip to Martha's Gardens for a date shake? It would be unfulfilling - emotionally and physically.

The Wetlands trail runs through town along the Colorado River, and Brad and I hike it during a very hot afternoon. We then have an early dinner (since lunch was a date shake) at Da Boyz in historic downtown and return to Gateway Park to get this picture of the Ocean to Ocean Highway bridge. These are two bridges - one for vehicles and one for trains. Yuma was historically significant as one of the few crossings of the once mighty Colorado River. Today, irrigation consumes much of the water and dams control its flow.

Winter Vegetable Capital - Yuma, AZ

Yuma lies in the southwestern-most corner of Arizona along the Colorado River.  If you eat lettuce in the winter, this is likeloy where it's grown.  The fields are lush with vegetables of all kinds and irrigation is almost non-stop.  It looks and smells heavenly after the dryness of the desert.

We spend 10 days here, visiting the farms and historic sites from our campsite at Mittry Lake (where we camped last year).  The best part of camping here: lots of migratory birds, great views of the small lake, daily sonic displays thanks to the nearby Yuma Proving Grounds - a military base which tests heavy equipment and artillery.  The worst part of camping here: hunters and mosquitoes.

	Remember the movie 3:10 to Yuma? Well, this prison is where those prisoners were brought. From 1876 to 1909, the Yuma Territorial Prison housed over 3,000 including 29 women. During the weekend we are here, we see the Annual Gathering of the Gunfighters. Teams come from all over to compete by acting out old west skits that always end in a gunfight. It's a lot of fun to watch, plus there's a vendor selling Indian Fry Bread - mmm!
	The nearby Imperial Dam outlets, full of American Coots. There's a nice picnic area at the dam and a farm not far away that sells Date Shakes - mmm!
	The restored town of Castle Dome with the rock formation of the same name in the background. The current owners have collected shacks from the adjacent Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and restored them, rebuilding a ghost town. They've done a great job - best ghost town museum we've been to yet.
	Marilyn at the hotel bar in Castle Dome's ghost town. I think the whiskey has dried up.
	Another full moon rise behind a date palm taken from our campsite at Mittry Lake.

Snowbirds' Paradise - Yuma, AZ

Yuma lies 2 miles east of the Arizona/California border along the Lower Colorado River.  We are surprised by how large this snowbird mecca is.  Why Yuma?  Climate.  Yuma enjoys a wonderfully moderate winter climate where nights rarely dip below freezing and days can be in the 80s.  And of course, sunshine - lots of it.  The Yuma Visitors Guide magazine says "According to Guinness World Records, Yuma is the sunniest city on earth, receiving sunshine an average of 91 percent of all possible (daylight) hours"!  Wow!  The population of Yuma doubles in the winter because of the snowbirds who flock here - some 90,000 of them and many from Ontario!  There are numerous RV parks as well as hundreds of acres of BLM LTVAs (Long Term Visitor Areas) where, for $75 per year, you can camp without services.  While a fee is not usually charged when camping on BLM (federal) land, it is in these high-use areas.  The Imperial Sand Dunes just across the border into California is another BLM area where a fee (and permit) is required.

Our campsite on Mittry Lake

We camp along the shores of Mittry Lake inside the Wildlife Refuge which is - you guessed it - free.  The lake seems to be part of the Colorado River dam system with the Imperial Dam above us (visible in the distance from our trailer).  Reddish-brown, rocky "mountains" surround us, but the lake is lined by tall grasses about 12 to 15 feet high and is home to numerous species of birds and other wildlife.  I think we see a Golden Eagle hunting on two separate occasions, but it is difficult to identify from such a distance.  We hear owls and coyotes calling at night while we're lying in bed.  We feel like we are in the Midland Marsh, except for the few palm trees growing and the reddish-brown, jagged peaks on the horizon.  There are many RVers camped along the shore (a lot of people come to fish in the lake) and we share the large space where we are camped with one other RV each night.

Well, there's a sign you just don't see every day
On the road beside the Yuma Proving Grounds
(helipcopter is suspended on a post as display)

Beside us about 5 miles down the road are the Yuma Proving Grounds, a military test base.  During the day, we hear loud explosions, some of which shake the windows in our trailer.  Brad likes this - "something's blowing up every five minutes!"  Planes (jets and propeller planes) are constantly flying overhead; but thankfully nights are quiet.

Mittry Lake with boat launch and picnic area on left (white dots)

This area had one inch of rain fall two or three days before we arrive.  There are huge puddles everywhere; some parking lots are under water; the crops in the fields (Yuma supplies the country with 90% of its leafy, green vegetables between November and March, as well as 175 different other crops; agriculture is its main business) are flooded and workers are deep in the mud picking cabbage and lettuce.  But with the rain comes desert flowers, and during a drive out to Ferguson Lake, north of the Imperial Dam through 10 miles of desert dirt roads, we are excited to see a few ocotillo blossoming with their dark green leaves and another small desert plant (which I can't name) full of yellow flowers.  The desert is starting to bloom.  The ocotillo have large thorns along the length of each stalk which are about the diameter of a finger and may be 15 to 20 feet in height.  Tiny leaves grow along the entire length of the stalk when rain conditions are just right, and a scarlet red flower will grow at the end of the stalks.  The ocotillo can grow and shed its leaves up to five times per year when conditions are favourable.  Also abundant here are the Palo Verde trees (palo verde is Spanish for either green tree or green branch).  These trees have a beautiful, feathery appearance because all of its bark is green and the ends of its branches are as thin as strings, so even though they have no leaves right now, from a distance they appear to be full.  But be forewarned, these trees, like many in the desert, have tiny thorns at the ends of the branches - perhaps these are new branch sprouts.

Ferguson Lake with Castle Dome peak top left

Back at Ferguson Lake - wow!  What scenery!  The dirt road is pretty good until near the end (which we don't know is near the end because we don't even know how far we have to drive to get to the lake!  So we always drive around with spare fuel in a tank in the back of the truck.) where the road becomes so steep we have to use four-wheel drive just to get up the incline.  There is a view from the top of one of the hills which overlooks Ferguson Lake and Lake Martinez beside it.  Neither lake is very big, only a few miles across perhaps.  But what an oasis!  Well, not really an oasis, but a wetland in the middle of the desert.  This is what the Colorado River provides in this landscape.  These lakes are here because of the dams built on this river to provide power and irrigation.  It's an incredible sight.  The road winds down and we find a few camping spots right on the lake, and while we could never get our trailer in here, we do have the foresight to bring our zero-gravity chairs and some snacks (Brad is lamenting he didn't bring any beer), so we have a sit, relaxing and enjoying the view while a bird (unidentified again because I discovered that my National Audubon Society bird field guide is for eastern North America and includes birds found in the west only if they are also common to the east, with the Rockies being the dividing line; but I think it's some kind of grackle) walks around us.  He is really funny, walking like a chicken, but he is beautifully golden coloured on the underside and dark brown on his back, although he has those scary yellow eyes.  He seems very curious about us, and we throw him a few sunflower seeds which he picks up in his beak and runs away with into the long grass.  Perhaps he doesn't like to be watched while eating, or he is storing the seeds for later.