TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

Sunday, February 07, 2010

CASTLE DOME MINE MUSEUM & WESTERN GHOST TOWN

THE KOFA MOUNTAIN RANGE

Weatherman was calling for rain again today & when I checked the computers weather map last night there was large amount of rain headed our way from southern California. It never got here:))

PUDDLES LEFT FROM SATURDAY’S RAIN

When I let Max out this morning at 5 there wasn't a cloud in the sky & the stars stretched from mountain top to mountain top. What a great feeling to know we were not going to be stuck inside the motorhome all day under gray rainy skies.

CHECKING OUT FUTURE BOONDOCKING SPOTS

A few days ago & I had taken a photo of a 5th wheel near us flying some flags. A day later we received a comment in our blog from that 5th wheel saying, "hey, those were our flags you to took a photo of." Now how did they know we were here. Must have been our 'Bayfield Bunch.com' logo on the back of the rig. This morning we walked down to the fifth wheel & met Kris & Steve from Sacramento California. Nice folks:))

CASTLE DOME MUSEUM COMPLEX

It was a picture perfect day with deep blue skies & fluffy cotton ball clouds as we headed south down highway 95 towards Yuma looking for Castle Dome road in the Castle Dome mountains. And, where were we going? Castle Dome Museum..........of course:))

ENTRANCE TO A REPLICA MINE SHAFT

Seemed to be a lot of RV's heading the other way towards Quartzite as we turned east off the highway & headed northeast up a paved road which quickly turned into 10 miles of rumbly gravel the rest of the way to the museum. The mountains ahead of us stood magnificently against the sky & once again I was reminded of how truly fortunate we really are to here in the great American Southwest.

HOTEL SALOON

Castle Dome Mines Museum & Ghost town is quite a remarkable place. The complex is laid out on 10 acres with a walking tour of the District Silver Mine. The brochure says, "Castle Dome's silver mining began in 1864 & was mined until 1979. The characters who have come & gone have made Castle Dome City's history one of old Arizona's most appealing chapters. 'There were shootouts, brawls, & untimely deaths. Fortunes were made & lost. The 'old west' way of life is gone, but preserved in Castle Dome City in what they left behind. 35 restored buildings full of artifacts as diverse as the folks who lived here."

A SAMPLING OF TODAYS PHOTOS (click to enlarge)

It is a story in itself how all the buildings & countless artifacts have been gathered together here in this museum in the desert. Rather than me try to repeat the story, you can check this link for the first hand account of CASTLE DOME CITY & how it came to be. We spent 2 hours roaming the buildings & pathways today & I’m sure dedicated historians could spend many days here . Most everything is genuine & as I walked into the first old miners cabin & could smell the old musty wood. I remembered that smell from the time we toured the old BIRD CAGE THEATER IN TOMBSTONE ARIZONA That scent is a true stamp of authenticity with decades upon decades of age oozing from the very wood fibers themselves.

KELLY ADDS HER DAD’S NAME TO THE WALL OF VETERANS

So much to see & so many photos to take & as usual I took a ka-zillion million pictures & will put them all in a web album hopefully sometime within the next couple of days. There is a $6 charge per person to come in & if your in the area & have an interest in the old west & it's wild & wooly mining days, I would suggest to make the drive out to the Castle Dome Museum but if you can't make it be sure to watch for our photo album sometime in the next day or so. Photos have made it through the Picasa editing program & I just have to caption them now.

On our way back to Quartzite we took a side trip into the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge mountain range again turning east off highway 95 just across from the historical Stone Cabin site. I am in continuous awe of this land's elegance all the time we are here in the southwest & today was no exception. The multi peaked spires of the great Kofa mountains against the deep blue azure sky flanked by large cumulous clouds was truly inspiring. We followed the reasonably good gravel road in for about 5 miles checking for good boondocking places. Saw a few rigs scattered about so we knew it would be a future boondocking place for the Bayfield Bunch for sure. And to think that we had been to Quartzite for the past 3 years in a row & never knew the beauty we were so close to. I had repeatedly taken pictures of the these mountains from near Quartzite over the years but never took the time to explore the mountains themselves. What another great area we have discovered.........10-4:))

Welcome to new blog follower, Azequine. Hope you love the American southwest as much as we do & we're glad to have you aboard as we travel the mountains & canyons of New Mexico, Arizona, & California:))

HEADING BACK TO OUR RIG SOUTH OF QUARTZITE

I got a kick out of Rick's & Mike's comments in last night's blog. Not to worry boys, there will no social butterfly metamorphing out of this fellow. Been there, done that & priorities have thankfully changed!! Nice try guys:))

SUNDAY NIGHT KOFA MOUNTAIN SUNSET

4:30 A.M. Monday morning Arizona time update…… Just finished the web album for today’s photos & they are at… CASTLE DOME MINES MUSEUM & GHOST TOWN

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor's office."Is it true," she wanted to know,"that the medication you prescribed has to be taken for the rest of my life?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the doctor told her. There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied, "I'm wondering, then, just how serious is my condition because this prescription is marked 'NO REFILLS'."

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

TODAY WE MET MIKE & JIM:)) …… BUT NOT JANNA & ELLIE:((

SATURDAY MORNING SUNRISE

We started out with a semi-sunny morning and another in a series of fiery sunrises. Needless to say I was out & about with my camera....in my jammies. Donna, from CAVE DWELLINGS blogs about her efforts at the HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK to capture sunrises & sunsets dodging inconspicuously about outside in her jammies too. Problem she has is that they have neighbors all around. Problem I have is that I'm outside with my mismatched tops & bottoms, old green beltless house coat, blown out running shoes & hair on upside down. I'm quite a wreck in the morning & it really doesn't get much better after that. If the dog catcher came by I would be toast:(( So Donna, consider yourself lucky over there at Hickiwan:))

THE PALM CANYON HIKE IS THERE AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGE

Blogging friends of ours are boondocked over near Bouse so we thought we'd amble up that way this morning & have us a look at the area. Have heard other RV folks talking about it so figured we had better slip over that way while we're still here. Headed north out of Quartzite about 9:30 & while Kelly was fielding a Deerpark Lodge cell phone call I missed Plomosa road heading east to Bouse. Ended up on the southeastern outskirts of Parker having to turn left & head east to Bouse from there. A much longer route than the Plomosa Road route for sure. Not much in Bouse so we hung a right turn at the northern end of Plomosa Rd & worked our way back to where Mike & Janna from TIN TEPEE/LOG CABIN said they were. About 3 or 4 miles southwest of Bouse we saw the colored ribbons on a shrub so new where to turn into the desert & head north. From reading their blog for the past year or more we knew what their rig looked like plus their friends were also boondocked out there with a 40' Tiffin. Hard to miss a 40 footer in the desert!!

BREAKFAST IN THE MORNING DESERT & ADDING OUR LAST COUPLE JUGS OF WATER TO THE ONBOARD TANK

Spotted the big coach OK but no sign of Mike & Janna's rig. Pulled in past the Tiffin & swung round Mike & Janna's car back to the 40 footer where a fellow was already outside to see who the intruders were. "You must be Al & Kelly from the Bayfield Bunch" he said as he approached the car with a big handshake. And that is how we met Jim from JUSTRAVELIN. Said Mike had taken their motorhome into Bouse to dump the tanks & pick up some water. Jim's wife Ellie & Mike's wife Janna had taken Jim's Saturn & headed into Parker to do a little of, or a lot of.......shopping:))

Jim had us come inside where we met Bojangles & Jazzy their mini Schnauzers. Quite a pair of rascals. Y'know, sometimes it's just best not to go in other people's rigs. This is a top of the line 40' Phaeton diesel coach & it's very, very, nice. Kind of makes our rig look a bit like something the Beverly Hillbilly's first took to California years ago. Jim was a very gracious host showing us around the coach. His personality matched the motorhome.....very nice:)) Chatted about this & that for awhile until Mike came rumbling up the dusty road with the Beaver on his way back from Bouse. Wasn't long & we finally met Mike as well & as expected, another fine & friendly RV fellow. Mike is one of those guys with a twinkle in his eye, big sideburns & a happy easy going face topped with a white cowboy hat. It was a picture of Mike in their blog walking along underneath his hat one day awhile back that gave me the idea for the type of new cowboy hat I was looking for.

JIM, KELLY, BOJANGLES, & JAZZ

It was great chatting with Jim & Mike & we all marveled at how small the RVing world is. People they knew we knew & vice versa. Laurie & Odel's SEMI TRUE TALES name came up. Doug & Joanne from LIVING OUR DREAM were common friends. Although we haven't met Mark & Dortha Hall of RVING WITH POPPA their names are familiar to us & they have spent quite a bit of time traveling with Jim & Ellie. It always amazes me how so many traveling RV'ers seem to know or have heard of each other. It's quite a small world out here on the road. And it's the blogging RV'ers who are mainly in tune with everything & each other.

LOOKED LIKE RAIN OVER THERE IN QUARTZITE AT THE BASE OF THAT DISTANT MOUNTAIN RANGE

I could see the sky was getting darker over Quartzite way & I knew we had left windows open in our rig for the dogs so with the threat of rain evident we had to get on our way. Janna & Ellie hadn't made it back from Parker yet so we bid adieu to Mike & Jim without meeting the ladies. With some handshakes, some photos, & some increasing raindrops, we were into our car & making fast tracks for home, but the rains beat us to it. A quick stop in Quartzite for groceries & gas & we were heading south for the La Paz Valley. At least we had windshield wipers & a roof over our heads & that's more I can say for the poor guys on a couple motorcycles we had in front of us. Been there, done that, not nice!!

THAT’S JIM IN THE BLUE SHIRT & MIKE UNDERNEATH THE WHITE COWBOY HAT (click pics to enlarge)

We got off lucky with only some rain coming in the smaller kitchen window onto the counter & not the other window on my bed. The sky's grew darker & the rains continued steadily for the rest of the day. It made it easier for me get some computer things done & I was able to upload yesterday's Kofa mountain palm tree hike photos into a web album. IN SEARCH OF THE KOFA PALMS When you open the album try clicking on the 'Slideshow' feature. The majority of the photos are captioned as well.

CASTLE DOME MOUNTAINS SOUTHWEST OF THE KOFA MOUNTAINS

Weatherman is calling for more rain tomorrow so maybe I'll get to see the washouts with water running through them finally. By the deep cut washouts across the roads etc, they sure must have some powerful water run offs in these parts. Depending on the weather tomorrow, we might take a day trip to the Castle Dome Museum down Yuma way. We'll see....................................

GROANER'S CORNER:(( It's frustrating when you reach the age & stage of life where you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions anymore.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

A LITTLE MAGIC IN THE KOFA MOUNTAINS

KELLY LOOKS BACK ON OUR CLIMB FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE CANYON

Spent the morning doing one of my absolute all time favorite things. Walking quietly along a beautiful mountain trail. We had heard the Palm Canyon Road south of Quartzite led into the Kofa mountains where a short uphill half mile rock scramble brought one to a narrow canyon high up on a rock faced wall. In that barely accessible canyon were reported to be about 40 palm trees.

SAGUARO’S STAND IN SILENT SALUTE TO THE DISTANT KOFA MOUNTAINS

First of all though I had better get my mountains straightened out. A few days ago I called the hauntingly beautiful jagged Kofa mountains, the Castle Domes. That was wrong. The Castle Dome range is further south along the highway towards Yuma. I have taken photos of the Kofa mountains every time we have been to Quartzite but this morning was the first time we ever went to the Kofa's & actually drove right up to them, touched them, and hiked right into them.

THE DESERT FLOOR FLORA CHANGES AS WE GAIN ALTITUDE

We left our campsite around 9:30 after another nice desert walk this morning. The turnoff for Palm Canyon road was about a 20 minute drive south of us. Left turned off highway 95 & headed east on the gravel & slightly washboardy road. Hazy mountains loomed closer as the Saguaro cactus became more numerous & the rocky landscape began filling with prickly cholla plants. The rugged Kofa mountains were absolutely majestic in the morning sun as we followed a winding road right up to the face of the mountains themselves. A parking lot marked the end of motorized traffic & from there it was boots on the ground for the climb to the palms.

HEADING UP THE TRAIL IN SEARCH OF THE PALMS

I enjoy driving through scenic places but to actually get out & physically hike into those scenic places has got to be one of the greatest things. I cannot put into words the feelings I have when heading up a rocky mountain trail with towering & shadowy rock formations all around. Blue skies high above with Saguaro cactus, Palo Verde trees, & greenery along the trail. Cactus wren calls echoing from the canyon walls with the occasional eagle overhead. There are bighorn sheep in these mountains………& there is quiet. Not a sound. A whisper is almost an intrusion into these serene surroundings & it is one of the reasons we prefer not to hike with others or in a group. It is the peacefulness of nature that we seek on these hikes. It is the beauty I try to connect with in my camera lens. I can't do that when surrounded by talking & distracting people.

PALO VERDE TREES ADD GREENERY TO THE CANYON

We walked & clambered our way along the narrow rock strewn pathway leading ever upwards into the narrow dark canyon stopping for photos & to marvel at the wonderment all around us. At one point Kelly mentioned that it was like walking in a Harry Potter movie. Any moment we expected to round a corner & there in the distance high atop a distant slightly cloud shrouded bluff....Hogwarts itself.

THE TRAIL ENDED JUST BEYOND THIS POINT

I saw the small wooden sign before I saw the palms. The sign simply said 'Palms' with an arrow pointing slightly upward. High on the other side of the close canyon wall was a long narrow vertical canyon in itself & in it were the palm trees in a long single line. Had the sign not been there we would have walked right by without ever seeing them. We briefly contemplated the rugged hike down, across a boulder strewn wash, & then up a steep 200 foot climb to the palms themselves but considering our limitations decided against it. I still think I could do it ok though. We silently sat here on the rocks for awhile, each lost in our own thoughts. We soaked up the magnificence & tranquility of our surroundings..........and then we heard voices!!

THE PALMS ARE HIGH UP IN THE CANYON WALL (click pics to enlarge)

Some folks from Washington State came on up the trail from the parking lot & stopped to admire the palms. We all had ourselves a little bit of a chin wag before Kelly & I started back down the rocky trail. As mentioned before, descending a trail is generally always harder than going up. Especially hard on aging knees. We stopped a few times on the way down trying to figure out if our new Delorme GPS system actually knew where it was but we obviously have not made it to first base yet in understanding how this little techno wizard of a gizmo works.

THE WASHINGTON STATE FOLKS

We were back to the rig around 2 & I spent a big part of what was left of the day just kind of dozing off here & there from all that great exercise this morning. Wished we would do more of that sort of thing. Great for not only the body but for the mind as well. I sometimes feel we waste way to much of our southwest time doing too darn much of nothing. Too much nothing stuff & not enough nature stuff!! Too much time in the people world & not enough time in Mother Nature's world. Some people are most comfortable being around other people. I am most comfortable being where I was this morning................10-4!!

STOPPING TO CHECK THE DELORME GPS

I have too many photos to put in the blog tonight so I will have to make a special effort & put this morning's hike into a web album & I plan to have that album online by tomorrow night. Wish me luck................