GHOST MOUNTAIN HIKE & WE PASSED THE SITEMETER 100,000 MARK FOR BLOG VISITS TODAY:))

JAN & MIKE ON LEFT GIVING AN INFORMATIVE TALK ABOUT GHOST MOUNTAIN BEFORE THE HIKE

When I'm able to start the blog off without complaining about the wind you will know that we have probably left the Southwest.  We were both up in the middle of the night again retracting slides before the wind ripped the awnings off.   Needless to say I was awake a big part of the night & this morning I felt like I'd been run over by a road grader.

           

SOME YAQUITEPEC RUINS

Sometime in the night our Sitemeter recorded over 100,000 hits on our site since starting the blog.  "WoW, who would have ever thunk it!!  Thanks folks:))

Had to be over in Blair Valley by 9 a.m. to meet a group of people for an organized hike up Ghost Mountain to the Marshal South homestead site.  It's close to an hour's drive through the twisting & winding Yaqui Pass southwest of here so I was out the door & on my way by 7:30.

IN THE BLAIR VALLEY

Beautiful morning & I enjoyed the challenge of the drive as it took me back many years to those snappy sports car days of old.  When you can hear the tires squeal a bit in the curves you know your having a fun time:))

 

A PROPERTY NEAR SHELTER VALLEY

This was my 3rd trip to Ghost Mountain & I couldn't help but think back 2 years ago when Kelly & I first drove out to Blair Valley in search of a place where a family had eked out an existence back in the 30's & the 40's.   That day standing atop Ghost Mountain in the few sparse ruins of the Marshall South homestead made a lasting impression on me & I came down of the mountain that day with a fascination for the man, his family, & their story.  Bought the book, 'Marshall South & the Ghost Mountain Chronicles' & my interest deepened.  This is the BLOG I wrote that day & these are the PHOTOS

SMALL WORLD...Couple on right lived in London Ontario back in the early 60's & had a cottage in Grand Bend.  Grand Bend is a 20 minute drive south of Bayfield where we live. (Standing in the homestead ruins)

Last year while boondocking near Borrego Springs I blogged about plans to hike up Ghost Mountain again.  A few days later we received an email from director John McDonald who had done a documentary about Marshall South & the Ghost Mountain story.  John & his wife Lydia were camping in the area & said the 'Ghost Mountain' alert program on his computer kept showing him people were clicking on a site called, The Bayfield Bunch because of the blog I had written about our hike the year before.  To make a long story short Kelly & I drove out to Ghost Mountain a few days later & I hiked up to the top again.  Kelly was nursing a sore ankle at the time so waited at the bottom.  By the time I came down John & Lydia  had arrived at the foot of Ghost Mountain & we were able to meet them & pick up a copy of his documentary.  Here is my BLOG & PHOTOS of that day.

 

STRONG WINDS ARE BLOWING HEAVILY ON MIKE'S HAT (click pics to enlarge)

I knew our stay at Borrego Springs this year would not be complete if I didn't hike myself up to the Marshall South site again so I had been watching for an organized hike this time.  I knew hike leaders would be able to point out things I had missed before.....and so they did.

GHOST MOUNTAIN IS IN THE BACKGROUND AT THE TIP OF THE TALLEST BRANCH ON THIS OLD TREE

Turned off highway S2 for the 3 mile hard packed sandy drive along a bumping road to the meeting point at the bottom of Ghost Mountain.  Met hike leaders, Mike & Jan Bigelow.  Six other people arrived & after an informative talk by our hike leaders we were in single file making our way up the steep, narrow, & rocky switch back trail leading to Yaquitepec.  About a quarter of the way up two separate hikers cell phones rang & I thought, wonder what Marshall South would have thought of all this modern technology on the trail.

SEPARATE CELL PHONES RANG AT THE SAME TIME

Jan led the hike while husband Mike brought up the rear.  We had a couple of informative rest spots on the way up & then crested the last ridge & walked the short distance to the ruins.   Questions were asked & answered standing amidst the homestead remains & the group split up to explore around & take some photos.  Time there lasted about 25 minutes & the group reformed for the hike back down the nearly mile long rocky path.  Everybody but me of course.

TODAY'S GROUP AT YAQUITEPEC

From the first time I set foot in the ruins of  Yaquitipec 2 years ago I was aware of a very special feeling.  That feeling returned last year on my second hike when I spent about 40 minutes wandering around the site by myself.  And that feeling was present again today as I walked around looking at a few spots mentioned in the book.  Jan had pointed out to me the very spot Marshal South had sat among the rocks to write his many Desert Magazine articles.  She also pointed out the rock piled kiln they used.

 

ROCK PILE KILN & MARSHALL SOUTH'S SUNDIAL

It was quiet on the mountain after the group left except for the cool & heavy west winds blowing across the ridge.  it made a howling sound in some of the tall Agave stocks.  I had brought a thermos of coffee & a nature bar with me & what better place to drink my hot coffee than in the exact same spot Marshall South sat with his old typewriter on his lap.  He had mortered up a short wall of stones between two large boulders in the lee of a pinion Juniper.  It blocked him from the sometimes howling chilly winds & gave him a quiet secluded refuge not far from the house.  I could look out & see the exact same landscape this writer, spinner of tales, & talented craftsman could see some 70 years ago.   It was a special moment for me & a cup of coffee in a place I shall always remember.

 

THIS IS WHERE MARSHALL SOUTH CAME TO WRITE HIS ARTICLES FOR THE DESERT MAGAZINE AND THE VIEW HE HAD SITTING THERE

I ambled around the site taking a few photos, looked at the kiln, & then took Socky Geepers out of my bag & did a little photo shoot with him around the site.  It was after I had take the photo of Socky in the old 'wading pool' that I turned around & saw something orange underneath a Juniper tree.  Upon closer inspection I saw a dark garbage bag wrapped around something.  Moved some rocks & twigs away & felt that there was something hard & rectangular in the garbage bag.   Carefully lifted it out & looked inside the bag.  I had just accidentally discovered a Geocache.  First one I have ever seen.  It was a metal military ammunition box.  Opened the lid & discovered a treasure trove of articles that other folks had left inside.  A religious pamphlet, some lip balm, business cards, some coins, & maybe a half dozen other things.  A zip lock bag contained a list of people's names & the dates they had been there since the cache was left at this site back in 2008.  A small piece of paper had children's drawings on it.  I recognized a rocket ship.  Only thing I had to leave was a Bayfield Bunch card.  Carefully put everything back & re-wrapped it all up in it's garbage bag.  Placed it under the tree & put some rocks & twigs over it.  Later wished I would have thought to look for information on who put it there & what the co-ordinates were.  Next time I will know what important things to look for.

THE GEOCACHE AS I FOUND IT, SOCKY GEEPERS DISPLAYS THE CONTENTS, & THE GEOCACHE AS I LEFT IT (Socky Geepers is with me:))

The unrelenting winds finally worked their way through my clothes & I began to feel the cold creeping in.  It was time once again to leave Yaquitepec.  I had been there alone on the mountain for a whole precious hour.  As twice before, I said good-bye to the many mountain spirits present here.  The Indian people who inhabited the mountain & roasted Agave stocks & hearts nearby.  Goodbye to the spirits of Tanya & Marshall South.  Goodbye to Yaquitepec & goodbye to Ghost Mountain.  I hope to one day pass this way again.

GOODBYE YAQUITEPEC......I'LL TRY TO MAKE IT BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR:))

MARSHALL SOUTH & GHOST MOUNTAIN - THE STORY

PHOTOS OF MARSHAL SOUTH'S FINAL RESTING PLACE - JULIAN CEMETERY

I was down the mountain & in the car headed back across Blair Valley in the direction of Borrego Springs by 12:45 p.m.  Great drive stopping for a few pics here & there.  All & all this day will remain one of my more memorable days on this trip so far this year.  Hope I can squeeze a few more in before heading home.  Back to the rig by 2 & the rest of the day was spent semi-dozing in my chair.  Winds have substantially picked up again just in time to keep me awake for another night..........Ooooohhh:((

A SNOOZY LITTLE MOTORMOUSE

And as we pass the 100,000 visitors mark today I noticed tonight we have two new followers.  Welcome aboard to Julie & RickNB.  Didn't look like you folks have blogsites or I would have linked them here.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Q: Who has the right of way when four cars approach a four-way stop at the same time?
A: The pick up truck with the gun rack and the bumper sticker saying "Guns don't kill people. I do."

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.

QUIET DAY BUT TOMORROW I'M OFF TO GHOST MOUNTAIN......AGAIN:))

SEEN AT THE VISITOR'S CENTER TODAY

Thin high cloud cover early this morning made for a cool start to the day but by 9 the sun had vaporized the clouds & we were up & running with a very warm day.  I like when that happens.

Quick trip into Borrego Springs this morning to drop off some garbage, a few things at the grocery store, filled a couple jugs of water, & stopped into the Anza Borrego State Park Visitor's Center.  If you come to Borrego do not miss this place.  It is built into the side of a hill & the roof is actually a desert garden with pathways meandering among the many species of desert plant life here.  I didn't take a lot of pics because I did that last year & the year before.  We arrived just in time for an informative 15 minute show on Anza Borrego State Park.  Grabbed ourselves a schedule of upcoming events for the month of March & headed back to the rig with short stop at the library & local Coyote thrift store.

By the way, Borrego Springs has some very ritzy sections to it & here is one of them.  RITZY  Took these photos last year when we were here.

                      

PHOTO ON LEFT IS ACTUALLY THE ROOF OF THE ANZA STATE PARK'S VISITOR CENTER

A reader inquired about our flag pole set up so I took some pics this morning.  First thing, there are two kinds of poles.  A flag pole & a windsock pole.  Two different things.  In the pictures it is the green pole that is for the windsock.  That's the one I will end up stepping on & breaking at some point requiring another trip to Quartzsite next year.  That 16' pole is made of light fiberglass & just telescopes down into itself & is maybe 3' long.  The photos show the simple 2 piece plastic holders for that clamped to the ladder with band-it clamps.  Seconds to set the pole in or take out.  Can't tell you too much about professional flag poles because I made ours with an old broken hockey stick, some rope, & a whole lotta duct tape, plus a busted aluminum pole.  It's holder just simply bolts on to the rear ladder as well.  Got all that stuff in Quartzsite last year. 

                                               

WIND SOCK POLE HAS TWO ATTACHMENTS (click to enlarge)

Gotta be real careful about where & how you fly your flags though.  It's a touchy subject to a lot of folks here in the States.  We used to just fly our Canadian flag but twice I was hastily approached by 2 separate irate RV'ers telling me I could not do that.  It was an insult to their country.  Not wanting to be the sole reason for having our 2 great countries go to war over a flag issue I did a little research on etiquette.  Well, that opens up a whole new can of worms as people on the RV NET FORUM well know.  Anyway, to make a long flag story short & keep the peace we now fly our Canadian flag underneath the American flag.  So far so good.  And, if anybody asks, our windsock is just simply a red & white windsock with a red leaf design on it......10-4:))

                                        

HOCKEY STICK FLAG POLE HAS IT'S OWN HOLDER

In RICK'S BLOG this morning he blogged about putting together a Picasa talk for a group of people at his RV Park.  That got me to thinking a bit.  I've been using Picasa for quite awhile now & sort of have an idea about how it all works.  Maybe I'll start throwing in a few things I've learned & what I do to my photos to help them out.  I will start off today with the cropping tool.  This can be your most bestest friend in the whole Picasa program.  I see a lot of good photos that could be better with just a few clicks here & a few snips there.  I have salvaged many poorly composed photos by simply looking for another photo within the photo.  You may have to take a big chunk of sky or foreground out or eliminate parts of the sides.  Common mistake folks make with photos is to include way too much blank blue sky.  I've seen photos where blue eats up half to two thirds of the whole photograph.  Learn to use your cropping tool & get the majority of that sky out of your picture.  If the sky has big fluffy clouds, that's a different story & I'll talk about that later in, 'composition.'   If you made the mistake of centering your subject right smack dab in the middle of the picture then use your cropping tool to crop off one or the other side, or top or bottom thus, moving your subject off center.  Trust me, it's probably going to look a lot better than what you have.  I use this tool a lot & even when composing a shot I'm thinking ahead to how I may have to crop it later.  Remember, if you messed up the photo in the first place, chances are probably good that you can still salvage it in your Picasa program simply by re-composing it using your cropping tool.

SOCKY GEEPERS TAKES THE DESERT STONE TURTLE FOR A SPIN THIS MORNING

I found Ken & Nanette's blog OUR ADVENTURE CHRONICLES interesting this morning when Ken fielded some questions from one of his readers about the RV lifestyle.  He has some good answers there & of course I have to throw my two cents worth into the mix as well.  First, yes it is one of many forms of lifestyles.  Fulltiming is a lifestyle of it's own just as snowbirding is.  People who do not have RV's have a different type of lifestyle just as Eskimo people live differently than traveling Bedouins in the Kalahari desert or wherever traveling Bedoins happen to travel.  I have blogged about this before several times saying our winters in the southwest & our summers in the northeast are two different lifestyles, which they are.  Neither one is a vacation & there are very few similarities between the two different lifestyles.  I have also blogged about the minor difficulties transitioning between the two lifestyles twice a year as well.

Before we got into RVing we dreamed about a wonderful world of travel & adventure just like most folks out there right now thinking along the same lines.  We couldn't wait to get ourselves out onto the open roads for the fun & excitement.  Nothing wrong with that way of optimistic thinking & it's what dreams are made of.  But, you have to remember one important thing.  Along with those dreams comes the very realistic side of........problems!!  Regardless of who or what you are, you will never ever be without problems.  You may have quit your job, retired, sold your house, downsized to a cottage or condo, or whatever.  No matter, you still got your problems.  And when you get yourself away from all that stuff & out onto the road you are still going to have....... your problems. 

 

Here's the way I see it.  Through life we are constantly burdened with ever changing sacks of problems.  Some bigger & heavier than others.  Whether you know it or not every human being on the planet is a constant customer at the 'problem store.'  It's probably the busiest store in the world.  When you tire of a set of problems, you take that sack to the problem store & get rid of it.  In other words you deal with that specific set of problems.  However, you do not walk out of that store problem free.  You only trade in that sack of old problems for a sack of new ones.  A sack of new problems is generally more exciting than that old sack you just traded in though.  I often tire of old ones & regularly trade them in for brand spanking new ones.

Ok, here's what I'm getting at & I'll direct this one more to the fulltiming folks even though it also applies to the rest of us in varying degrees.  You have a dream, you have a vision & you sell your house & all your stuff.  You have just been to the problem store & got rid of that whole sack of sticks & bricks lifestyle problems .   At last, what a relief:))  But, wait a minute, remember the rule.  It's only a trade in & now you must pick up your new set of problems.  It's mandatory & there is no getting out of it!!  You now exit the 'problem store with a complete new sack of problems.

Your new sack is going to contain some surprises for you.  Yes, there are still all the old stand-by favs like leaky plumbing, electrical headaches, leaking doors & window, carpet spills & stains, plugged toilets, hot water shortages, blackouts, leaky roofs, & furnace failures, etc. etc.  Some of the new surprises may come in the form of rooms (slides) becoming stuck & leaving you boondocked out in the middle of nowhere with no way to go anywhere.  Or how about one of your hydraulic jacks not retracting & leaving you in the same position as above.  Don't laugh, both those things have happened to us.  Other surprises hiding in your little sack of new problems might have to do with things like a sudden & messy break in a sewer line at a dumping station, wind gusts while driving or boondocking that are trying to totally eliminate you from the face of the planet, crowded campgrounds that require you to grease the sides of your unit to fit it into a space, hauling 50 or 60 feet or more through unfamiliar large cities, breakdowns, accidents, soaring fuel costs, shaky security, sudden or long term health issues with no immediate health services around, no personal physician,  no Tim Hortons for a thousand miles in any direction, blow outs on the interstates, & the endless list just goes on & on & on.  The fact of living in small box about 8 feet wide by 33 feet long for weeks, months, & years at a time generates it's own set of problems.  Throw in a cranky old Cursmudgeon & 3 aging dogs & the sack of problems just gets heavier for all concerned.

DESERT LILY

Anyway, I think you get my drift when I say the RV dream lifestyle has to looked at through totally realistic eyes.  However, don't look too hard or you just might be forced to abandon your dream focus.  You just may resolve yourself to hanging onto your old sack of problems.  You may convince yourelf that at least with them you know what to expect in their boring humdrum routine. 

But, you know what, gimme a new set of problems any day & let me go live & play where I wanna be.  Give me the cold nights, the big winds, the broken water pump, & the flat tires.  Just don't make me grind along any longer with the same heavy old sack of boring problems. 

Ya know what........I think I'm long overdue for a good old trip to the 'problem store'.....10-4!!

Welcome to new blog follower WILD BLUE YONDER  You have an under water turtle on your blogsite & we have a stone turtle here in the desert where we are boondocking.

GROANER'S CORNER:((   If a man is alone in the garden and speaks, and there is no woman to hear him,
is he still wrong?

   

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.

WE MOVED OUR HOUSE AGAIN THIS MORNING:))

THIS MORNING'S SETTING MOON OVER THE SAN YSIDRO MOUNTAINS

Made sure we were up early this morning.  Didn't want Wandering Willy squeaking out on us & we knew he would be packing up his satellite gear about 6:30.  Nice sunrise & no wind so looked like a good travel day for him & I think he was hoping to make it up the other side of Bakersfield.  I think he'll probably be back in British Columbia & home by the week-end for sure.

                                                                 

WANDERING WILLY PACKS UP  (click pics to enlarge)

Took a few pics as WW packed up his stuff, did a lights, turn signals, & brake lights check on the trailer, said our good-byes & Wandering Willy was cheerily off into the sunrise.  And I think cheerily is a fitting description for Bill.  He just has that about him.  He also wanted me to let folks know that he would maybe try to get a blog out on the way home somewhere.   But, if we don't hear from him he is probably fine.  Like he said, his blog is for traveling & when he's home it's hard for him to think of anything to blog about.  When he pops up on our blog list I will let folks know.

HEADING OFF INTO THE SUNRISE......'SEE YA LATER WILLY:))'

Thought we would have us a look for a better spot this morning & it wasn't long before we found one.  We came across the site where a couple of fellows had their Airstream trailers parked when we were here in January 09.  Drove the computer over to the site & was surprised we could get 3 out of 4 bars on our Verizon  internet signal.  That was the clincher so we packed up all our stuff yet again & headed the quarter mile to the new location.  It's further back from the highway & now we can see the greening Clark Dry Lake Bed all the way back up into the canyon.  Really a nice spot & thanks to the Airstream trailer guys, Michael & Paul we have a nicely laid out & stone bordered spot.

In the last couple of years here at the Clark Dry Lake Bed site we met a fellow by the name of Butch & it was he who first took us up into the Palm & Borrego Slot Canyons.  First thing we did when we pulled in a couple weeks ago was look for Butch but he was not to be found.  Hauled my binoculars out back then & scanned all the rigs in the area we knew he would be but didn't spot his rig. This morning when we found this site & recognized it as the Airstream site we emailed one of the guys who had been here just to say 'hi, we're on your old site.'  Minutes later an email came back from Paul saying they were all over in Slab City including Butch.  Said they were heading up into Joshua State Park later in the month so we may see them there.  It's a small but hugely internetted world we live in out here in the RV community.

    

Noticed we have some new blog followers so a big welcome goes out to  Cyndi, & jld52405, plus Gail & TC's travels. 

Noticed in Facebook that MOTTY had inquired if we made it all the way up to the palms in Palm Canyon here in Borrego Springs.  The answer to that is yes, & you can see the pics from the day our desert friend Butch led us up there on Dec 21/07...BORREGO SPRINGS PALM CANYON HIKE

Well, I think I will uncharacteristically keep this blog short tonight, throw in a few pics & call it a day.........

GROANER'S CORNER:((    Q: What can a husband do when his wife is going through menopause?

A: Keep busy. If he's handy with tools he can finish the basement & when he's finished he'll have a place to live!!

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.