Umnak
Adventurer
Wow, thanks for that note. I wouldn't have thought passes to be closed at the end of September.
3 Years Around North America, Plus a Few More
- Thread starter Umnak
- Start date
Wow, thanks for that note. I wouldn't have thought passes to be closed at the end of September.
Umnak
Adventurer
Olympic Forest
Catching up here, will post a few now that we have wifi...
Olympic Forest
I did a solo trip to scout out future sites in the southeastern section of the Olympic National Forest and Park while Eve visited with friends on Vashon Island.
My first stop was off of Lake Cushman, which reminded me of the Catskills with tired resorts and little public access. The National Park campground at the Staircase was preferable to the Forest Service site at Big Creek. There were not a lot of people at either, but the Staircase was nearer to trails that I wanted to explore. There are moss covered Large Leaf Maples and tall Douglas Firs along the river. Trails here connect with routes deep into the park.
The Forest Services’ Bear Creek Camp is along the Skokomish River and at the start of a trail that follows it upstream for a ways. Site 9 is near that trail and as far from the other camp sites as possible. I had a nice evening with a fire built from downed limbs, which was a surprise given the length of the camping season.
A number of the Forest Service campgrounds close in late September, and the two along the Hama Hama River were closed on the last Sunday of the month when I attempted to stay. I followed FS Rd 25 to its end where trails leave off into the Brother’s Wilderness, which we have hiked in the past.
I followed a two-track that led off the Forest Service road and found a nice dispersed camp along a dry arm of the Hama Hama. Another late evening fire and a good steak completed the trip.
Catching up here, will post a few now that we have wifi...
Olympic Forest
I did a solo trip to scout out future sites in the southeastern section of the Olympic National Forest and Park while Eve visited with friends on Vashon Island.
My first stop was off of Lake Cushman, which reminded me of the Catskills with tired resorts and little public access. The National Park campground at the Staircase was preferable to the Forest Service site at Big Creek. There were not a lot of people at either, but the Staircase was nearer to trails that I wanted to explore. There are moss covered Large Leaf Maples and tall Douglas Firs along the river. Trails here connect with routes deep into the park.
The Forest Services’ Bear Creek Camp is along the Skokomish River and at the start of a trail that follows it upstream for a ways. Site 9 is near that trail and as far from the other camp sites as possible. I had a nice evening with a fire built from downed limbs, which was a surprise given the length of the camping season.
A number of the Forest Service campgrounds close in late September, and the two along the Hama Hama River were closed on the last Sunday of the month when I attempted to stay. I followed FS Rd 25 to its end where trails leave off into the Brother’s Wilderness, which we have hiked in the past.
I followed a two-track that led off the Forest Service road and found a nice dispersed camp along a dry arm of the Hama Hama. Another late evening fire and a good steak completed the trip.
Umnak
Adventurer
Back on the Road - Year Three
Back on the Road - Year Three
Eve’s mother has recovered well with her new hip and earlier back operation, so it is time for us to move south for the third year of our journey.
We left Port Townsend October 1 with just two scheduled events, one was to be in Phoenix on the 19th and the other was to pick up a friend in Tucson on the 23rd of October.
As the map on an earlier post shows, we wanted to head south along the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains. As we neared time to leave it seems like a good idea to stop at hot springs along our route.
There are a lot of hot springs in Oregon. We decided to put those — and all of Washington —on hold for the future since we will be living in the region after the road trip. I had read about Summer Lake Hot Springs which is about 100 miles south of Bend and it was our first hot stop. It’s rustic and congenial. It has become known as a meeting point for Burning Man and there seems to be a few people working there who are long time Burners. We spent three nights hiking in the high desert and soaking in the well cared for pools.
The van had had coolant issues for a few days causing us to look for someone who wasn’t afraid of a Mercedes first in Bend, where we were told to simply buy a new radiator cap, which was in dire need of replacing. Unfortunately, that wasn't a complete fix as the dashboard light for adding coolant came on again a 200 miles later. This time I could see a leak from the hose leading into the heather pump. My sockets were too short to reach the clamp, but the hose seemed as though it could be remounted pretty easily. The guys at the garage in Alturas looked under the hood and fixed it within ten minutes, charging us $10 for the work! It’s amazing how good people are to travelers.
Our second hot spring was just under 300 miles south of Summer Lake near Sierraville, CA. We passed a few other hot springs, but they were too fancy for our taste, arriving at Sierra Hot Springs at 4pm. Sierra Hot Springs is operated by the Church of the One Being, which doesn’t appear in the list of major religions and may be, just conjecture here, a tax shelter. Regardless, the campground is pretty nice, the hot springs are very nice and no one has to wear clothes.
Our first night at Sierra Hot Springs was the also the night of the Harvest Moon. The place was a rendezvous for a lot of young bicycle riders and they were in force at the pools. Included among them were a four person band riding their bikes south to Truckee the next day with instruments and one toddler attached to their bikes.
There is dispersed camping around Sierra Hot Springs and a lot of fire roads that would make for interesting drives in our 4Runner, but not the Sprinter. We hiked a supposed 5 mile loop, which turned into more like an 8 mile slog when forced to cross a damp meadow back into camp.
The local amateur radio club was doing a weekend long event at the campground having set up two tall towers. They did well, and I last heard they only lacked the Northwest Territory and, of all places, Nebraska to complete a North America set.
Back on the Road - Year Three
Eve’s mother has recovered well with her new hip and earlier back operation, so it is time for us to move south for the third year of our journey.
We left Port Townsend October 1 with just two scheduled events, one was to be in Phoenix on the 19th and the other was to pick up a friend in Tucson on the 23rd of October.
As the map on an earlier post shows, we wanted to head south along the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains. As we neared time to leave it seems like a good idea to stop at hot springs along our route.
There are a lot of hot springs in Oregon. We decided to put those — and all of Washington —on hold for the future since we will be living in the region after the road trip. I had read about Summer Lake Hot Springs which is about 100 miles south of Bend and it was our first hot stop. It’s rustic and congenial. It has become known as a meeting point for Burning Man and there seems to be a few people working there who are long time Burners. We spent three nights hiking in the high desert and soaking in the well cared for pools.
The van had had coolant issues for a few days causing us to look for someone who wasn’t afraid of a Mercedes first in Bend, where we were told to simply buy a new radiator cap, which was in dire need of replacing. Unfortunately, that wasn't a complete fix as the dashboard light for adding coolant came on again a 200 miles later. This time I could see a leak from the hose leading into the heather pump. My sockets were too short to reach the clamp, but the hose seemed as though it could be remounted pretty easily. The guys at the garage in Alturas looked under the hood and fixed it within ten minutes, charging us $10 for the work! It’s amazing how good people are to travelers.
Our second hot spring was just under 300 miles south of Summer Lake near Sierraville, CA. We passed a few other hot springs, but they were too fancy for our taste, arriving at Sierra Hot Springs at 4pm. Sierra Hot Springs is operated by the Church of the One Being, which doesn’t appear in the list of major religions and may be, just conjecture here, a tax shelter. Regardless, the campground is pretty nice, the hot springs are very nice and no one has to wear clothes.
Our first night at Sierra Hot Springs was the also the night of the Harvest Moon. The place was a rendezvous for a lot of young bicycle riders and they were in force at the pools. Included among them were a four person band riding their bikes south to Truckee the next day with instruments and one toddler attached to their bikes.
There is dispersed camping around Sierra Hot Springs and a lot of fire roads that would make for interesting drives in our 4Runner, but not the Sprinter. We hiked a supposed 5 mile loop, which turned into more like an 8 mile slog when forced to cross a damp meadow back into camp.
The local amateur radio club was doing a weekend long event at the campground having set up two tall towers. They did well, and I last heard they only lacked the Northwest Territory and, of all places, Nebraska to complete a North America set.
Umnak
Adventurer
Yosemite and Death Valley
After three nights at the Sierra Hot Springs we headed to Yosemite Park where there were huge crowds and limited camping space. Our campground was 40 plus miles from the Yosemite Valley. The big walls are impressive as are the climbers, though their story is mostly absent from the Park’s visitor center interpretive displays.
We hiked to Half Dome but turned around after having to stand in line at a couple of the turns. It’s a pretty place, and important but I’d take an empty fjord in Alaska for the same vertical drop and a lack of people.
We headed down about 6000’ after a couple of nights with temperatures in the teens, spending time in the Owens Valley towns of Lee Vining and Bishop.
A night in Big Pine then out into Death Valley where it was too hot to do much beside take the road trip geology lesson it provides.
We watched a helicopter transport utility poles to a crew
Traveling west to east then south we passed four ranges and drove into wide basins, the last of which was the eponymous valley well below sea level. I’d enjoy returning to death valley with our 4Runner in December to drive the sandy roads.
After three nights at the Sierra Hot Springs we headed to Yosemite Park where there were huge crowds and limited camping space. Our campground was 40 plus miles from the Yosemite Valley. The big walls are impressive as are the climbers, though their story is mostly absent from the Park’s visitor center interpretive displays.
We hiked to Half Dome but turned around after having to stand in line at a couple of the turns. It’s a pretty place, and important but I’d take an empty fjord in Alaska for the same vertical drop and a lack of people.
We headed down about 6000’ after a couple of nights with temperatures in the teens, spending time in the Owens Valley towns of Lee Vining and Bishop.
A night in Big Pine then out into Death Valley where it was too hot to do much beside take the road trip geology lesson it provides.
We watched a helicopter transport utility poles to a crew
Traveling west to east then south we passed four ranges and drove into wide basins, the last of which was the eponymous valley well below sea level. I’d enjoy returning to death valley with our 4Runner in December to drive the sandy roads.
Umnak
Adventurer
Tecopa Hot Springs
And then we ended up in Tecopa, CA — though most people there refer to California as a place far to the west — where the springs are a bit fancier than those in the north, but still hot and very private. The Mojave is a big desert.
Tecopa is all about hot springs. There are at least three “resorts”, though that is stretching the word to its limits. Delights hot springs was first built by an Englishman who had stumbled upon the area looking for gold. The office and veranda are comfortable and expansive. The four pools are private and clothing optional, which is nice, but doesn’t offer the same kind of experience as the other hot springs we visited. There is something very nice and peculiar about having a conversation with people who are nude.
We discovered wifi (there was no cell coverage) in the veranda and spent an afternoon checking in with friends and posting pictures— painfully slow —. Tecopa is in the Mojave, and we decided to spend some more time in this part of the desert. The community is closing down. The school sits empty and the post office hours have been shortened to late morning and early afternoon. A restaurant and brewery seemed abandoned, though a new one is opening at the hot springs. The afternoon Pools were crowded with Koreans from Las Vegas who seem to have made this their destination.
The desert east of the springs slept into dunes which we walked toward sunset.
And then we ended up in Tecopa, CA — though most people there refer to California as a place far to the west — where the springs are a bit fancier than those in the north, but still hot and very private. The Mojave is a big desert.
Tecopa is all about hot springs. There are at least three “resorts”, though that is stretching the word to its limits. Delights hot springs was first built by an Englishman who had stumbled upon the area looking for gold. The office and veranda are comfortable and expansive. The four pools are private and clothing optional, which is nice, but doesn’t offer the same kind of experience as the other hot springs we visited. There is something very nice and peculiar about having a conversation with people who are nude.
We discovered wifi (there was no cell coverage) in the veranda and spent an afternoon checking in with friends and posting pictures— painfully slow —. Tecopa is in the Mojave, and we decided to spend some more time in this part of the desert. The community is closing down. The school sits empty and the post office hours have been shortened to late morning and early afternoon. A restaurant and brewery seemed abandoned, though a new one is opening at the hot springs. The afternoon Pools were crowded with Koreans from Las Vegas who seem to have made this their destination.
The desert east of the springs slept into dunes which we walked toward sunset.
Umnak
Adventurer
Mojave Preserve
The Mojave Preserve
We left Tecopa after a morning road, arriving in the strange highway stop town of Baker around noon. It is larger than it should be with too many restaurants, and a conspicuous number of places boarded up. We felt compelled to eat at the Mad Greek given the large number of signs directing us to do so. It was chaos inside so we fled to the Burger King where a crazed High Desert older woman cackled as she took our order.
The Mojave Preserve is a fascinating place. Our road led us past lava flows and mountains then intersected with the train tracks and the Visitor Center. The Kelso Depot Visitor Center in The Mojave Preserve is the remnant of a passenger train built in the early 20th c. It’s cool and dark inside, and a welcome relief from the temperature outside.
We drove part of the Mojave Road to Black Canyon Road and then followed a side road to the Midhills Campground, where we found a number of camps being used by hunters.
It turned out that opening season for Mule Deer was the following day. By evening the campground was full.
Two sets of Overland Vehicles were camped near us, they were driving the full extent of the Mojave Road which runs east to west across the Preserve.
A family was next to us, with three delightful young children, parents and a grandpa. They had a tag for mule deer.
The next day we walked a loop trail near the campground coming aback around noon to a hot and windy camp. The men next to us returned with a deer to the excited cheers of the three children. Later, the youngest brought us two small Mexican Coca Colas and an offer to join them for a light meal of venison. She is 2 1/2 with the language of a 5 year old, and that’s in English, she also spoke full sentences in Spanish to her grandpa.
After the late lunch we walked the trail again, this time trying to find the elusive wash that is supposed to connect the loop. It is poorly marked and the wash has been trashed by recent rains.
We left late morning on the third day to check out Hole in the Wall. It’s a maze of rocks and boulders with some fun trails that require scrambling and the use of iron rings drilled into the rock.
The Mojave Preserve
We left Tecopa after a morning road, arriving in the strange highway stop town of Baker around noon. It is larger than it should be with too many restaurants, and a conspicuous number of places boarded up. We felt compelled to eat at the Mad Greek given the large number of signs directing us to do so. It was chaos inside so we fled to the Burger King where a crazed High Desert older woman cackled as she took our order.
The Mojave Preserve is a fascinating place. Our road led us past lava flows and mountains then intersected with the train tracks and the Visitor Center. The Kelso Depot Visitor Center in The Mojave Preserve is the remnant of a passenger train built in the early 20th c. It’s cool and dark inside, and a welcome relief from the temperature outside.
We drove part of the Mojave Road to Black Canyon Road and then followed a side road to the Midhills Campground, where we found a number of camps being used by hunters.
It turned out that opening season for Mule Deer was the following day. By evening the campground was full.
Two sets of Overland Vehicles were camped near us, they were driving the full extent of the Mojave Road which runs east to west across the Preserve.
A family was next to us, with three delightful young children, parents and a grandpa. They had a tag for mule deer.The next day we walked a loop trail near the campground coming aback around noon to a hot and windy camp. The men next to us returned with a deer to the excited cheers of the three children. Later, the youngest brought us two small Mexican Coca Colas and an offer to join them for a light meal of venison. She is 2 1/2 with the language of a 5 year old, and that’s in English, she also spoke full sentences in Spanish to her grandpa.
After the late lunch we walked the trail again, this time trying to find the elusive wash that is supposed to connect the loop. It is poorly marked and the wash has been trashed by recent rains.
We left late morning on the third day to check out Hole in the Wall. It’s a maze of rocks and boulders with some fun trails that require scrambling and the use of iron rings drilled into the rock.
Ashton
Newbie
Was really cool to hear about your travels around Silver City, NM and the Gila NF. Having spent some 20 years or so in and out of Silver City (we have land on the Gila still) the town always strikes me as a sad sight on a beautiful backdrop. It gets exceptionally cold because of the winds that cross the plains near Deming and Lordsburg, as this place is one of the lower spots in the range and winds tends to flow through the area bringing cold temps with them. Also, the mile high elevation helps too. Silver City is well known in NM for getting 4 'seasons', much more so than other places (and comparable to places like Riodoso and Taos).
Such a beautiful area there with so much to explore, and neat that you got to see Yankee Creek at it's best! Hopefully you stopped in at Paulie's Javalina Coffee shop, a staple in town. We have an amazing Blues Fest that goes down in the summer and in April one of the huge bicycle races comes through the area, influxing lots of people and interesting events. There is a great trail, just east of town on 180 called Dragonfly Trail... an easy walk with some petroglyphs just off the trail in a real unassuming place.
If you ever go back through the area, let me know. We have a great piece of land in Gila, with amazing views and some great boondocking.
Such a beautiful area there with so much to explore, and neat that you got to see Yankee Creek at it's best! Hopefully you stopped in at Paulie's Javalina Coffee shop, a staple in town. We have an amazing Blues Fest that goes down in the summer and in April one of the huge bicycle races comes through the area, influxing lots of people and interesting events. There is a great trail, just east of town on 180 called Dragonfly Trail... an easy walk with some petroglyphs just off the trail in a real unassuming place.
If you ever go back through the area, let me know. We have a great piece of land in Gila, with amazing views and some great boondocking.
Umnak
Adventurer
Back to Joshua Tree
View attachment 427092
Before heading out on this road trip we rented a house in Joshua Tree (JT) each December for five years. The last two at a house that bordered the park. This allowed us to slip into the wilderness avoiding a 10 mile hike from the park road. We were happy to return in October for a week of hiking and relaxing.
View attachment 427093
Coming into JT from the northeast put us at the 29 Palms Entrance. 29 Palms is a town attached to a Marine base. Four years ago there were two grocery stores there, upon our arrival there were none. The gas station/convenience store where we stopped had a huge beer selection and some tortilla chips, but no real food.
We found a camp site at Jumbo Rocks and used that as a base for a couple of days. Our first walk was to Crown Prince Lookout, which is rumored to have been a WWII lookout station, I assume for Japanese fighters coming up from the Sea of Cortez. The view from the lookout is impressive and, as is the case in many parts of the park, makes you want to walk out into the desert to see what those cool rocks look like.
I set a sun tarp in our site when we returned from the hike. The temperature was in the 80s and the sun was hot. Our 10x10 sil-tarp provided as good comfort from the sun as it has from the rain in Southeast Alaska.
[/url]Evening by Joseph, on Flickr[/IMG]
The small town of Joshua Tree has changed little since our last visit. The Crossroads Cafe had the same eclectic patrons as in the past — climbers, locals, tourists and crazy desert people.
We had breakfast there and then went to the JT Market which is a combination of Indian Restaurant, Pizza Parlor and convenience store. We were able to buy something useful for the first time in more than a week. There aren't a lot of markets in Death Valley and the Mojave.
Cottonwood Creek by Joseph, on Flickr
The Cottonwood Campground is at the southern end of the park. It's hotter there than at Jumbo Rocks. We did an evening walk to a small Palm Grove which had an extensive tank system for collecting water. There is no water. The next morning we thought we could beat the blistering heat of the late morning since we woke to a cloudy sky.
Our hike to Mastodon Peak was pleasant, but the sky soon cleared and we returned in bright sunlight and high temperatures. The Cottonwood Palm grove is larger than the one up the wash. The eponymous cottonwoods are growing out of the tops of the Palms, giving a new standard for the term epiphytes.
Fountain Hills
P1230913 by Joseph, on Flickr
Eve's birthday was spent with one of her best friends and her husband. The two women have known each other since Eve was 10, and regularly meet up for visits. The couple had moved to Fountain Hills, north of Scottsdale, earlier this year, and we had met up at Lake Powell in March.
IMG_4192 by Joseph, on Flickr
There are a lot of places to hike around the area and we made the best use of our time on those washes and trails during the morning, lunches at fun restaurants and then dinner and a movie at their home.
We also spent a day on Lake Robert where we hiked, picnicked and toured on a boat.
IMG_6609 by Joseph, on Flickr
View attachment 427092
Before heading out on this road trip we rented a house in Joshua Tree (JT) each December for five years. The last two at a house that bordered the park. This allowed us to slip into the wilderness avoiding a 10 mile hike from the park road. We were happy to return in October for a week of hiking and relaxing.
View attachment 427093
Coming into JT from the northeast put us at the 29 Palms Entrance. 29 Palms is a town attached to a Marine base. Four years ago there were two grocery stores there, upon our arrival there were none. The gas station/convenience store where we stopped had a huge beer selection and some tortilla chips, but no real food.
We found a camp site at Jumbo Rocks and used that as a base for a couple of days. Our first walk was to Crown Prince Lookout, which is rumored to have been a WWII lookout station, I assume for Japanese fighters coming up from the Sea of Cortez. The view from the lookout is impressive and, as is the case in many parts of the park, makes you want to walk out into the desert to see what those cool rocks look like.
I set a sun tarp in our site when we returned from the hike. The temperature was in the 80s and the sun was hot. Our 10x10 sil-tarp provided as good comfort from the sun as it has from the rain in Southeast Alaska.
The small town of Joshua Tree has changed little since our last visit. The Crossroads Cafe had the same eclectic patrons as in the past — climbers, locals, tourists and crazy desert people.
We had breakfast there and then went to the JT Market which is a combination of Indian Restaurant, Pizza Parlor and convenience store. We were able to buy something useful for the first time in more than a week. There aren't a lot of markets in Death Valley and the Mojave.
Cottonwood Creek by Joseph, on FlickrThe Cottonwood Campground is at the southern end of the park. It's hotter there than at Jumbo Rocks. We did an evening walk to a small Palm Grove which had an extensive tank system for collecting water. There is no water. The next morning we thought we could beat the blistering heat of the late morning since we woke to a cloudy sky.
Our hike to Mastodon Peak was pleasant, but the sky soon cleared and we returned in bright sunlight and high temperatures. The Cottonwood Palm grove is larger than the one up the wash. The eponymous cottonwoods are growing out of the tops of the Palms, giving a new standard for the term epiphytes.
Fountain Hills
P1230913 by Joseph, on FlickrEve's birthday was spent with one of her best friends and her husband. The two women have known each other since Eve was 10, and regularly meet up for visits. The couple had moved to Fountain Hills, north of Scottsdale, earlier this year, and we had met up at Lake Powell in March.
IMG_4192 by Joseph, on FlickrThere are a lot of places to hike around the area and we made the best use of our time on those washes and trails during the morning, lunches at fun restaurants and then dinner and a movie at their home.
We also spent a day on Lake Robert where we hiked, picnicked and toured on a boat.
IMG_6609 by Joseph, on Flickr
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Umnak
Adventurer
Let's see if this works now
Vacation!!
I didn't think you could take a vacation from a road trip, but indeed we did. Our friend from Kalispell joined us in Tucson for a week's travel around mostly eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.
[/url]Arizona by Joseph, on Flickr[/IMG]
We first visited Kartchner Caverns south of Benson AZ. This is the cave system first explored in the early 1970s. It's considered one of the nicest “wet” caves in the world, and certainly the park intends to keep it that way with limited visitors, sealed entry ways and exhortations by the interpreters to not touch anything inside. The prohibition against photographs makes it a challenge to show here, but let's just say it is pretty cool.
We returned to the park on our way back to Tucson's airport and were able to walk the Foothills Trailing the evening and backwards the next morning.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=427094&d=1512174946&thumb=1
View attachment 427094
Out next stop continued the Hot Springs tour with a couple of nights at Faywood Hot springs, where we camped in the Clothing Optional side close to the soaking pools.
[/url]Last morning soak at Faywood. by Joseph, on Flickr[/IMG]
At Faywood one has access to 700 acres of private land and 1000s more on the adjacent State Park. We walked the fence lines and visited the Henge both for cell service — AT&T sucks in New Mexico — and the view. The Henge is a 1970s addition to the area built by hippies and somewhat off of true north. It is, however, just over a mile off from the Chaco Meridian, which gives it a very special place in our topographical — if not spiritual mind.
From Faywood we drove to the Gila Cliff Dwelling in the national forest of the same name. The gain of 3000 feet to over 8,000' was slow going in the Sprinter. And in tune with the ongoing cooling system issues I seemed to have not completely closed the radiator cap loosing almost a gallon of fluid when we stopped at the top of the pass.
[/url]Gila cliff dwelling by Joseph, on Flickr[/IMG]
The Gila site is dramatic and offers a beautiful view of the canyon on which it sits. Fall colors added to the scene. Two knowledgeable volunteers shoed us around and pointed out some not so obvious sites.
The Cabin in Gila by Joseph, on Flickr
We had hoped to camp at the Gila Hot Springs but it was full, so we stayed two nights at the Upper Scorpion campground, which does not have a fee. It's a nice place and, given that it is at the end of the road, has little traffic.
We hiked part of the loop into Black Rock Canyon which is classic high desert with pinion, juniper and ponderosa pine scattered across meadows.
Gila Wilderness by Joseph, on Flickr
A shorter walk near the lower campground leads to another cave dwelling and some remarkable pictographs.
From the Gila we drove south for a Saturday night in Silver City. Eve and I hope to spend December here and so the three of us cruised the coffee shops and art galleries to see what was going on in town. We stayed downtown at the Palace Hotel which has a portrait of a woman holding a pistol. The suite was funky and clean.
Silver City, NM by Joseph, on Flickr
We spent the evening at dinner and in the local brew house. Lots of energy there given it was the Saturday before Halloween.
We spent most of our last day together in Tucson after the return trip to Kartchner Park.
[/url]Gila Cliff Dwellings by Joseph, on Flickr[/IMG]
So, a vacation from a road trip and what is becoming a prolonged roaming around the southwest. We are now back at Faywood for November. It's pretty easy living with campground fees that include the hot springs at $350 for a month. Lots of interesting people and remarkable weather.
Vacation!!
I didn't think you could take a vacation from a road trip, but indeed we did. Our friend from Kalispell joined us in Tucson for a week's travel around mostly eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.
We first visited Kartchner Caverns south of Benson AZ. This is the cave system first explored in the early 1970s. It's considered one of the nicest “wet” caves in the world, and certainly the park intends to keep it that way with limited visitors, sealed entry ways and exhortations by the interpreters to not touch anything inside. The prohibition against photographs makes it a challenge to show here, but let's just say it is pretty cool.
We returned to the park on our way back to Tucson's airport and were able to walk the Foothills Trailing the evening and backwards the next morning.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=427094&d=1512174946&thumb=1
View attachment 427094
Out next stop continued the Hot Springs tour with a couple of nights at Faywood Hot springs, where we camped in the Clothing Optional side close to the soaking pools.
At Faywood one has access to 700 acres of private land and 1000s more on the adjacent State Park. We walked the fence lines and visited the Henge both for cell service — AT&T sucks in New Mexico — and the view. The Henge is a 1970s addition to the area built by hippies and somewhat off of true north. It is, however, just over a mile off from the Chaco Meridian, which gives it a very special place in our topographical — if not spiritual mind.
From Faywood we drove to the Gila Cliff Dwelling in the national forest of the same name. The gain of 3000 feet to over 8,000' was slow going in the Sprinter. And in tune with the ongoing cooling system issues I seemed to have not completely closed the radiator cap loosing almost a gallon of fluid when we stopped at the top of the pass.
The Gila site is dramatic and offers a beautiful view of the canyon on which it sits. Fall colors added to the scene. Two knowledgeable volunteers shoed us around and pointed out some not so obvious sites.
The Cabin in Gila by Joseph, on FlickrWe had hoped to camp at the Gila Hot Springs but it was full, so we stayed two nights at the Upper Scorpion campground, which does not have a fee. It's a nice place and, given that it is at the end of the road, has little traffic.
We hiked part of the loop into Black Rock Canyon which is classic high desert with pinion, juniper and ponderosa pine scattered across meadows.
Gila Wilderness by Joseph, on FlickrA shorter walk near the lower campground leads to another cave dwelling and some remarkable pictographs.
From the Gila we drove south for a Saturday night in Silver City. Eve and I hope to spend December here and so the three of us cruised the coffee shops and art galleries to see what was going on in town. We stayed downtown at the Palace Hotel which has a portrait of a woman holding a pistol. The suite was funky and clean.
Silver City, NM by Joseph, on FlickrWe spent the evening at dinner and in the local brew house. Lots of energy there given it was the Saturday before Halloween.
We spent most of our last day together in Tucson after the return trip to Kartchner Park.
So, a vacation from a road trip and what is becoming a prolonged roaming around the southwest. We are now back at Faywood for November. It's pretty easy living with campground fees that include the hot springs at $350 for a month. Lots of interesting people and remarkable weather.
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Umnak
Adventurer
November at Faywood Hot Springs
November at Faywood Hot Springs
Eve has agreed to not do locum work for at least a year — its taken a while for her to accept the fact that we don’t need the money, and hanging out together most of the day is better than not. So, after we dropped our friend off at the Tucson airport we headed back to Faywood Hot Springs for a month-long soak, er stay. Faywood is about 25 miles north of Deming and a little bit farther away from Silver City, NM. It abuts the City of Rocks State Park.
There are two camping areas in the hot springs. The hook-up side has a lot of sites and is close to the “clubhouse” and one of the clothing optional set of pools called the Bath House. The “dry-camping” side has just over 10 sites and is within the enclosed clothing optional set of pools. Hook-up cost $450 a month and dry camping cost $350 a month. With 200 watts of solar and a diesel heater it seemed silly to spend the extra $100 on stuff we didn’t need, especially since the weather was balmy and dry. And we were able to get a great L shaped site with a lot of privacy and away from the path to the pools.
Faywood has been used by people for a very long time. The metate stones for mesquite pods collected in the courtyard of the visitor center were gathered from around the dome, where there are still a few older depressions in the stone. The cooling tanks send non-scalding water to the various pools through PVC pipes.
So, what does one do for a month-long sojourn at a hot springs?
We started our day with a pre-breakfast soak, usually in the hotter pool. Following breakfast we would gear up for a 4-5 mile walk in the desert with a wonderful view of Cookes Peak to the east. We built a trail from the Faywood Henge along the fence to the state park fence line, then went under that to a 2 mile loop trail that passed close to a spring and copse. We ate lunch after the hike then went to the “Bath House” clothing optional pools for a rinse, soak and shower. Eve sometimes played her fiddle. A late afternoon snack led us into the evening followed by dinner outside with a fire. A final soak around 8 pm then to sleep at Barrago Midnight, which we used to laugh at as being 9pm, but came to believe sufficient a time for bed and a book.
Along with those soaks were some great conversations with people sitting naked across from us in the pools. The variety of people was most impressive. Apache Mike had some great local stories. Doug spends three seasons of the year walking the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail or the Appalachian Trail, when he isn’t riding to and from those places on his bicycle. Raven has been roaming around the southwest trails for a few years. The Astro-Physicist rambled a bit, but eventually got around to explaining how he’s looking for black holes. A surprising number of Alaskans including two, at different times, from the small community of Esther just outside of Fairbanks.
Once a week we went to the market in Silver City and usually paired that with a hike in the Gila Forest. One of those hikes was to Raab Park, which is a four mile walk from the winding road passing through the National Forest. It took us two attempts to find the correct trail, and we were pleased with what we found. Running water is always of interest in this part of the world and there were two streams flowing through the grass and piñon covered hills.
I made a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey breast, cranberry sauce and stuffing, which we enjoyed outside between soaks. I can think of few other holidays better spent than sitting in the late afternoon sun listening to the birds and watching the sun edge toward the horizon.
We could have spent another few weeks camped there, but decided to move on to Silver City to get to know that town better. And remarkably, we found a wonderful suite of rooms in a friendly B&B which we have rented for the month of December.
November at Faywood Hot Springs
Eve has agreed to not do locum work for at least a year — its taken a while for her to accept the fact that we don’t need the money, and hanging out together most of the day is better than not. So, after we dropped our friend off at the Tucson airport we headed back to Faywood Hot Springs for a month-long soak, er stay. Faywood is about 25 miles north of Deming and a little bit farther away from Silver City, NM. It abuts the City of Rocks State Park.
There are two camping areas in the hot springs. The hook-up side has a lot of sites and is close to the “clubhouse” and one of the clothing optional set of pools called the Bath House. The “dry-camping” side has just over 10 sites and is within the enclosed clothing optional set of pools. Hook-up cost $450 a month and dry camping cost $350 a month. With 200 watts of solar and a diesel heater it seemed silly to spend the extra $100 on stuff we didn’t need, especially since the weather was balmy and dry. And we were able to get a great L shaped site with a lot of privacy and away from the path to the pools.
Faywood has been used by people for a very long time. The metate stones for mesquite pods collected in the courtyard of the visitor center were gathered from around the dome, where there are still a few older depressions in the stone. The cooling tanks send non-scalding water to the various pools through PVC pipes.
So, what does one do for a month-long sojourn at a hot springs?
We started our day with a pre-breakfast soak, usually in the hotter pool. Following breakfast we would gear up for a 4-5 mile walk in the desert with a wonderful view of Cookes Peak to the east. We built a trail from the Faywood Henge along the fence to the state park fence line, then went under that to a 2 mile loop trail that passed close to a spring and copse. We ate lunch after the hike then went to the “Bath House” clothing optional pools for a rinse, soak and shower. Eve sometimes played her fiddle. A late afternoon snack led us into the evening followed by dinner outside with a fire. A final soak around 8 pm then to sleep at Barrago Midnight, which we used to laugh at as being 9pm, but came to believe sufficient a time for bed and a book.
Along with those soaks were some great conversations with people sitting naked across from us in the pools. The variety of people was most impressive. Apache Mike had some great local stories. Doug spends three seasons of the year walking the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail or the Appalachian Trail, when he isn’t riding to and from those places on his bicycle. Raven has been roaming around the southwest trails for a few years. The Astro-Physicist rambled a bit, but eventually got around to explaining how he’s looking for black holes. A surprising number of Alaskans including two, at different times, from the small community of Esther just outside of Fairbanks.
Once a week we went to the market in Silver City and usually paired that with a hike in the Gila Forest. One of those hikes was to Raab Park, which is a four mile walk from the winding road passing through the National Forest. It took us two attempts to find the correct trail, and we were pleased with what we found. Running water is always of interest in this part of the world and there were two streams flowing through the grass and piñon covered hills.
I made a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey breast, cranberry sauce and stuffing, which we enjoyed outside between soaks. I can think of few other holidays better spent than sitting in the late afternoon sun listening to the birds and watching the sun edge toward the horizon.
We could have spent another few weeks camped there, but decided to move on to Silver City to get to know that town better. And remarkably, we found a wonderful suite of rooms in a friendly B&B which we have rented for the month of December.
Ashton
Newbie
Just came home from a visit to my mum's out in Gila. Glad you guys are enoying that small piece of paradise. The University has some good museums and displays, but may be closed for the holiday.
Oh, the little coffee shop on the corner of Yankee and Texas St's downtown called Tranquil Buzz (Used to be AIR espresso...) has a bridge group that meets there... Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. My mum is a part of that. They also serve a great dirty chai latte.. in a raspberry flavor I haven't found elsewhere and surprising pleasant.
Oh, the little coffee shop on the corner of Yankee and Texas St's downtown called Tranquil Buzz (Used to be AIR espresso...) has a bridge group that meets there... Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. My mum is a part of that. They also serve a great dirty chai latte.. in a raspberry flavor I haven't found elsewhere and surprising pleasant.
Umnak
Adventurer
We go to Tranquil Buzz just about every day!