My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hey guys.....thanks.....and yep life sucks right now. Yukons health has continued to decline. All of our future plans are off the table until we sort this out.....there are no good days when you're forced to watch your dog struggle.....




The last thing I did prior to departing Tucson was to pick up a friend at the airport. I've felt guilty everytime that I leave Yukon alone in the camper so my idea was to have someone hang out with her while I pursued my climbs and my 5,000 mile goal. My friend needs extensive dental work so the plan there was to get that done while in Mexico at a fraction of U.S. prices.....

So we loaded up with supplies, merged onto the interstate and began driving west.....our first stop was in the Sonoran Desert camped on BLM land.....



The next sign might make some people think twice about staying in an area like this but on the bright side we had the area to ourselves.....



And the area was massive.....



We would stay here for three nights and during that time we saw only two cars plus one news crew which stopped to take a few photographs of the newscaster in front of the smuggler sign (and then immediately made a U turn and headed back to the interstate).....



While camped here I had thoughts of hiking to the summit of Tabletop Mountain (4,373').....



.....so on our second day Tanner and I headed out in the Jeep to check things out.....



Google Maps said that it would take nearly an hour to arrive at the trailhead and that just didn't seem possible since it was less than 15 miles but the road became nearly impassable with all of the recent rains and eventually I decided to turn back as I determined that Google Maps was right on the money. With 8 miles of hiking and 2,400' of elevation gain I just wasn't into being away for the entire day.....



Tanner and I just hiked a bit in the desert and then it was back to the camper to enjoy the peace and solitude of the Sonoran Desert.....

 

[tgil]

Water in the desert is always a good thing, unfortunate it kept you from reaching your destination. Wonder what happened in the past to get metal detectors prohibited? I've never owned one, but I'm often intrigued by the findings of those that do!

 

[Grenadiers]

I have one, bottlecaps, bottlecaps, repeat. Barbed wire, shotgun shells, rifle shells, junk, more junk, repeat. I don't have the patience digging up junk, nor find any recreation in doing so. However, I do have it here in Baja this winter, just in case I get motivated! Pacifico helps....

 

[jadmt]

Water in the desert is always a good thing, unfortunate it kept you from reaching your destination. Wonder what happened in the past to get metal detectors prohibited? I've never owned one, but I'm often intrigued by the findings of those that do!

pretty sure that is the case in any historical place or national monument. Otherwise you would have stupid people digging up all over the place looking for that buried treasure.

 

[tgil]

pretty sure that is the case in any historical place or national monument. Otherwise you would have stupid people digging up all over the place looking for that buried treasure.

Makes sense. I saw how vast the place was and my first thought was "why", then I pictured all of the small holes everywhere that had been dug by those seeking trinkets.

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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Grenadiers.....have you by chance noticed the availability of the low sulfur diesel further south ?



Generally when I'm in travel mode I aim to stay out of restaurants.....they can be expensive and with all the expenses of travel it's just one area that I can save a bit of cash. I made an exception for Little Italy located in Gila Bend, Arizona.....



This would be my second time here and as we ordered our to go pizaa it hit me why I swore that I wouldn't eat here again. $24 plus tip for a single pizza is just too rich for my blood.....



You need a budget like their star guests.....that being said this joint in the middle of nowhere Arizona is packed and their pizza is fantastic.....



We then spent a few more days hanging out in the desert west of Gila Bend.....



And then we continued west stopping next in Yuma, Arizona for more supplies and then driving south to the border town of San Luis, Arizona. More welcomed rain (I say that cause apparently it's been quite dry in Arizona this year).....



It didn't stop the Mexican field workers that seem to work 7 days a week from before sunrise and after sunset.....



The plan here was to let my friend experience the amazing good feelings that one gets when feeding the homeless children / familes that are waiting along the border wall to enter the U.S. legally.....



We loaded up with supplies while waiting in the Walmart parking lot for a few days for the rains to pass.....



With loaded packs we headed to the boder wall.....



And we were surprised to learn that the migrants no longer stay along the border wall. Apparently around May of this year the Mexican government decided to provide them with a place to stay and has now developed a system working with the U.S. government to process them a bit more humanly.....



Unable to distribute our gifts, we packed up and drove north returning to Yuma.....

 

[Sticky9]

My thoughts are with you and Yukon, Jerry. I know it's tough to watch your best friend fade, but you have all the memories forever. On a lighter note, I've just finalized plans with my climbing buddy to do Mt. Whitney and Half Dome next week over Christmas. It should be a good time, and I'm really looking forward to it. Safe travels.

 

[Grenadiers]

I never check on the diesel fuel, our rig is from 1985. Search Talk Baja on Facebook for more information.

 

[tgil]

Love the stuffed dogs that match Yukon and Tanner's colors.
Is the new "staging area" in a place you can get to and still distribute the goodies?

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[jadmt]

that candy would probably just contribute to teeth decay anyway. . My folks lived in Yuma for 25 years and had developed friendships with a couple of families from Los Algodones who would come and trim their trees and do yard maintenance around their place. Early on my mom would try and give the kids candy and it was taboo they did not want their kids eating candy. She could give them anything else but candy was always waved off maybe didn't want them addicted to sugar or maybe it was the dental aspect.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Sticky9.....I'm curious which route you're planning to climb up Half Dome ? I've wanted to do that in the past but I always have the dog issue.....

Grenadiers.....I'm not on Facebook but honestly it probably isn't going to matter. I thought I was going south but I'm reluctant to do so due to Yukons failing health.....

tgil.....I'm not certain where they are but we moved on for now. My friend needs dental work and I was dealing with a toothache.....

jadmt.....my experience last year told me that candy, pastries, bread and Raman Noodles were in high demand. I agree of course that it's not the best choice but I think if you live under a tarp on the side of a busy road for several months it's a nice treat / distraction.....



Some people may recall that it was in Yuma, Arizona that I actually got a warning ticket from a police officer for overnighting in a Walmart parking lot so I'm really cautious in this town (they have my plates). But west of Yuma and north of Los Algodones, Mexico lies a piece of BLM land that allows free camping so we drove west into California.....



The following day leaving the camper and the dogs in the desert we took the Jeep down to the border and walked into Los Algodones, Mexico looking for a dentist.....



Los Algodones, known as Molar City, must have hundreds of dentist (and a whole lot of pharmacies and optometrists) and as soon as you cross the border you're approached by salesman trying to get your business.....



We decided to walk the streets before sitting down in a dentist chair.....





It's hard to walk by the street vendors without stopping for some Mexican food.....





Over a five day period I ate here 3 times and got sick every time.....it was those hot peppers that absolutely killed my gut.....



I decided that we'd use the same outfit as the last time here.....the dentist was new and at 24 years old I wondered if he really was a dentist but he did a great job ($25 for a teeth cleaning and $60 for a tooth extraction).....



We returned to the camper and the dogs late that afternoon and enjoyed one more desert sunset.....

 

[Arjan]

Thanks !

Bon Courage

 

[jadmt]

yes Algodones has a lot of teeth pullers (probably why the parents wouldn't let their kids have candy ) and eye glass fitters. your campsite was a million times more scenic and nicer than a Wally world lot.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Do you remember, the name of that dentist?

 

[tikirob]

We use Erica Medina (928)377-4556 in Algodones. She is very good, studied at UCLA. She is located at the first street to the left after you walk in from the border. She came highly recommended by our friends that have been using her for years.