My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....yep Arizona has had some inclement weather lately so therefore the nice skies.....




We arrived on a Thursday and all seemed fairly quiet at the dunes. Now this was a campground and at $1.50 per night with a hot tub.....how could I could I go wrong.....I hoped for the best but of course I expected the worse (I hate campgrounds). Come Friday people were flying down the dirt access road leaving dust storms behind.....



There was the couple that drove their ATV right through our campsite missing Yukons head by a few feet. In this picture you can see their tracks....



There was loud music and generators.....there were the ATVs and Razors racing through the dunes. The campground host (shown in the picture) said "heck, this is a mild weekend".....I yearned for Monday.....



I will tell you that Yukon absolutely LOVED it here. She'd get up at 4 a.m. and go outside to this little clearing in the trees where she'd made her spot and just lie there for hours. Often I would sit with her and read my book.....just being there is often all I can do.....



Sometimes Yukon prefers to hang out in the back of the truck.....most of her life now is not on her feet.....



In the evening we would have campfires and that's what I'll call family time.....we all take part.....





And there were some amazing afternoon skies.....



We had some rain during our stay and then the dogs would retreat for cover under the concrete picnic table.....



My peace was not here but I found it on the other side of the highway.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Twice now you’ve mentioned “the other side of the highway” but no explanation of what’s over there. Is there more info coming?

That last shot of your pups under the table is great.


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[ITTOG]

He is definitely leaving the cliff hangers to bring us back.

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[Ace Brown]

He is definitely leaving the cliff hangers to bring us back.

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Maybe, but we’d be back anyway.


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG & Ace.....first off, I should not have said highway.....it's a 2 lane road at best, partially dirt which is the good part of the 2 lane road and the remainder is asphalt with thousands of pot holes. Often I was driving at best 5 MPH. The road is much like the road driving north from Fairbanks, Alaska.....but not near as wide. And second, I may have set the bar high for "the other side of the highway". Just remember, one person can see paradise where another person sees a ******thole.....




Here in the desert, large trees are mostly a rare thing, and one can generally assume that when they see these size trees there's a nearby water source.....more than likely man made. As I made my right turn onto the entrance road to the hot springs I glanced to my left and saw two massive trees. At that time they were nothing more than an attraction in the desert.....but they would soon become my place to retreat.....



Our first night here I walked from our campsite to the trees.....maybe a mile.....maybe two......



The trees grew on a large berm and below was a man made pond where the water was brown.....and the shoreline muddy from the rains.....



Three ducks appeared to live here too.....but eventually they would disappear.....



I would come here early in the morning and late at night hoping to see game.....and I would come here throughout the day as an escape and nothing more.....



I noticed quite a bit of shotgun shells laying along the berm and the shoreline.....I wondered why some hunters seem to think it's alright to leave the shells behind.....



I imagine people come here to kill the wild birds.....what else could you think.....



This little brown pond in the desert was a nice place to hang out.....but it was truly those two big trees that made it my retreat.....





And the more I came here.....the more I connected with this place.....and the more beautiful it became.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

It's interesting to see how much a place can change depending on weather patterns and the time of day.....





Hopefully my selection of pictures conveys my thoughts and sights with that idea in your mind.....





This big ole owl up high in the trees was a pretty cool attraction as well.....I saw him (her) on several occasions and it was a real treat.....





I never saw any game here.....but they were here for certain. In the mornings I would hear the coyotes barking and howling and they left their tracks along the muddy shoreline.....





I guess that's about all I got to say about the little brown pond and the two big trees.....and hopefully you'll see why I hiked here so often during our six day stay.....but there's a bit more to tell you about "the other side of the highway".....

 

[tgil]

In the third pic, is that the owl, high up in the tree? I noticed that first, as I scrolled down the screen. Since there was no mention of it then, I thought maybe it was just a burl or growth of some kind. Owls are interesting to watch. The pic of the kids under the table made me chuckle. A cartoon image of two pigs in a wallow popped into my head.

 

[ROKTAXI]

Maggie is my 4yo Border collie/black lab partner. Our daily walks, 3-4 miles, on different sections of the Colorado River

 

[Ace Brown]

I can see the attraction. I’m always been drawn to water ever since I played in the “cricks” on both sides of the 4 acres I grew up on. Spent my summers on Cayuga Lake. Then there was my hitch in the Navy on a really big pond. Next was 37 years in water resources. Nowadays when I’m camping I look for sites on the water. My dog likes it too.

But I wasn’t guessing a pond was your draw. When you mentioned the attraction across the road you had a picture of a windmill. Though you left us hanging again with a comment that the pond wasn’t the only attraction.

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[ITTOG]

Looks like a great attraction to me. Loved the reflection of the trees in the water.

Did Tanner see the owl. If yes, any reaction.

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[longhorn1]

Great photos Jerry. Fort Bowie will have to get a visit when we go to Arizona. Loved the picture of Yukon and Tanner under the table. I'm always drawn to water, camping along a river and falling asleep to the rush of water. Lakeside is almost the same. Love Owls. Safe travels. jd

 

[Sierra Valley]

So you get to camp and use the hot springs for $1.50 a night? They look like they are well kept.

 

[GregSplett]

Love those trees. We do not have trees like that here. I love taking the dogs for walks on our abundant tree farmland and finding little oasis like that. I get it. I sub a guy on the Youtube who witnessed a fight between an ooold man and a young man because the ooold man was tired of some jerk on a razor tearing up his camp. Oooold boy got pissed and threw some carrots at the young man so the young man turned his Razor around, hopped out and threw the ooold man to the ground. Sad on a coule of levels. The pup and I are headed out in the van for a few days on the SF Hoh. I 'll try to get a selfie to share. lol

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Tgil.....I'm not sure.....maybe ?

Ace.....yep. There was more over there, and again, I'm sure it's all much more of an attraction to me than most anyone else.....

ROKTAXI.....I remember your dog.....thanks for posting the picture.....all dogs are beautiful.....

ITTOG.....Tanner never saw the owls. We also had a pair that hung out at our campsite. I'm fairly certain that we saw that pair mating but the branches were thick so not 100 % certain of that.....

JD.....thanks. I'd also consider Chiricahua National Monument if you're in the area. I heard good things about that place and I actually may head there soon but not certain about that.....

Sierra Valley.....yes and that's with my discount. I got the campsite and of course unlimited use of the tubs. I'm in there no more than ten minutes per day. The campground host cleans them once per week and they are very clean. This was his fourth season volunteering there so he knows his ********.....

Greg.....that easily could have been me ! I'd have been the carrot thrower for sure. Stay safe.....




That first day that I had arrived here, it wasn't only the two large trees that caught my attention on "the other side of the highway".....where man was not heard. It was also that lone windmill.....it was maybe a ten minute walk through the desert from the little pond to the windmill. You of course couldn't walk to one without a walk to the other.....



Now what I discovered about the windmill is that it too had a life of it's own.....



If there was no wind.....there was no movement.....there was no sound.....



With the wind came movement.....with the movement came the sounds.....



And when the winds varied.....so did the sounds.....



And it wasn't just the sounds of the windmill that I heard.....sometimes in the background I could hear the birds singing, the coyotes howling, and even the wind as it swept by.....nature's symphony.....



The sounds of the windmill took me back to a time in my childhood.....I can remember watching black & white westerns on tv.....they always had to include those same sounds. I honestly can remember thinking back then how I'd like to see and hear that someday.....



And here I am.....



I think back to when I was a working man and how hurried life once was. Could I have ever have imagined spending a week of my vacation under a lone windmill in the desert ? Never.....I'm sure am grateful for these very times.....



What's this have to do with overlanding.....nothing of course.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Another feature that caught my eye as I explored the area around the little pond and the windmill was the old fencing.....



Now one thing is for sure.....all fencing is not the same.....not here, in fact, I'd say not anywhere.....



Here there's the old board fencing.....



And then there's the old wire fencing.....



As I walked along the fence lines I began to see what almost looked like a work of art.....unintentional.....unplanned.....work of art.....



So I began to photograph the different fences.....the boards, the wires, the nails, the hinges, and the latches.....it all just spoke to me on these days.....



They didn't take me back to a time past.....they didn't move or make any sounds.....



But they were certainly beautiful.....



And when I looked beyond the fence lines I saw miles and miles of desolate desert land.....



And I walked beyond the fence lines and it is here beyond the fences that I have another story I want to tell.....