Blue Goose ~ Day 189

December 2, 2014 ~ Ehrenberg, AZ to Fortuna Hills, AZ

I left at first light with a lovely pink in the eastern sky which soon disappeared. The rest of the day was overcast. Not far down the Interstate was Quartzite where I stopped for coffee and where the customers were a mix of retirees, locals, travelers, vagrants and hippies (or whatever they're called now). Many of the staff were 60 to 70 years old.

One man carried on in one of those voices that carries too far about any topic at hand, very opinionated and conservative. The thing was...he seemed to acquire an audience, and few people disagreed or called him on any of his statements. The local Rush I guess.

Kofa NWR is a huge refuge south of Quartzite. Of its 665,000 acres, 80% are now Wilderness.

WWW.FWS.GOV

Major Frederick R. Burnham, a frontiersman turned conservationist, observed that populations of bighorn sheep were sharply declining and appealed to the Boy Scouts to take up the cause. For two years, more than 10,000 boy Scouts and their leaders campaigned to protect bighorn sheep through a “save the bighorns” poster contest, talks, and dramatizations on the radio and at school assemblies...The refuge's name was derived from an acronym for one of the area’s most notable mines, the King of Arizona gold mine. 

Here was one place I felt I got too close to possible misfortune. There is not a Visitor Center at Kofa and only a few gravel roads, although primitive camping and back country use (which adheres to Wilderness Area rules) are allowed. I drove seven miles into the refuge to Palm Canyon Trail. The Dodge van is so not a vehicle for this kind of driving. It rattles and has very little clearance, is too big and doesn't have 4W drive. But as long as roads are described as OK for passenger cars, I feel comfortable in that regard. What I didn't feel comfortable about was continuing on the half-mile trail all the way to Palm Canyon, a place where native California fan palms grow in a deep narrow ravine, only exposed to direct sun at noon. (It may be the only place in Arizona they grow.) While the trail is short, descriptions on the Internet varied from "rugged" to "moderately easy."

Driving to Palm Canyon  - Kofa NWR - AZ

Looking back halfway up Palm Canyon Trail - Kofa NWR - AZ

But I was alone, and the trail was rocky, with large fixed rocks and loose stones, and it gained elevation, meaning it wasn't flat. I met three young fit guy hikers coming down as I started. Hmm...I could do this but got about halfway, carefully watching my steps over, on and around the rocks. And then turned back which was harder than going up. I just felt too vulnerable. While not exactly precipitous, it was steep enough for me. I looked ahead and realized the higher I climbed, the farther I would fall (if that happened), and all the grabbing-on branches were thorny and all the larger rock crevices probably had rattlesnakes.

So I chickened out and returned, even more carefully, and then did yoga in the trailhead parking area before driving back to the main highway. I did look for bighorn sheep high on the cliffs while side-bending, but saw none.

As I continued south towards Yuma, I was driving along the Yuma Proving Ground. An odd object moved slowly in the sky to my left. It looked like a giant white fish. There are millions of acres for military exercises in Arizona, and signs warn of unexploded ordnance and what to do if you find any. There are also signs warning of numerous abandoned open mine shafts, basically stating that there is no way out if you fall in, so stay away from them. And, of course, always the warnings about poisonous and/or stinging creatures or mountain lions or bears. But all that hyper-awareness starts to fade the longer one spends time here. Mostly, it's just being careful and not doing stupid things.

I made an unexpected detour to Imperial NWR when I saw a sign that it was only 13 miles off US95. At the VC, there were half a dozen hummingbird feeders with Anna's buzzing about and feeding constantly. All was quiet with friendly staff inside, telling me about upcoming events...bird hikes, hikes to places not currently open to the public, a full moon campout...and pointing out the usual educational and informational exhibits. Imperial protects wetlands along the lower Colorado River for 30 miles. More than half the refuge is also Wilderness. One species of importance here and on other southwestern refuges is the endangered, threatened or species of concern "Yuma" Clapper Rail. (Its status depends on who is doing the listing.) All the water manipulation for humans has been especially detrimental to this bird.

I walked around near the VC, listening to the clicking of the hummers.

Anna's Hummingbird - Imperial NWR - AZ

I keep seeing gnatcatchers and am still trying to positively ID them, which continued at Imperial. I hear them before I see them; however, I am not an accomplished aural learner, so that doesn't help. They are small delicate blue-grey birds with long tails, distinct white eye rings and are always flitting about in bushes or trees.

There were also sweet little desert gardens.

I slept in a Love's truck stop just east of Yuma, after eating blackened salmon, peas (no choice here) and a baked potato at the adjacent Daybreaker Cafe with a glass of wine.

I noticed that some truckers also bring a book to the table and read.