Grand Canyon Bound

Yesterday we headed out for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. All reports had it being in the mid 20's down there and that meant it was a great spot for boondocking. The drive from this spot at Kanab, through Page, to the Grandview Tower road where we had camped before is pretty cool. Lots of red mountains, interspersed by some desert for variety. We didn't linger along the way though as we were destined for a spot where we could just sit and chill for a few days. For all of you Albertans back home you can rest assured that with the Conservatives in power there, you are enjoying the lowest diesel prices we have seen, barring a 1 cent difference, for our entire journey. That is of course with all the conversions from Metric to Imperial, well actually the US gallon, which is a little gallon, and the difference in currencies taken into account.

We pulled into the Grand Canyon National Park, paid our $35 and headed for the Grandview Tower road where we lurched and bumped our way south a couple of miles till we crossed into the Kaibab Forest, where camping is allowed, in this spot anyhow. That couple of miles was bad, really bad though so I took a spin south on the Forest Road and came out 16 miles later at Tusayan, a long drive on a marginally better road though. Not sure exactly how we will get out of here, but that is a worry for another time. For the next few days I am hoping to be able to do a little picturin' along the South Rim here, so we will see what we get.

Yellow Bird Country

Well we got done Brenda's mission in Vegas and headed south for a old favourite spot near Bouse, Arizona. Along the way we crossed through California for a short distance and caught this train headed for the coast.

It was pulling hard on an uphill grade and within 10 miles we passed two more hot on his tracks, literally.

We ran down through Lake Havasu, and stopped in Parker to pick up a few things and then we were off to the desert for a little down time before we head the rest of the way into Dogpound South. As I said this is maybe our favourite spot to decompress and get away from the rat race. Our solar panels keep us in power and we have a new WeBoost system for our cell phones so we might even have decent internet, although the country around here is pretty nice and we don't have much time for the internet anyway. Today we took a couple of runs on the Can-Am and saw some of the country, even passed through this high security gate with a keypad to open and shut it.

That was on our trip to the dump to get rid of our garbage, and then we headed around the mountain for a short ride. The desert is a beautiful spot and we enjoy seeing it in all its wonder.

Had a little excitement back at Dogpound North today, I won't bore you with the snow pictures but my Thermostat sent me an email about 4:30AM this morning to tell me we had a low temp situation going on back there, so I had a peak at the camera in the Furnace Room as sure as shooting the pilot light had gone out. I waited a while and then caught Matt on his way to work and he ran in and relite it for me so we have heat on the Northern Ranges as of this writing, but our furnace guy is headed there in the morning to give it the once over anyway, and probably replace the thermocouple as a little preventative maintenance.

It is a beautiful night in the desert tonight and thanks to WeBoost we are able to write this blog as Live Writer doesn't work so well in the Mac Ecosystem and it has to be done online.

One last shot of the moon tonight off our dining deck.

Boondocking

We headed out of Dogpound South last Wednesday towards a spot over near the La Paz Valley. We have been there before but it was a long while back, in fact almost 6 years ago was the last time we left there. It was great to get back to that wonderful spot. It is quiet and off the beaten track and although the madness that is Quartzite in January is only an hour away it doesn't spill over towards our spot. Although this a great spot for chillin' and riding the Can-Am it would not be so good for the ponies as it is pretty rocky. I spent some time riding some old trails that I had walked extensively 6 years ago, but although Blue II can cover a lot more ground in a lot less time than Shank's Pony he is restricted to existing trails where on foot you can roam wherever your mind tends to lead.

Some of this weeks trails

My riding partners changed on an almost daily basis, sometimes Brenda came along, but when she opted to enjoy the peace and quiet in camp Max was more than willing to climb aboard and see the country.

Max along for the ride

 He is probably wondering where to get some of those Doggles that Emmi from Montana has for riding the desert.

Our low profile toy hauler

Camp along the wash

Great for an ATV but not so great for horses

A Panorama from atop TV Hill

 Long time readers will recall some shots from atop this hill taken back in January 2011. I am here to tell you it was a lot quicker and certainly easier on the lungs getting back up here on Blue II rather than Shank's Mare. If you click on this shot and enlarge it the red arrow is pointing at our site this year.

 This quartz outcrop is just poking out of the desert.

Just a shot of a small hill along the trail

Sunset with what I call TV Hill in the centre.

Blue II waiting patiently for Brenda and I to investigate a mine flooded with water. 

Doing our part to repatriate some Carbon back into the atmosphere

Max and Maya chillin' in camp.

An old Mine Site

A beautiful vista

An interesting piece of wood, looks like a leg roast

 I stumbled on these store fronts along the trail, I have no idea how or why they came to be there. Out back are pens that look like stabling but not much sign of critters being held there.

Star Struck

An interesting piece of wood that I found along the wash.

We thoroughly enjoy our stay in the desert, I think between Brenda and I, we consumed about 7 or 8 books and still saw a lot of country. Although we didn't see to many other folks out there it is obvious that we are pretty pokey when it comes to ATV'ing, we rather enjoy moseying along at 6 or 8 miles an hours snooping in every nook and cranny and watching for the things that those hurtling along at breakneck speeds might miss.

Everybody is going somewhere. Those are all trails in the sky