Fellow Canadians, mountain roads and warmer weather......

Our Location: Coyote Howls East, Why, Arizona

A cool night last night and it was a bit chilly this morning upon first touching my feet to the floor but we soon had the Mr. Buddy Heater going and before long it was pretty toasty in the Igloo. Awake shortly after 6:00 am I did my usual reading and stuff before putting my tender tootsies into my slippers and heading downstairs to turn on the heater. Riley rolled out around 9 am this morning, the lazy sluggard!

Heading south on AZ-85

After a quick breakfast we loaded up the Dogsled with some water, walking sticks, sweaters, etc and off we went. We gave the big fella his head and let him run us all the way to Organ Pipe National Monument on AZ 85 south toward the Mexican border. To reach the park is very quick, it's 4 miles/ 6 kilometers  from the little Why Not Travel spot but the park office/visitor centre is 15 miles/  24 km away. So we just enjoyed the ride. Passing through an Inspection Station the rumble strips were pretty big but we didn't have to stop. The fella was sitting in his truck but not looking at anything going on other than whatever was in his lap.

Interesting fella isn't he?

We found the Visitor Centre and proceeded inside. It's a nice little spot, lots of information and helpful folks. We were barely in the door and we were invited to watch a 15 minute narrative about the park, and the Sonoran Desert. (As per the narrator in the clips). As we were heading into the little theatre to watch the presentation the lady in front of us mentioned our Ontario Plates and of course the regular questions of where in Ontario, etc, etc. Turns out Lori and Brian are from Niagara Falls, Ontario  a very short hop from where we used to live in Hamilton, Ontario. 

So many arms....

The presentation was excellent, with a great deal of information and some pretty interesting details. It was informative, as well as educational, the narrator was well spoken and easy to understand. It was interspersed with natural sounds heard in the desert, as well as bit of native music. I enjoyed it. 

I just love the mountains...

Outside the theatre we proceeded into the display area where we once again chatted with Lori and Brian. They are staying in C.H. West, with full hookups and will be staying there for a month. They too will be heading to Quartzsite and surrounding area, so perhaps we'll run into them again. 

Look how that was almost cut off but still growing....

Riley and I took a walk around the outdoor display of various kinds of cacti and enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the cooling slight breeze. From the garden path we climbed into the Dogsled heading off on a 21 mile sight seeing drive through the park. We headed to the Ajo (pronounced Ah -ho) Mountains across AZ85 from the visitor centre.

Pretty isn't it?

The price for the park is very reasonable, $12 per vehicle, so the more you have in the vehicle the cheaper the rates. We were happy to pay $6 each. The drive was a bit rough but very scenic. We turned, twisted, climbed, descended and drove on the flats for the next couple of hours. At one point we were driving up the side of the mountain with no guardrails, and I wasn't looking down!!!  It's a one way road for most of the drive, with numerous little spots to pull off and enjoy the view. A few places are marked for hiking trails, including The Arch. In the pictures it looks very close but it's a mile away, most of it uphill. Only 1/2 the distance is on a maintained hiking path, the rest of the way you figure it out yourself, I guess. I would have liked to hike it but I don't think we're back to that kind of terrain just yet.

Almost all the washes had cement bottoms on the roadway, part of the mountain road was paved for a while, but mostly it was a washboard, rutted affair. The views were dynamic and awesome. A couple of canyons caught our eye as well. At least two or three picnic areas were available. The amount of cacti was amazing. You couldn't look anywhere without seeing a multitude of various kinds. Some living, some in the dying process, others already dead but still standing, and some having fallen over and started to decay. We even managed to see a couple of buds on a few cacti as well. 

Overall, an excellent tour, we enjoyed it and I would return again and this time go prepared to hike for a bit. I think it would be interesting to see more of the park than we did. Camping is available but only for tents and truck camper or car camping. The tour road we took would not be advisable for anything 25 feet or more. There were numerous signs indicating the footage. Truly the dips and a few of the turns would make it impossible for anything bigger. They also had a 5 hour  tour but it was only for higher clearance, 4 x 4 vehicles. We certainly could have done that one but truthfully we weren't interested. Perhaps another time.

We headed home shortly before 2 pm. As we hustled along AZ 85 north bound we were passed by numerous Border Patrol vehicles, they seemed to be travelling together. As we approached the Inspection Station I was expecting to see a little activity but nothing doing. The fella was in his truck, moved to the other side of the shelter into the shade and he wasn't inspecting any vehicles. 

We made it back home just before 2:30 pm. The sun was out, the  air was warm and we both sat outside while lunch was cooking. Lunch today was a salad for me, along with Turkey Burgers, Acorn Squash, and a potato for Riley. I must say it was pretty good and there were no left overs.  As we were eating lunch we noticed for the first time a coyote wandering not far from our little Igloo. First one we've seen in the park. 

We piled the dishes neatly in the sink, grabbed our walking sticks and head out for a walk before sunset. It was around 4 pm when we headed out, taking the outer road for a while before wandering around back and forth among the many roadways here in the park. We finally ended up back home just shortly after 5 pm. We heated some water and did up the dishes before settling down for the evening. 

A few gusts of wind has some dust blowing around earlier and I think it may continue for a while. We are home safe and sound and will not be venturing out anyway.

So there you have it, our tour day. We enjoyed it, it was fun, scenic and relaxing. We hope you had a fantastic day as well. Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment. 

It's deceptive, over a mile away, all uphill.

Until next time....take care, be safe...

Deb

We toured Gunsight Wash, and then we toured Gunsight Wash.....

Our Location: Coyote Howls East Campground, Why, Arizona

 

A great night for sleeping, windows and vents open I got a full night's rest. I heard a coyote before I drifted off and I think he was at the dry swimming hole getting a drink, he sounded that close. 

 

The sunrise out our front door

 

I woke around 6:15 am or so, noticed the sun wasn't quite up yet, read a few blogs, but before I could read my emails I decided to head out and catch the sunrise. It was a glorious sunrise just outside our front door. It was easy to catch in the lens of the camera. Back inside I did a few puttery things before heading downstairs to grab myself something to drink. 

 

Pretty isn't it?

I was outside with my big mug of sugar free hot chocolate when Riley poked her head out the screen door and said her good mornings. I was enjoying a good read and after a quick chat through the screen door, she went back to do her morning stuff. I continued to read. 

 

Restricted land Gunsight Wash

 

Riley decided to make some biscuits this morning, so after we had those on the cookie sheet and ready for the oven, I headed back outside to read some more. Settling into my page turner I noticed George heading by on one of his walkabouts. He wandered in, took a seat and we chatted for a bit. Always nice to chat with George, he has some very helpful and interesting tips and stories to tell. It was a nice little visit and before long George was heading back home before Suzie sent out a search party. 

 

Restricted Land

 

Riley's biscuits turned out pretty good, and I can tell you there are none left. That must say something about the cook. We had a couple for breakfast, and finished the rest up for lunch. Considering there are only 8 biscuits in a tin, it wasn't that there was lots of them.

 

Cute little store.

 

After a quick clean up we headed out to Gunsight Wash. Did you know there are two of them here in this area? I didn't but we found both of them today. Our first attempt was extremely interesting and a bit educational as well. We drove a few miles out along AZ 86, which of course is the wrong road for dispersed camping. We in fact came along that very road on our way here. Not far past the casino is a little road off the right with what appears to be abandoned houses and a washed out piece of road.  We took that road, came along to a gent sitting on a bench, and I asked him where Gunsight Wash was located. He gave me directions, turn left right here, go behind that building and around that mountain, you will have arrived at Gunsight Wash. 

 

Mural on the bathroom wall at Why, AZ

 

So we followed his instructions and found Gunsight Wash. Except we didn't find any dry camping, no sign of any kind of camping. The road was horrendous. It made Darby Well Road look like a paved highway. We followed it for a while, but decided to turn around. Heading back to the highway we left a trail of dust behind us. We reached a very sandy, loose dirt area that was extremely difficult to drive through, met a border patrol fellow on his way in and noticed a white jeep sitting at the cross roads.  As we pulled to a stop just before the highway, the white jeep pulls up behind us and beeps his horn. I put my window down and the same gent comes up to the window, asks if we found what we were looking for. I told him no not really and explained what we were looking for. He told me there is no camping allowed here, it's restricted land. So I apologized and mentioned he should have told me and we wouldn't have entered. He half smiled and said something that was hard to hear. I think he enjoyed us taking a rough ride. It's native land of course. We chatted for a few minutes, he thought we were from Oregon, why I have no idea but when I said no we were Canadians he came back to chat some more.  A few minutes later we were on our way. 

 

Gunsight Wash Dispersed Camping

 

We stopped at the Why Not, Travel store, to check it out. Riley loved the murals and we browsed the travel shop, asked the cashier for directions and turned right out the front door, drove 2 miles to the place. It's very nice, but again no cell signal. A number of good places to park with tons of space between units, or little space, depending on the spot you pick. We wandered around for a bit, decided the cell signal issue is an issue if we stay in the area a long time. Turning the Big Dog around, we headed for home. I notice the spring is making a bit more noise on the bumpier roads. It's doing no damage, just a noisy spring, Jerry from Auto Tech told me. I may have it replaced as it's getting pretty annoying. 

 

Large sites at Gunsight Wash

 

Since we weren't in any hurry, we passed the corner turn to  Coyote Howls East, drove from here to the fridge and turned into Coyote Howls West. It's a full hook up campsite. Our impression is this is not for us. Sites are small, crowded and very narrow entry and exits. We even managed to see a young coyote foraging in the back alley behind one of the trailers. We followed the short driveway, hung a left and from there we headed off home.

 

Bold Jr Coyote at Coyote Howls West CG

 

Back home we heated up the Weber, tossed on a potato for Riley, mixed veggies splashed with a bit of OJ, and a Bourbon Chicken breast. Of course our salads don't go on the Weber. Lunch was very good. We topped it off with some peaches. Hmmmm....hit the spot. 

 

Signs here a C.H. East Campground

 

After that we grabbed our walking sticks and headed out. We completed the 2 mile outside trek here in the park and were back home just a bit over an hour from when we took off. A nice walk, noticed a number of things we didn't see before. Didn't chat with anyone this time!

 

Sunset here at Coyote Howls East

 

After that it was outside reading, enjoying the little bit of warmth we could find. The breeze was cool and a heavy sweater was pretty much the order of the day. Moved inside to read after a bit, shutting the big door and the windows, as well as most of the vents. Getting much cooler tonight than it has been. Long pants, long sleeves and I'm tossing a fleece blanket on the bed tonight. 

 

An amazing sight to watch.

 

Outside to watch the sunset and start this post. The sunset was very nice tonight, not as spectacular as last night but still nice. Inside to finish off and get warmed up. The rest of night looks like a book reading night.

 

The red doesn't show as well in the picture

 

So there you have it. Our touring day. Maybe not exciting for others but we enjoyed it and that's what counts to us. So thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your stay. Feel free to leave a comment. 

 

 

The End

 

 

Until next time...take care, be safe, 

 

Deb