Palm Canyon - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

Chance meeting at the laundromat

Last week in Yuma, I finally broke down and found a laundromat.  While there, a woman says Hello and asks if I'm Anne - I was so surprised!  Turns out I met Anne (yes, we're both Anne) and her husband Bill at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon a couple years ago.  Wow, she has a good memory - Anne also follows my blog.  As we chat, she tells me that they are camp hosts at Palm Canyon.  Oh yay, this gives me more confidence to visit Kofa after my stay at Imperial Dam.

Kofa mountains from my new site

New camp on Palm Canyon Road

As I drive along looking for suitable campsites, I see a large area off the road aways - it's good to be a little way of the road and away from the dust that cars throw up - and look, there's a small fiberglass trailer - maybe it's someone I met at the Quartzite rally!

Anyway, I pull off the road and then get out to scout around.  I've been surprised before when the road suddenly drops down into a wash.

View out into the desert; set up for sunset!


Meeting one of my inspirations for boondocking!

As I walk around, I'm taking a closer look at the little trailer - hmmmm . . . it's a Scamp, white tow vehicle with a solar panel on top . . . I check the back bumper on the trailer - omg, there's a familiar antenna!  I think that my neighbor is RVSue ( www.rvsueandcrew.net ) - later as I'm setting up camp, I hear two small dogs barking - that seals the deal - gotta be Sue.

Later, I take a walk and introduce myself - Sue is almost finished waxing her trailer!  Now, I'm really feeling bad about my filthy dirty, bug-spattered trailer (mind you, not bad enough to actually wash it).  I met the canine crew but after saying hello, they retreat to shade and their bones.  I had a nice visit with Sue before leaving her to enjoy her extremely shiny home (and a big bowl of popcorn).

Palm Canyon Hike

Short, but rugged hike traces about .5 mile up into the canyon before you see a narrow draw off to the left and up in the cleft - are palm trees!  Apparently, you can walk/clamber-over-rock and follow the draw up past the visible palms to a point where the draw takes another sharp turn to the top of the mountain, with a lot more palms to be seen there.  However, it's not recommended unless you are in good shape and don't mind some rock climbing - also, they warn about snakes.

Entry to the canyon

Palm trees near the top of the draw - the sun hadn't quite lit them up yet.

A look back down from inside the Canyon
It took me quite awhile to hike into the canyon.  I kept getting stopped by the birdsong echoing off the canyon walls, or the flowers, once I stopped to watch a hawk spiraling upwards in the morning thermals.  The deeper I climbed into the canyon, the more I noticed a slight dampness and the smell of the plants.

The desert is starting to bloom!



It's later than I thought!

Despite the warm days, I was thinking that it was still too early and the ground too cold for snakes to come out of hibernation.  But today, I saw my second rattlesnake in a week.

I thought this one was dead on the the road, so I stopped to take a picture.  As I approached (carefully), it proved to be very much alive and none to happy.  I guess if I had just gotten up after a long sleep and hadn't had time for breakfast or the snake equivalent of a strong cup of coffee before the popparazi started buzzing around with their cameras, I'd  be a bit peevish too.

Hope she made it out of the middle of the road!
Now, I have another thing to worry about when FW takes walks around the trailer!  No going into the bushes for her!

Kitty Corner

FW exploring the fire pit

And, of course, another super sunset!



10 comments:

  1. Birdsong echoing off the canyon walls... palm trees.....a slight dampness and the smell of the plants...

    Your descriptions make the nuances of the canyons come alive for me. They inspire a feeling of awe... except for the rattlesnakes!

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    1. 'Awed' is how I feel in those places! I'm glad it comes across.
      I don't mind the snakes - as long as I'm not surprised by them. I will be watching where I put my feet even more closely now! Rattlesnakes are generally not aggressive - this guy was surprisingly irate.

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  2. Anne, happy to have your link to your blog! We talked several times at Dome Rock...and if we discussed blogging...with the e/citement, it did not "take"!

    Did not get to say goodbye...discovered the husband had shingles and left quickly Sunday morning.
    Enjoy the desert! We are on our way back to TN and it's miserably cold here in west Texas....mourning the loss of warmth!
    Stay safe. Lynne

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    1. Hi Lynn,
      Glad to hear from you - I'm heading back into the cold, wet Northwest soon. Sorry to hear about the hubbie - hope he's feeling better!
      Hope to see you again down the road - meanwhile, I guess we'll keep up-to-date with our blogs!

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  3. Oh no! I have been having dreams of the rattle snakes Anne! That's it. No more tank hikes for me. Good pictures though. Palm Canyon is so beautiful.

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    1. For some reason, I'm always the one who sees the snakes (sigh).
      I thought I might use snakes as an excuse to buy some western boots - any excuse to go shopping! Boots saved me once as a teenager when I was walking through some bush and stepped on a baby rattler - it struck but couldn't get thru the leather and wasn't big enough to strike above the boot ;-)

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  4. Hi, Anne . . . It's fun to read about me and the crew on someone else's blog. Nice to meet you the other day. That is one upset rattler!

    Pretty kitty . . .

    Sue

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    1. I should have gotten some pics of the crew - reflected in the BLT!

      Fay Wray manages to pack a lot of personality into her tiny 6 pound frame! As you know, our pets worm their way pretty deeply into our hearts.

      I never did get the kite up today . . . sigh.

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  5. Anne, just found your blog (mentioned on RV Sue" blog). I am heading to AZ in about a week. Sounds like you will be heading my way (WA) soon.
    Wickedlady

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    1. Yup! We'll probably cross on the way!
      I'm a little worried about the roads - sounds like Portland anyway is poised for another blast of arctic air. Wish I could just stay here for another month :-)
      Welcome to my blog (love your name!)

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