A Tale of Two Deserts

It was the best of desert vistas. It was the worst of desert vistas. It was a time of cold, blowing winds and a time for bone-warming sunshine. The sunsets were brilliant. The sky was a vast canopy of blue from horizon to horizon. This was how we began our week in the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by Saguaro and wide-open BLM land. We ended the week in a high desert enclave, Desert Hot Springs, a short drive from our main objective, Joshua Tree National Park. This is the Mojave desert, drier and cooler but still filled with broad vistas, blowing winds, and bone-warming sunshine. This is a tale of two deserts.

After setting up our site at Arizona Sun RV Park in Quartzsite, AZ, we paid homage to the saint of Quartzsite, Hi Jolly. He was born Philip Tedro but changed his name to Hadji Ali after making the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was a Turkish Camel Driver hired by the US Army to train the troops using camels in the Desert Southwest. He landed with the camels at Indianola, TX, in the 1850s and accompanied them to Quartzsite. He became a character around the mining town, and his name was anglicized to Hi Jolly. When the Army experiment ended, he stayed on. He tried his hand at prospecting, being a scout for the US Army, and driving Mule trains. He changed his name back to Phillip Tedro, married a woman in Arizona, and lived out his life as a local legend from the Camel Driving days. This is his tomb, where his spirit matches the untamed spirit of Quartzsite. Rugged individualism is far too pale a picture of the temper of this place in the Sonoran Desert. 

A couple of hours north of Quartzsite is the old mining town of Oatman, AZ. It sits on the historic Route 66, which is no longer used by the US Highway system. It has preserved its wild west character for the hordes of tourists coming through town yearly. Oatman gets its name from Olive Oatman, a young woman who was captured and lived with the Native People of Arizona until she was released in Fort Yuma in 1856 after being traded to the Mojave People. After gold was discovered in the hills above Oatman, it became a boom town. But the village began to die away when the gold played out, except for the burros the miners left behind in the hills surrounding Oatman. Today, the town is most famous for these burros that roam the streets during the dry Summer months. There was only one in town during our visit. Her name was April. Marlene was able to pet her, but she was very popular. But, after leaving Oatman on the old Route 66, we met up with the rest of the burros looking for handouts in the hills. These two Burros were part of a small herd that stopped traffic in both directions. They were holding the cars hostage for a toll of whatever they had to eat. These are genuinely noble creatures who have adapted to their new home and achieved celebrity status.

After we left the Burros, we saw some stunning wildflower blooms. They mainly were California Poppies. But there were also good stands of purple lupine (relatives of the Texas Bluebonnet), Yellow flowered Jerusalem Artichoke and abundant tiny pink and white flowers that added variety and vitality to the blooms. This year it is being called a Super bloom, and we could not argue. Check my Flickr account for more shots by clicking here.

As I mentioned before, Quartzsite has a renegade personality. It attracts free spirits with a wild west flair. It also draws many military and corporate retirees who spend the winter in the desert warmth. One of the ways these two groups have learned to get along is with an abundance of signs printed off their computer. The earworm “Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign” ran through my head. Many of the retirees work camp in the RV Parks. So laundry rooms, bathrooms, showers, registration offices, recreation halls, and every other vertical space is plastered with these signs telling people what they should and should not do. This is a picture of the laundry room, and it is not the most egregious example. But with so many signs, they lose their impact. Honestly, I didn’t read most of them. They all became a blur. Of course, I do tend to the free spirit side of that spectrum, but really…. Do you need three signs on the bathroom door telling the last person to turn out the lights and close the door? Oh well, it is all part of the "charm" of Quartzsite, and when we travel, we take places as they are, appreciate them for what they are, and then move on. I was a bit too happy to move on from Quartzsite.

As our time in Quartzsite ended, we headed out into the desert of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. This was created in the 1930s when schoolchildren pushed the US Government to provide a sanctuary for Big Horn Sheep. It was carved out of the Yuma Proving Grounds, where General George Patton tested and practiced desert battle gear and tactics. Today, it is a glorious land of rocks and flowers and a few unexploded rounds of cannon and tank shells. During this Super bloom, the mountains were filled with a chorus of brilliant flowers. Unfortunately, we will miss the Ocotillo and other cacti blooming in the coming weeks. But again, this desert has two faces that paint a portrait of how to survive the extremes of conditions. Rocks and flowers have something to say to those who visit their realm and are willing to be silent and humble enough to learn from them.

As if the signs in the laundry (and everywhere else) were not enough, the US Military put a sign in the desert just outside Quartzsite. This picture is an arrow pointing north for aircraft flying overhead. It was beside a huge sign that read QUARTZSITE and had a large arrow pointing the pilot toward the town and their landing strip. They were built to help lost trainees during WWII find their way back to the landing strip. But these desert signs are not a modern phenomenon. The Bouse Intaglio, or geoglyph, is just up the road, made from the same desert rocks. It could be 500 years old or thousands of years old. There are hundreds of these images all along the Colorado River. This one is called the Fisherman and may tell the story of the god, Kumastamo, who drove his spear into the ground and caused the waters of the Colorado River to begin to flow in the desert. Both signs in the desert speak to the cleverness of the human spirit as it struggles to negotiate life in the open deserts of life. Once again, those with the ear to listen and the eyes to see can gain much more than information. They can acquire wisdom that helps us to survive in the most inhospitable places.

After three weeks of life in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, it was time to head West, across the Colorado River, where we entered the Mojave Desert. A new earworm began to play, “California, Here We Come!” We drove through some of the most desolate areas I have ever seen. Parts of it make West Texas look like a lush paradise. The threat of high winds meant we did not tarry long and found our way to Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA and Desert Hot Spring, CA. When we arrived, we found ourselves on the edge of the Playground of the Stars from the middle of the last century. We came to explore Joshua Tree National Park, but it is hard to ignore the feel of this place. The Mojave is drier and hotter, but it also has that dual nature of "rocks" and "flowers ."

 

We look forward to seeing what it offers two wanderers in our retirement years.

 

As I close this week's ponderings, I am reminded of a word I recently learned, Coddiwomple, which means intentionally traveling toward a vague destination. I am certainly not opposed to a bit of coddiwompling from time to time; what we are doing is more like wandering. We have a general direction and destination in mind, but the path is a very flexible thing. We embarked on this journey to see as many National Parks as possible as we traveled to Seattle and back to Texas in the winter. As we got closer to California, it became clear that we could not see Sequoia, King's Canyon, Yosemite, or Mount Lassen Volcano National Parks. The record-breaking snows in the upper elevations have left 10-15 feet of snow that must be cleared from the roads. The record rains and snowmelt have damaged bridges and roads at lower elevations. In short, many of these Parks will not be open until after we have left California in May. There would have been a time when I would be very frustrated and angry at this turn of events. 

 

But we are not here to see the national parks. That was the general direction when we planned this trip nine months ago. We are wandering, exploring, seeing, and experiencing what we can in this part of the world. We will enjoy the Mojave and then move on to the Pacific Coast and travel up one of the most iconic highways in the Country, the 101, from Malibu to Klamath. We joyfully continue our journey because so much the West Coast is inviting us to come and enjoy. Who knows what the coming week and month will offer to all of us who dare to wander. Come on along as we see wander our way through our next adventure.

 

Bob