Tonto, Besh-Ba-Gowah, and Kenish-Ba

 From low desert we head for the Superstition Mountains and a drive that will take us to another cliff dwelling. We camp in an organized campground and remark over the many people who stop to spark conversation. The deep canyon is beautiful - and that beauty amplified by setting sun. We see another quail family. They seem calmly accepting of campers - equipment and people.

In the morning we climb to visit the loweer cliff dwellings at Tonto National Monument. The photo doesn't show the climb up the hillside, but though it is a bit steep, it takes a zig-zag often enough, and benches are available to stop to either breathe or admire the view (or both).

These walls remain sturdy.  The view from the cliff is beautiful.  It is easy to imagine people adopting this as home, though at the time before the river was dammed, the vast valley below was likely full of other settlements and cultivation watered by irrigation canals.

The ranger on duty at the top of the hike points out hand prints on the wall where residents may have made repairs.  She points out shells that are an indication of how far distant the trade routes reached.

The view from lower cliff dwelling.

After descending the mountain on the nicely paved pathway, we drive past Roosevelt Dam and on towards Globe and Besh-Ba-Gowan. 

Besh-Ba Gowah is an archeological site more than 200 years old built by Salado culture.  An outstanding feature of the ruins is a large central plaza.  

The name translates from Apache as "a place of metal".  Mining was a big part of the economy in Globe, AZ, and surrounding mountains.

Reconstructed interior

Our overnight camp at the scarcely occupied Jones Wash  (along highway 60) is peaceful - though chilly.  As we're enjoying our morning coffee, Alex describes a pretty and brightly colored little bird.  His description of markings and behavior make it easy to identify even as we're sure that we know it before looking it up in The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.  Just as we found during last year's travel in the southwest, Sibley's description matches our own observations.  Who's clever?  Oh, yes, it's Sibley.

We drive the Salt River Canyon to see Kenish-Ba Ruins on the Apache reservation. The views of the canyon are stunningly beautiful though the colors are somewhat muted by the overcast sky.  

A permit is required to visit the Kenish-Ba site.  We visit Fort Apache on the reservation to watch the required video - and find it compelling and interesting.  Not a bad requirement.  

It is chilly as we leave the car in the parking area at the end of a two-track road.  Before we walk to the ruins, it begins to snow.  (Disjointed blog-calendar: written in Feb, but not posted until 3 months later.)

Trails cross at Sofia's: Montreal to the Casbah, Painted Rocks to Picacho Mtns

 We return to I-8 to travel a little further east to Painted Rock National Monument. There we find petroglyphs easily accessible by a short trail.  It a small boulder pile, but the campground is  huge - and each site is generously well separated from its neighbors.

Gila River, I-8, railroad, and traditional trade route trail. Gila Bend is named for the river bend - nice logic.

Our next site is elusive, but on the way trying to find the Gatlin site, we discover a Gila Bend neighborhood diner called Sofia’s. There are plenty of cars outside to indicate good food inside. Happy full people can be seen leaving. It is Mexican food - something for which we have a taste.

As we are waiting in line for a table, Alex says “hi” to a trio of guys who are likely not-from-here. We discuss a few travel adventures and then discover that they are traveling for work.

“What kind of work do you do?” “We’re a band.” They are on their way to San Diego to play the Casbah. They are a Montreal band, Busty and the Bass. They offer us a CD and Alex graciously hands over $$. They say they will be playing in Ann Arbor again. They were recently there playing at the Blind Pig.

The Gaitln site is closed to visitors today so we travel on to find one that is large and easily accessed, Casa Grande.  This big house was still in use in the 1400s.  It was built by the ancestors of the O'odham, Hopi, and Zuni people.  In many of the sites we visit, the historical account labels the ancestors "Hohokam" but at Case Grande we learn that name is not in the language of any of the descendants.  The remaining walls are part of a much larger system of buildings and canals.

Our campsite destination is BLM land that is on both sides of the Link Road near Picacho Peak. Appearance evokes wild desert densely congregated with a tremendous variety of cacti and Palo Verde trees. Occasional road noise reminds us that we aren’t very far from civilization. This area too is part of the vast Gila River basin. It is an area that once grew the three sisters: beans, squash, and corn - with irrigation canals to carry water from then generous Gila River. The Gila once flowed from New Mexico mountains near the Gila Cliff Dwellings - west across Arizona, when Arizona was the land of the Hohokam.

Our quest here is another petroglyph site, one rarely seen because it means driving miles of sandy-bumpy dirt roads and stopping to open and close barbed wire fences. We enjoy the scramble to find the petroglyphs and then enjoy the desert view from the top of the boulder pile. 

Prince and Bobo at Sears Point

Not wishing to test the Gigi’s tolerance for visitors we head back to the desert. This time we take I-8 and make a stop by the Desert View Tower to check up on Prince and Bobo. A distressing For Sale sign hangs on the fence. This is too sad, as it seems like Ben and his brother are the perfect tower hosts. $2 million, if you are looking for a fine new business venture.

Close up view of Prince and Bobo in the mural

The real Prince and Bobo

New bumper sticker purchased: “Homeland security on guard since 1492” features four Apaches with rifles.

Our first stop after leaving Prince and Bobo is one recommended by Ben - the new Desert Life Museum near Ocotillo. It is not quite complete, but is promising. Their collection of huge ollas is impressive. They offer a tiny, but real olla in the gift shop. It isn't hard to imagine it not surviving the travel yet to come. It looks adorable on the shelf as it is.

We opt to camp in one of our favorite spots near the southern border of ABDSP. It is a hill overlooking the Butterfield Stage route, just past the giant wind turbines that cast moving shadows over SR-2. We camp among chollas and observe bicyclists climbing the grade early the next morning.

We head for our next petroglyph site, Sears Point in Arizona. It isn’t an easy exit from I-8, but Q handles rough roads and deep sand well. The glyphs are on basalt boulders facing northeast. We expect western exposure so spend sometime hunting before finding cliff panels loaded with art. One looks a bit like Prince and Bobo.

The basalt boulders provide a huge display of petroglyphs.

Sears Point holds glyphs in several styles including western archaic (>2,000 BC in age), Gila Hohokam style (~300 BC to 1400 AD), and Patayan. The Patayan style shows "digitate" anthropomophs. Human history foreshadows our current preoccupation with all things digital? The Patayan human and animal art includes fingers and toes.

It makes me laugh thinking of Vernor Vinge's Fire Upon the Deep in which dogs (or wolf-like creatures, "Tines") are the intelligent species - but they must work cooperatively because they don't have our big fingered hands. Okay, the story is a lot more complicated than that suggests, but somehow the ideas are connected. Fingers and hands are important, but we humans could be a whole lot better at cooperative & collaborative work.

We read of a request that we not disturb the hives and honey bees, but don’t see hives. After our climb and hike up and down and all around, we settle into a sweet campsite nearby. While we’re enjoying a meal of tortillas and beans, hundreds of bees arrive to see if we have any water to share.

Bees on and in the kitchen faucet inside Q

When i play the ukulele, they seem to enjoy the harmonics or vibrations and come to rest on the neck, sometimes right on the string - until it vibrates.

Alex proves correct when he says that they won’t stay after the sun goes down. It is a peaceful, quiet sleep over a night that sees the outside temperature drop to 17 degrees.

The morning sun brings an opportunity to view the east facing cliffs through binoculars - a view almost as good as being right up close in yesterday’s late afternoon light.

Intaglios, California Pasties & Key Lime Pie

The land of Phoenix holds siblings of Alex, trees loaded with oranges and grapefruit, and good fun. We celebrate the Valentines Day birthday of Kathy and leave town loaded with citrus.

At the border between AZ and CA we hear that we can keep the fruit but not the peels. We invest time to remove peels and stash the juicy goodness in Q's refrigerator.

The crossing at Parker reminds me of childhood friends from Cody, WY. As kids we loved talking about Mr. Damon the dam man. Neil Damon and our dad worked together at the dam east of Yellowstone. Both were electrical engineers with a specialty in power design. Mr Damon came to Parker, CA after the work was complete in Cody.

Just south of our border crossing is an intaglio site. My photos are sadly funny when compared to those on the logbook by Ron Kilber. It's an impressive difference in perspective. Impressive, too, that these giant drawings have survived over time. The estimate for their creation is 500 to 1500 AD - by the Patayan people.

A few days in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park allow us to finally kick the virus that has been making us sniffle. We meet Nonny and Burch at the laundromat and get some additional recommendations for dispersed camping in ABDSP. Their set up differs from ours in that they pull a small camp trailer and set up free standing solar panels to power it. ABDSP graciously allows free camping anywhere in the park, asking only that we not leave a trace - aside from tire marks and footprints.

While we’re camped near dry Clark Lake, family in the form of Jan and John come to join us. It is the very first use of the cabaña, Stinky Pete. We set up it next to Q to provide for private use out of the wind. Jan finds it very funny when the wind blows it over. Alex cleverly anchors it to Q’s front bumper to our satisfaction.

Q is self-contained for life, including both intake and output. The Thetford is a potty with its own holding tank - and water for a flush. So moving it to the cabaña is status appropriate for company.



Our destination now is a person - 101 year old Gigi, my dear mom. We’re thankful to have a campground recommendation from John Dooley. It isn’t easy for Q to gain admission to a standard RV park where van conversions aren’t acceptable to posh RV owners, we guess. This makes camping near big cities difficult.

The drive takes us on curvy mountain roads, from ABDSP to the mountain town of Julian and west towards Santa Monica, but turning south to catch Wildcat Canyon.

The Lake Jennings campground is really lovely - and welcomes us inside with Quigley. There is a cardboard box with free key limes at the check-in station.

The Gigi (great-great grandmother to some) is Ruby. She provides all the entertainment we could ever want while in the big city. While I play ukulele, she sings and tells stories about her dad and siblings who were all proficient and talented musicians. Many of our cousins have this same ability - to hear something once and then play it.

This cousin of those cousins doesn't have it, but it is an enjoyment to strum and pluck anyway. And it is true joy to hear Gigi sing.

While visiting with Mom we discover that our friends from Cody have a relative in the same apartment complex. That discovery takes us to dinner at the home of Hugh and Anne, and we spend an evening trying to get caught up. These two former school teachers (Anne taught 5th graders during their Balboa Park week and Hugh was baseball coach - and whatever else the school wanted him to teach. They have lived on Orange Avenue for long enough to have transformed a small ranch style house into a small villa - or at least it feels like that. And it is a step back into history through their collections.




It is sweet that they serve up pasties and explain about miners carrying them to work. We wait awhile to mention that we routinely stop at Lehto’s in the UP for pasties on our way to Grand Marais and the little cabin. At Anne & Hugh's dessert is key lime pie! We leave Anne and Hugh carrying a huge bag of super sweet and juicy tangelos from their tree. Hugh tells us that they intended to be entirely self-sufficient with their fruit trees and garden. At one time they had chickens, but new neighbors objected to roosters crowing. For awhile they had apiaries, but another new neighbor informed them that he was highly allergic to bee stings. Ah well, the trees and garden remain.

Eight Miles on Bloody Basin Rd

The information at the site of the ruins tells us that it was a culture now known as the Perry Mesans. At Pueblo la Plata they built an 80 room structure - and left lots of pottery shards. To find the ruins we drive 8 miles along Bloody Basin Road.

Before this move to higher land people lived in more than 450 sites for over 2,000 years in what is now Agua Fria National Monument. The river separates Perry Mesa and Black Mesa. We explore the ruins at Perry Mesa - including lots of pottery.

At one point, archaeologists say, there were about 3,000 Perry Mesans living in and around here. It is beautiful - and a bit chilly in February, but we imagine the elevation would also make summer heat rather easier to take than it is slightly more south in Phoenix.

The Perry Mesans moved on ~1500 and the Yavapai came to stay for awhile The Yavapai people still live nearby in Prescott and Camp Verde.



Wind moves the clouds around changing the view minute by minute. The camera (and my use of it) don't do the views true justice. Even if camera lens and photographer could capture it well, you'd still be missing the smells and sounds - and how sweet the wind feels.

The drive from Agua Fria into Cave Creek is another breath-takingly beautiful ride on a twisting road. Our camp will be in the outside curve of the road with an incredible view of mountains and valleys. We see evidence that cattle often congregate here. Do they appreciate the beauty?

From our wild camp we return to a northern Phoenix favorite at Lake Pleasant. “No, the top of the camp site is flat, only the drive up is steep.” “Okay, we’ll take it. It isn’t far to walk to the shower.” In reality, it isn’t possible to pull even a small camper-van into a level-ish spot, so we opt for wild camping inside the civilized camp ground. It is still not a bad walk to the shower.

Wild camping inside the very civilized Lake Pleasant Campground

Catwalk, Cosmic Campground, Mogollon Rim

Leaving Silver City to drive northwest on scenic 180, we cross the continental divide and go north roughly along the AZ and NM border.  On the map there is a small red square marking a point of interest.  It is The Catwalk, a former silver mine that paid well enough to merit a series of suspended walkways to maintain water pipes and to carry out silver.  The mine closed in 1913, but the state (NM) wisely recognized the beauty value of the area and converted the catwalk into a canyon hike. 

What do you do when you see a sign by the road that says “Cosmic Campground”?  Must stop.  I expect 1950’s outer space kitch and Alex says it will be psychedelic tie-dye sort of theme; but actually it is a dark sky Carl Sagan kind of place with an area  reserved for setting up your telescope.  We honor the dark sky and bright stars by unplugging any light emitters (e.g., cell phone chargers). Alex sees a meteorite streak across the sky when he is up in the middle of the night. And he captures the spectacular sunset.

From the Cosmic we drive across the top of the Mogollon (Mo-go-yon) Rim in AZ.  At one pull out we see a dad and kids playing in a few inches of snow.  They are joyous.  If only we could magically transport them to Michigan they would find much more than a foot of snow in which to play.  

We camp in chilly temps and awaken to snowfall.  

If the headline is “Retired Michigan van dwellers spend February in Arizona” you would not expect to see this photo:

The drive along the Rim Road is one for a 4 wheel drive vehicle and Q does very well.  It is just the best sort of twisty road that delivers beautiful scenery around every bend.  If we weren’t driving in the snowy clouds, it’s likely we’d see that the view from the rim is gorgeous.

We stop in Camp Verde’s downtown area to see where the locals have breakfast.  We find a cafe whose food is reminiscent of our favorite Northside Grill in Ann Arbor.  We have a short drive on pavement to the Agua Fria National Monument where we will explore ruins and camp.

While Alex re-inflates Q's tires, i capture a rainbow.