Learning about rocks/minerals at my campsite

Thursday, February 5

Cloudy overcast skies though still warm with a high of 79° F though it felt chillier without the sun's rays shining throughout.

Friday, February 6

Sunny and warm, a mo' better day for desert solitude relaxation.

At my campsite, there was a gathering, by type, of rocks and minerals placed there by a rockhound apparently.  I took a closer look at the stuff today, using Google Gemini to help ID the stuff:

Outside "cauliflower" surface of a geode

The "inside", an Agate Geode according to Gemini 

botryoidal chalcedony according to Google

Black Tourmaline 

Jupiter Rock aka Picture Jasper

Kind of looks like a mountain scene eh?

Same stone, wet

Same stone, wet, in sunshine

I this this stone's a keeper, might even get it polished up 

Red Jasper

Aventurine, red jasper, quarts pebbles

Black Obsidian 

Stromatolite 

Tonight's sunset was mild....

Easy days near Quartzsite...

Not a lot to report, as I have not done much besides listening to audiobooks and just relaxing in the warm sun. 

Early morning lit up the far hills slightly, rendering then in shades of black.  The next three shots were taken using the bino adapter and 3x zoom.

Sunset last night:

The view this morning before the displacement:

I went for a hike this morning and as I wandered about, I spotted a really nice camping spot that had less neighbors and was easy to get to. 

Once I got back to my campsite, a hasty displacement was executed and shortly thereafter I was at the new site.  There's only one camping rig within line of sight and barely within shouting distance so I think I'm good to go for now in terms of solitude. It was getting a little crowded where I was before you see. 

Some more bino photos:

Wednesday's sunset at the new location:

Back in Quartzsite for a week or two

 Displaced from near Lake Havasu City, AZ and was in Quartzsite less than an hour later.

It's more crowded than the last time I was here but not too bad if you get away from the main access road in the La Posa South LTVA.  No free ride this time due to a government shutdown, so I paid the $40 fee for 2 weeks at the fee station and got my sticker. 

Then I spent an hour in line at the RV dump station, to dump tanks and to get fresh water for the main water tank. I had gotten a propane fill up in town beforehand so I was good to go in terms of consumables. 

The weather is warm at 76° F and mostly cloudy skies which tone down the fierce sun rays.

Tonight's sunset was OK.

Altitude: 1053 ft

More T'dubing

 Thursday, January 29

A warmer but windy day here, not too bad but enough to get one's attention.

I went for a short ride before lunch to check out the BLM camping areas to the north and south of me.  Bottom Line, I picked the right one to camp in.

The camping area to the north along US95 wasn't very large and had a lot more camping rigs.  First though, I tried to get to that area via OHV trails but they proved too technical for me.  The next two pics were taken after electing to not pursue steeper hill climb type trails further north.

So, a short sprint on the highway and then I went into the northern camping area via the highway entrance.  Note the wind-driven dust storms in the hills to the west of the highway:

A bit of wandering and then I returned to the highway to go south of my camping area.  This one wasn't as full as the northern one but definitely sandier in terms of access roads.

There's a "Scenic Area" pull off spot along the highway.  I think this is the view that it refers to.

The needle is Monument Peaj

After a late lunch, I went for a short 2 mile hike along a section of the wash carved out by seasonal rains I assume.  The temperature had soared to 68 degrees so it was quite comfortable in the bright sunshine.

I came upon the ruins of an abandoned? travel trailer.  As you can see, it's been thoroughly destroyed.

I got a GPS location of the wreck, and hopefully can report it to the responsible BLM field office.  They probably know about it but just in case.

Friday, January 30

No riding, just hanging at camp, enjoying a warm day with temperatures in the low 70s.

Saturday, January 31

A bit of riding to check out the Havasu Riviera area.  Not much to report, a gated community for the rich near a private marina.

I checked out the dispersed camping area nearest to Lake Havasu City's southern border.  Cramped and crowded it was, not much to explore further in....

Rode back to my campsite, no new camper rigs appeared last evening and things are quiet except when dirt bikes or OHVs motor by....

Sunday, Feb 01

Another lazy day here in the Standard Wash BLM Camping area.

It was the warmest day so far, hitting 80°F!  Nice and sunny too, the only annoyance being dirt bikes and OHVAs who don't know enough to slow down when passing campers to cut down on the dust....

Given a chance, most people disappoint.

Warm enough in the morning that I had a visitor:

Had a pickup truck park nearby most of the afternoon, he didn't setup camp, just sat there.

In the late afternoon, spotted a family hiking along the ridgeline to the south and decided to practice with the bino to phone camera adapter:

Cameraphone at 1x, no bino

Bino in use, 1x zoom

Bino in use, 3x zoom

Cameraphone at 30x zoom

Sunday's sunset:

I displace tomorrow, moving to Quartzsite unless it's too crowded still (most likely).  In which case, I'll check out the possibility of camping in the Kofa NWR; failing that the Winterhaven near Yuma.