Wating for Warmer Days at the BGAFR

Friday, February 20

Sunny but temperatures only reached low 60s.  Still, nice and warm when no breezes. 

Sunrise was not bad:

Hungout in the gazebo out of the mild wind but still enjoying the sunshine that filtered in through the mesh screens.  In the afternoon, a short ride to check for newly arrived neighbors....none to be seen within 2 miles!

My campsite from atop a

small hill next to access road

More Pareidolia....what do you see?

Dinner

Sunset was pretty good:

Boondocking Again in the Barry Goldwater AF Range.

I displaced from Kofa NWR a bit before 8 AM, the prospect of another day of windy conditions dictated the move along with increasing number of campers arriving.

Got propane and groceries along they to Gila Bend, AZ.  20 miles or so south, was the gate into Area B aka Saucedo Area.  I've camped here before, liking the fact it's not a destination for many.

By 2:30 PM, camp was setup.  I didn't use the usual spot, instead picked a more secluded spot almost a quarter mile straight distance from the main access road.

That's Hat Mountain in the distance 

Sunset was OK, no other campers seen within a one mile area after a quick ride around.

The Palm Trees of Palm Canyon

Today's sunrise was pretty good:

The whole morning was overcast and windy, with a high of only 68°F in the afternoon, it wasn't the most inviting weather!

Around 2:30 pm or so though, the clouds cleared out enough to allow the sun to shine through and make me decide to try the hike into Palm Canyon.

I rode Yagi the 5.7 mi to the trailhead for Palm Canyon, I'd seen one hiker coming out and I had the place to myself until I was done taking pictures.  The hike itself is not hard but it is uphill most of the way, with lots of loose rocks and a narrow trail, I was huffing and puffing but not as bad as I remember the last time I did this. 

Palm Canyon Trailhead 

It's only about 0.9 miles and then one comes to a small sign that points off to the left and up. It's a good thing to sign is there because the palm trees are easy to miss if one is not really looking closely. 

I set up the tripod and mounted the binos with the camera phone adapter to them. Here's some of the shots that turned out. The handheld shots were too blurry to publish so I am glad I brought the tripod. 

1x optical zoom + binos

3x optical zoom + binos

6x digital zoom with binos

The process remains fiddly when the tripod is involved. Especially since the tripod I travel with is not as stable or as fine in terms of controls as the big tripod that I left at home. 

Still, the images came out pretty good as long as you don't blow them up too much when viewing them. 

This is the best I could do with a real camera back in December of 2017:

Back at Yagi, I geared up as a couple showed up in a Jeep to do the hike.  I rode back to the campsite with no issues, broke down all the outside equipment and packed it away. I will be displacing to the Gila Bend area tomorrow.

Found: Skull Rock and Spiral Labyrinth

I am not sure what was going on with the voice directions within Google maps as I tried to find Skull Rock yesterday.  It took me to the wrong spot and the pictures I posted before with a classic example of pareidolia... where one sees shapes and rocks and such that don't exist.

Anyways, Skull Rock is actually 2 mi further into Kofa Queen Canyon than where the voice directions took me yesterday.

Enroute to Kofa Queen Canyon Rd

Look for this balancing rock...

Skull Rock

Looking back down to the valley

Rock formations along the way

View of the valley traversed by Palm Canyon Road

A brief stop at the Spiral Labyrinth depicted on Google Maps.  It's alongside Palm Canyon Road, not far from my campsite.

Stuff left behind, a bit of it is just trash...some people

Just can't help sucking....

I was sitting inside the RV in the afternoon just watching the skyline, and noticed what looked like a small square opening on the side of Signal Peak:

I am sure it's another case of pareidolia.  However, the pillars structure behind the portion containing the "opening" also drew my curiosity.  To the point where I was beginning to plan a hike, no roads, to a location to get a closer look at it. Or even, to do the 3 and 1/2 mi hike to the top of Signal Peak to get a look at it from above.

Luckily, I found a usable image of it on alltrails.com:

Source: alltrails.com

Now, with the need to get a better view fulfilled, it saved me some hiking!

Evening light at the campsite 

A wind advisory is forecasted for tomorrow, Wednesday, February 18.  Depending on weather and sunshine availability, it'll decide for me whether to check out Palm Canyon.