With extreme pleasure we had a chance to head out with a very well known vehicle from the Overland world. We had an opportunity to take out Expeditions West's old Toyota Tacoma now recently purchased by a great friend of ours. The original owner, Scott Brady had taken the truck all over, including the Arctic Circle. The truck has been featured in SEMA many times and has been on TV more than once. So when asked if we wanted to take it out before i delivered it to its new owner in Portland OR we jumped at the chance!
So without hesitation we left the office on Friday and headed out to the Arizona/California stateline for a little exploration, relaxation and overlanding. Dixie was ready and willing as always..
My goal in mind was not a very clear one. Just to head out to a place called KOFA National Wildlife Refuge. This is located just off the 95 north east of Yuma in the Sonoran desert. I tell you, this is one of the most beautiful deserts i've ever seen. We stopped out in KOFA on our way to El Camino Del Diablo a year or two ago but never had any time to check it out. This time we'd at least see a little of it.
A friend of ours decided to join us at the last minute. She brought her cool Tiger camper. These campers are sort of hard to find these days, but when you do see one listed you can usually score a pretty decent deal on them. The owner of this one only used the truck shortly and never really even camped out in it. So when our friend bought it, it was practically new.
So off we went to KOFA. This wildlife refuge was established in 1939 and is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge is huge with over 664,000 acres so we know we'll be back many more times to explore its pristine beauty. Of course the land is home to many of the bighorn sheep, so we are always on the lookout for them, even though it would be pretty rare to see one. Many times they blend into the rock walls of the canyons and don't move often when people approach making it hard to see them.
Arriving in the dark on Friday night we chose a small flat spot that was easy to get to. It was a great starry night with some amazing glow in the distance.
In the morning we would move and pick a better location.
The terrain in the Sonoran desert is just spectacular.
One thing you'll notice is the large cactus. There's an abundance of cacti in this region and you need to be aware at all times of your surroundings. Especially with pets and the cholla cactus. These can ruin their day immediately. In fact we've been out in the field and have seen dogs think these are play balls and get one attached to their tongue. Not a fun time for mans best friend.
Even with proper clothing, the cholla can attach to your pants or outerwear in seconds. Yosh was lucky when this one attached to her shoe. We caught it immediately and i removed it with some needle nose pliers.
This is the culprit that got Yosh in a blink of an eye.
After packing up and heading on our way, we started in on Palm Canyon and Kofa Queen Canyon.
The only problem we had was the area was rocky double track and our friend in her Tiger had street radials.
So we pushed on as far as we thought appropriate and then decided to make camp again for the night. This camp was in a rugged remote location far from anyone and far from the highway. That's the kind we like.
We setup camp and assembled our survival pack..
The sunset was epic. Not a cloud in sight.
On the menu was a rack of baby back ribs for warm up and prime rib steaks that were marinated in Jack Daniels marinade. Complimented by small red potatoes in the fire and a broccoli side salad we were in heaven. Wholy smokes, talk about a feast.
Ribs over charcoal on the notebook grill..
A serving of appetizer ribs plated and ready to be devoured.. I barely got a chance to shoot the photo.
The prime rib on the grill, "insert drool here"
This is what they were marinated in. Great contained zip lock bag for heading out into the outdoors. Good eats for sure.
I didn't bother taking any photos of the sides because well, by that point it was like a whirlwind of the three of us going 10 different directions gathering food.
After a bit Yosh broke out her popcorn, who doesn't remember Jiffy Pop?
We were all too busy yacking around the fire and didn't notice the bottom getting burned. So needless to say, there was about a handful of good popcorn in the bag. That's ok, we were all still full from dinner anyhow.
Shot of the UFO by the campfire.. this is the third time i've capture this shot. I don't know what causes it.
The next morning we woke up and it was Valentines Day and exchanged cards and chocolates. I'd just like to take a moment to say, im the luckiest guy on the planet. No silly set menu at some fancy restaurant for us, no overpriced flowers or expensive jewelry.. just love and the warmth of the morning sun in the desert. Doesn't get any better than this.
The crazy part is, the same time last year (Valentines Day) we were camped in KOFA too!
After breakfast and some coffee we packed up and headed out to Palm Canyon. Our goal today was to hike up the only native Palms in Arizona. The hike was going to be an easy one and for once dogs were allowed. On a leash of course.
Dixie was ready to head out!
At the trail head leaving the parking area.
Hiking up the trail to the palms. It was an easy 1/2 miler. Anyone can do it.
Shot of the Palms.. they have no idea how they got there. Some say they're still there from the last periods of the North American glaciation or that the trees have been spread about by birds or coyotes carrying the seeds in their digestive tracts.
No matter how they got there, they were a beautiful site. There's a short window of the day that they get sun, so we were lucky. Yosh sitting and taking in the view.
Coming back down, everything was so green.
Once back at the trailhead i eyed this 600 KTM. The guy was really nice and him and his wife were out on their day enjoying the sites.
Because we were to get in more stuff than we have time for (aint that always the case) we had to leave KOFA to head to our next stop. After fueling up in Quartzsite AZ we headed for the town of Blythe CA to see the Intaglios.
The Intaglios are a group of huge figures found on the ground. They're figured to be between 450 and 2,000 years old.
Knowledge of the intaglios were lost until about 1932 when a pilot was flying to Blythe from Vegas and stumbled upon them.
They were a ways from the trailhead and for good reason. The BLM doesn't want anyone anywhere near these with vehicular traffic. Here you can see the distance from the truck to the first intaglios we looked at. (look to the far right of the photo)
Another intaglios site, there were about 9 that you can view if you know where to find them.
I will leave the rest to your imagination or you can find this location and check them out for yourself. On the side of the road there's a plaque showing that they're in the area.. but other than that there isn't too much to lead you in to find it.
Well, being that it was a 3 day weekend for some we headed home and like always we wanted to stay another night. Well it was on sunday and monday was the holiday so this was our chance. So we headed for Joshua Tree.
On our way stopped off for fuel Yosh snapped a shot of the Patton Museum tanks at Chiriaco summit.
Entering Joshua Tree National Park
We spotted this great looking old truck camped out in one of the campgrounds..
So to our dismay we drove through the entire park and found not one campsite available. I mean if you think about it, everyone travels to JT in the winter because it's very hot in the summer and it also was a three day weekend. So it was my own fault for not thinking ahead. That being said, we just headed home because i was exhausted from driving all over the southwest that day. Regardless it was still a great trip and we still were able to enjoy the sites of JT. So even driving a little longer distance on the way home was well worth it. Especially being able to drive that Tacoma the whole way.
Another great trip in the record books, thanks for reading everyone. Special thanks to Mike Hiscox for letting us take out your new baby. It was a treat.