Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, Palm Canyon, AZ.

Palm Canyon Parking lot is where I’m camped.

I do use four wheel drive.

Last night when I left the paved road and headed for my Q campsite I missed the sandy sorta road in the dark and took another route by mistake. Once before I did this and kept the van moving fast enough not to get stuck, but not this night. I hesitated just a bit and the back tires dug in and I powered out, Stuck.

Hummmmmmmm……………camp here or? I got out and put the hubs in and got back in and put it in four wheel low range so I’d have enough power to get out of this soft sandy stuff. Turned the key and off I went and was in my proper campsite shortly.

Nice to have four wheel drive when it is needed.

This morning.

This morning I got up and left for Palm Canyon to spend a couple days exploring around.

I drove south on highway 95 to highway marker 85 and turned east onto the Palm Canyon road that goes into the Kofa Refuse Area, which is about seven miles off the main highway, well graveled and some wash board.

Marty’s recommended camp spot.

There were some camp areas on the way in, but I was headed all the way to the end parking lot as my friend Marty recommended the view from there.

Below is a picture of the road in just a ways before you get to the canyon, which you can see the road to in the back ground. That’s the canyon I’m headed for.

 

I made it to the parking lot and found the place Marty recommended to get mostly level for sleeping. Most of the parking lot is sloped, there is only one place to get level.

Camped at Palm Canyon.

The picture below is where I’m camped right now and you can see Palm Canyon in the back ground.

I made a big breakfast that was yummy and settled back for a nap. A car or two would come up every so often for a quick hike up the canyon and then leave.

Just did short walks around the van area.

It was fairly windy and chilly out this morning and most of the day.

I just walked around the van in  wider circles throughout the day, waiting for the people to leave. I figured they’d be gone by five pm and I would go up the canyon for a hike to see what’s up there. I’d take a little walk and then come back for a nap. I needed to wait for later in the day for my hike.

Below is one of the few things I’ve seen moving around here today, other than people. A little lizard, about three inches long, getting some sun.

 

The parking lot is a view point.

The parking lot was around a hundred feet above the desert floor, so I had a real good view from my van.

Below is a picture of one of the views.

 

Another one of the desert views from where my van was parked can be seen below.

I was waiting for all the cars and people to leave so I could get on my hike. They all finally left the area near five thirty pm so I got my camera, a small flash light and a heavy outer shirt and was on my way.

The Palm Canyon Trailhead.

Below, you can see the trail head and the canyon I’m going for a hike up.

 

The picture below of further into the canyon where I’m headed. You can see the trail headed off to the left side.

 

Sit and wait up here.

I’d like to get way up the canyon to just sit and wait for it to almost get dark. Below is where I’m headed.

 

About a half mile in, I ran into the sign that said palms and pointed up into that crevasse to the left. I was a bit disappointed how small the palm canyon area was.

Below, you can see the palm canyon to the left side, it’s more of a crevasse.

 

Below you can see one of the caves that are in the area.

 

I moved on past that palms sign and went up the canyon a bit further and sat down, until it was close to dark, just enjoying the view.

Below, you can see where I was headed past the sign to sit for the evening.

 

I sat here until it was almost dark.

Below, is where I sat and what it looked like from my spot in the canyon looking down toward where my van is parked, looking west.

 

Below is an interesting view just before it got dark, looking out over the desert. People driving on dirt roads are making the dust that is forming in the desert.

 

It did get dark on me.

My plan was to sit up on the hill until just before dark, starting down the trail just in time so as not to need a flashlight  to get to the van below. I made it mostly, but did lose the trail just above the parking lot, but found the van ok.

Below is it getting dark and my last picture for the day.

 

I made it back to the van just about seven pm and it was getting fairly dark. I have a nice camp site. Nice and peaceful, should be a good place to spend the night.

Day two, Palm Canyon, AZ.

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013

I decided to hike Palm Canyon to the top

Last night when I was up in the canyon I thought it would be a good idea to come back up the next day and spend about four hours up as far as I could get.

So, I got up around 8:30 this morning and was on the trail around nine thirty, before anyone else showed up to hike the trail. Someone did arrive around ten which was good as they would tend to push me up higher in the canyon to stay ahead of them.

I headed up the canyon.

I’m headed way up the canyon, past where it’s shady, up where the sun is shining, just below the top.

Below is where I was hiking to, up into the sunny part.

 

Things got busy around ten.

Below is a view of the parking lot around eleven when a number of cars arrived to hike the lower trail to the palms. View looking down from palm canyon.

 

The palms.

The picture below shows the palms up on the side of the mountain.

 

Below, you can see the palms a bit closer as I zoomed a bit.

 

I zoomed some more for the palms in the picture below. These are the main palms in palm canyon.

 

A rough trail to follow.

The trail is pretty good up to the palms sign, then goes a bit further, then does a bit of meandering and it turns to scampering over boulders and picking your way, staying away from the bushes as much as possible as they all have thorns. One best be wearing blue jeans and long sleeved shirts for this part of the trail, or you won’t make it as there is a bit of thorny brush that likes to grab at you on the way up the hill.

Below is a picture of the trail going up the canyon past the palms sign. It’s not really so bad, you just have to pick your way and take your time.

I spied this lone palm tree up the side of the hill, and thought it looked like the best one I saw up there. See Below.

 

I kept plugging along the trail and it was rocky. See below.

 

There was nice scenery along the way as you can see below.

 

Below is a photo of where the trail goes up the canon I’m taking.

Below is a picture of where the trail is just starting to break into the sun, just below the top, my destination.

As far as I was going.

Below is a picture of the top area which was as high as I was going today.

 

As you can see in the below photo, I’m almost at the top of the mountain. I’m back in the sun and now I’m getting hot.

 

It was hot up there.

Below is the sun shining over the very top of the mountain where I stopped my hike, enjoyed the area for awhile, then started down the mountain.

 

Down the mountain I went.

Down, down, the mountain I went as you can see in the photo below.

 

It took about an hour to get back down to the van where the wind was really blowing. Below you can see where I’m headed down the hill to my van parked down there at the end of that road.

 

I was back about two pm and got in my van and did a nap for a couple of hours and then fixed some dinner and headed back to Q to Marty’s to go on another jeep ride tomorrow.

Had a great day.