Thursday March 22, 2018 Kofa NWR Queen Canyon Arizona
Headed back to the Kofa
Yesterday as I was driving to the Kofa, I got on the dirt road and I could hear a clunk from the left front tire area. It sounded like a shock mount was loose. As soon as I turned onto the Queen Canyon Road I looked for a nice place to pull over so I could have a look.
The shock mount was loose on the bottom so I got the wrenches out and tightened it up.
I also noted that shock was leaking oil and not any good any more. I continued up the Queen Road to about a half mile past the Skull Cave to a place I think they call Indian Canyon where there is a trail that goes to the ridge top that I’ve been trying to find the trail at the top. I made camp here in my same old spot.
The next morning as I was getting it going I noticed this bird eating something in a bush just outside the van. Looks like some kind of jay to me.
Up the trail
Around 11:30 I started up the ridge top trail here.
I know the trail goes up to the ridge top somewhere here, but I haven’t been able to locate the trail.
There weren’t many wild flowers blooming, but I did see this one.
I looked real hard
When I got to the end of what I could find of the trail I rechecked every way I checked last time looking harder for the trail, but I couldn’t locate it.
I even crawled under the palm looking thing, but no trail.
And I looked again
I went about a 100 yards down the main trail and turned back to have a look at the hills to see where the trail might need to go. Then I hiked back up the trail and looked even harder.
I did go up this rocky slope but no trail.
And I looked one more time
So I was giving up and started down the trail again going further down than last time and looked back again. I wasn’t planning on going back up again, but I thought the trail had to go through a place I saw back up the trail so I started back up again.
I went through this area and climbed around the rocks, but no trail.
Pile of rocks
Then I saw this spot that I’d looked at before. The difference this time I saw a little pile of rocks up it which I hadn’t seen anywhere else. My only problem now was I’d gone up and down and around and around the hill looking for this and now I was too tired out to tackle it so I sat down for a break to contemplate what to do.
The trail goes pretty much up the center, you can see a couple rocks stacked there.
Back down the trail
I was still quite a ways from the ridge top and was pretty beat, so asked my legs and feet what they thought. They said we can get you back to the van, so I decided I better head on down the hill so I headed back down the trail going through here.
On down the trail, some nice cactus here.
I had to walk on down this wash to the van way down there near center of the picture, but you can’t see it.
Back at the van a cup of coffee was made and drunk while I thought about things.
One more try to the ridge top
Tomorrow I planned to have another look at the bad shock and was planning to drive over to the Palm Canyon area, but instead I will work on the shock tomorrow and try to get up the ridge top trail the next day.
That was my day. Lots of exercise.