Part 2 - A Much needed 2022 Western US adventure

  Part 2 - A Much needed 2022 Western US adventure

This is the second in a series of posts made during our 2022 US vacation. 

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Into the Desert

Where The Locals Go

After visiting family in Santa Maria (and a heat wave), we headed East towards Arizona through the Tehachapi Mountain pass. We were looking forward to getting out of the heat wave that was pushing temperatures into the the high 80°s in areas that usually average in the 60-70°. Tehachapi is at 3,970' feet and runs between Bakersfield and Barstow CA. I never thought much about the place other than a road that will get me over the mountains and to the desert. To my surprise, it was a welcome escape from the heat. We met up for one night with some friends that are on a similar trip at a campground called Tehachapi Mountain Park, a beautiful wooded area with ample dry camping and beautiful mountain views. We were there on the weekend so it was a little busy with families and (what appeared to be) school groups but otherwise a good stopping point.

BORAX is KING

On a stretch of land that's barren there is a little town called Boron. Boron is the home to the Borax Mining facility and processing plant. I've been wanting to check it out for years but never bothered because we were always “full speed ahead to somewhere!”.

Borax is made from natural-occuring minerals containing boron. It's been mined in here since 1927 and was carried to Death Valley using a 20 Mule Team. Borox now transports about one million tons all over the world. Borates are key ingredients in the manufacture of glass, fiberglass, ceramics, detergents, fertilizers, wood preservatives and much more. Do the touristy thing and stop there if you have the time, it's free. The town of Boron is just on the other side of the highway and has a neat little historical museum and an air and space museum. Everyone we met were very friendly!

ARIZONA

98 degrees and No Reservations

One of the advantages of traveling with a loose schedule is the time to discover those hidden gems. Our plan was to camp in Mojave Desert for a few days. When we arrived it was 98° and we felt like we were a couple of potatoes roasting in the oven. Even if we were able to find a place to plug in our trailer air conditioning, we would end up sitting inside the trailer for the entire day. This is not fun camping. When this sort of thing happens, we get out the map and start looking for a new place to camp down the road. There was a a little blip just inside Arizona for a place called Burro Creek.

What a wonderful surprise! Burrow Creek BLM Campground is situated next to Burro Creek. There is ample surrounding BLM dirt roads. The area has interesting rock formations and is a nice bird watching spot, I saw a Great Blue Heron. We liked it so much that we stayed there three days and two nights. There are a ton of BLM dirt roads to explore that seem to be pretty good for 2WD vehicles.

There's Gold in Them Tha'r hills!

Phoenix AZ turns out to be a beautiful place. I hear that the heat gets unbearable for a few months of the year; however, when we were there it was cool enough to get in some great hiking. The rock formations are a stark contrast to the flat and dry desert. There is cactus everywhere. My favorite are the Barrel Cactus that stand impressively tall and tower over everything. Since there are virtually no trees, these big boyz dot the landscape every hundred feed and cover the desert and mountains equally. I'm sure they are a safe place for many critters in the area.

We had some family in Phoenix and our friends J & K told us about a fun hike/scramble that in the area, so we decided to check it out.

We were able to get last minute reservations at Lost Dutchman State Park just outside of town. This area is most known for a touristy gold mining town just down the road. The campground sits below the towering Superstition Mountains. The hike that J & K mentioned is called Flatiron and starts behind the campground. The round hike is approximately 5.5 miles, depending on the starting point. The catch is that the hike takes you up an impressively steep elevation gain of 2,600 feet in over two miles. Much of the hike is not hiking at all, it's scrambling and bouldering up a waterfall. The trail ends on top of a huge flat iron shaped rock with impressive views of Phoenix and the surrounding mountains. Beautiful!

We're currently in Payson Arizona for two nights to re-group and loiter at Walmart for the WIFI. We had planned to camp near Sedona; Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find any campgrounds that are open for the season near Sedona. So, we may end up having to camp somewhere else and drive in as a day trip. From Sedona we plan to drive through Winslow Arizona (♫ ...such a fine sight to see. ♫) on our way to the Petrified Forest.

A Much needed 2022 Western US adventure - Part 1

 A Much needed 2022 Western US adventure - Part 1

This is the first in a series of posts made during our 2022 US vacation.

• Link to all posts 

1. The Plan

After two years of, well let's just call it a dumpster fire, we leave all the drama behind as we head out where the sky is big and the sunsets are awe inspiring. We are headed towards Arizona and New Mexico to start and then possibly up into Utah and beyond. 

The plan? Well, we actually don't have any plans or reservations, other than to be on the road for the next two months. Although we've spent quite a bit of time East of the Sierra Mountains, there are still many places  that will be new to us. 

2. Chasing Flowers - Los Padres National Forest

We spent several days at Los Padres National Forest and it didn't disappoint. We hiked to the top of a mountaintop and looked down on a lush green meadows; there were hundreds of old oak trees evenly spaced apart as if it was planned. In areas where there weren't as many oak trees, there were huge patches of brightly colored flowers, mostly deep purple, bright yellow and orange, and some red and white. These are the beautifully spring flowers that we search out each year when we come to Los Padres National Forest.

Even before we found a place to camp we could see that the Lupine were showing off on the side of the road despite the dry weather this year. On a short hike, we could smell the Lupine that reminds me of Sweet Tart candies. It must be intoxicating to the bees, they were all over these beautiful flowers. Standing on the edge of an area the size of a baseball field full of flowers is amazing. It's absolutely impossible to capture this sensory overload in a two-dimensional photo. On the same day we also came across a large patch of bright orange/yellow California Golden Poppies. It's always good to see that our state flowers are doing well.

Wildfires swept through this area two years ago and many of these mountains and valleys were burnt giving us access to some bushy areas for the first time. Sadly, some of the very old and very large old growth oak trees (they must be several hundred years old) in the valleys didn't make it. It must have been quite a sight to see the fires burning and the glowing embers floating around. It's not unusual to see a tree that is completely burn and then several other trees in the same area untouched. Despite the fires, Mother Nature is making a come back and even smaller trees and brush that had burned to the ground have green re-growth that is already several feet high.

The red headed woodpeckers are mostly back, although they aren't as vocal and rambunctious as they were. The dead trees that they use to store acorns did burn so it's likely they moved on to other areas or there are just less of them now.

We'll spend a few days in Santa Maria with family before heading over Tehachapi and towards the Mojave Desert.