Kofa National Wildlife Refuge for Camp Robbers!

We found another little slice of heaven! On Monday, 1/31, Carol and I drove the Acadia to Kofa National Wildlife Refuge to scout for a boondocking spot while Rog and Bob followed after dumping tanks and taking on fresh water. We were a little concerned that the area might be full of folks leaving Quartzsite after the RV show ended. There was no need to worry, as we found several awesome spots and picked a winner.

 

That view is hard to beat!

We are parked on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land on Palm Canyon Road, just outside the boundary of Kofa NWR. The road dead ends at the trailhead for the Palm Canyon hike. We did the hike during our scouting mission earlier this week and I highly recommend it. Tucked into steep ravines along the canyon walls are the only native palm trees in Arizona. Technically they are California fan palms, most likely descendants of palms that grew in this region eons ago. Some botanists theorize that the trees gradually spread into these protected canyons as the climate warmed to desert conditions. They exist only in small niches where direct sun is limited and the water supply is adequate. In 2001, there were only 41 trees in the main grove.

Palm Canyon Road.

Native palms still grow high up in the narrow ravines.

Four Happy Campers!

Crystal Hill is the only area in Kofa NWR where rock and mineral collecting is allowed. So obviously we had to check it out! The area is known for its quartz, although other minerals such as tourmaline and pyrite are also found in the area. I won’t be making a living off my rock hounding. The limit is 10 specimens or 10 pounds. My finds could have fit in a thimble. Lol. But the area was interesting to explore and it’s always fun to treasure hunt!

 

Cholla buds, called ciolim, have been harvested for food
 by Native tribes for hundreds of years.

Rockhounding at Crystal Hill and my tiny treasures. 

Another fun feature that was just a short walk from our campsite is the Kofa Spiral Labyrinth. We walked over to in on Monday after setting up camp. The spiral is over 60 feet in diameter and nobody knows who created it. It took us about 20 minutes to walk the labyrinth. It’s not far from the entrance to Kofa NWR and right next to Palm Canyon Road, but you’ll need to check Google maps to find it since it’s invisible from the road. The center was filled with offerings and that was almost as interesting as the spiral itself.  

The Kofa Spiral Labyrinth.
Bottom left is Google satellite view, right are offerings left in the center. 

Someone named it Koh-Kopelli Spiral.

Tuesday, 2/1, we set off on another biking adventure. We’d read about Skull Rock and knew it was off Kofa Queen Canyon Road, which happened to start just a stone’s throw from our campsite. I did say we had a great spot! What we didn’t know was the exact location of Skull Rock or quite how far we had to ride to find it. Maybe we should have done a little more homework before setting off. Lol. What we thought would be an easy 6-8 mile ride, turned into a 14.5 mile marathon. Much of the road is 4-WD only and for good reason. Lots of big, loose rock and gravel. The road was popular with the ORV crowd, so about 6 miles in we asked for directions. They said we’d passed Skull Rock, just as we were about to turn around they came back and said they were wrong, it was still a mile or so further. Off we went. Skull rock is really cool and you can climb the ridge behind it and see into the next valley through a window in the rock. It was challenging riding, but I was pretty impressed with my e-bike. Less so with myself. Getting started on loose rock can be tricky, especially if you accidentally hit the throttle when you meant to grab the brake. That did not end well and I have the bruises to prove it. Lol.

Biking on Queen Canyon Road.

 

Skull Rock. We found it!

Ocotillo blooming and a deceptively innocent fuzzy-looking cholla.

Great view from the ridge above Skull Rock.

Looking through the "window" into the next valley.

Are you wondering about the camp robber? Well, let me tell you about that. On Tuesday evening we were all sitting by the campfire gazing up at the stars when I noticed a shadow flitting by not 10 feet from where we sat. I quickly grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight to see two glowing eyes staring back at me from an ocotillo bush a few yards away. Bob had a brighter light, and we were able to clearly see a kit fox warily eyeing us. Bob saw another pair of eyes a little further out. We were surprised how bold they were. The next morning we discovered they had made off with our grill brush, it must have smelled tasty. They made a repeat appearance the next night and Rog caught one red-handed (pawed?) with Riley’s leash pack. They’d chewed through one side and made off with all the dog treats! We also saw a coyote strolling through our camp one morning. She sniffed Riley’s favorite pee spot and promptly added her own contribution. Riley was extremely interested and then reclaimed the area as his own. Let the Pee Wars commence. Lol.

Bold little camp robbers!

Miss Coyote launches a salvo in the great Pee War. Lol.

On Wednesday, the weather forecast called for sustained winds of 20-30mph with gusts up to 45mph. Not a day to play outside, so we chose to spend it 100 feet underground. Really. Rog had read about the Hull Mine Museum and Tour. One section of the mine has natural fluorescent and phosphorescent mineral walls. The unique concentration of minerals glows in bright fluorescent colors under UV lighting. It did not disappoint! It was interesting that the colors were discovered by accident in 2016 when a visitor was using a UV light to look for scorpions (they glow under UV). Hull is one of three known mines with similar glowing minerals, but it has the most variety of colors. I could have spent hours there!

 

Entrance to Hull Mine.
Castle Dome in the background (top-R).
Old mining buildings (bottom-R)

Down into the mine we go!
We rode in the yellow "man trap" pictured above.

No words. Just Wow!

Lights on, Lights off.

So incredible!

We were only allowed on the 100-foot level of the mine although it goes down 750 vertical feet and had miles of tunnels that followed the veins of silver ore. Many items have been found abandoned in the tunnels and preserved, including the oldest known pair of Levi Strauss jeans!

Levi jeans from 1890, authenticated by the Levi Strauss Company.

 

Personal items and tools left in the mine.
The papers are from 1908.

The original Porta-Potty. Lol.

The other part of the museum is a mining town created by the current owners who salvaged many of the old, abandoned buildings and moved them to one location so you can get a glimpse of life in a mining town that endured from the late 1800's to 1979. The Castle Dome Mining District, founded in 1864, at one point had thousands of residents, several working mines, and a city that stretched across three miles. During WWII, 9 million pounds of silver galena ore was removed from the district. Mining wasn’t steady work though. It would almost die out, then spring back to life as silver prices fluctuated. The last mining activity ceased in the late 1970's when silver prices dropped. The museum is full of items abandoned by miners and their families who left and never returned.

 

The museum has over 30 buildings salvaged from the abandoned mining town.

One of several bars on site.
(I thought the mannequins were a little creepy.)

The jail.
Probably necessary with all the bars in town. Lol.

The Dentist's Office. 

Ore processing equipment and a blacksmith shop.

Cookhouse and store.
Loved the bottles used to decorate the stove hearth.

Dress shop.

A collection of glassware and chamber pots.

Lumber was scarce, so they used fruit boxes for siding.

The winds died down quite a bit on Thursday and it’s a good thing because Bob and Carol pulled out that morning. They headed to Yuma then on to Organ Pipe National Monument and eventually to Phoenix to visit friends. Rog and I opted to sit tight at Kofa, I had lots of work to do to catch up on the blog and we really needed to spend some time trip planning. We stayed in camp Thursday and Friday, then Riley got bored. So, on Saturday, 2/5, we loaded him into the Acadia and took off to explore.

Our goal was the King of Arizona mine. We also wanted to scout another dispersed camping area along King Valley Road. There’s a preserve for the endangered Sonoran pronghorn antelope in the area and we hoped to see a few. In the early 1900’s there were thousands of Sonoran pronghorns, by 2002, the population was estimated at only 21 adult animals. Conservation efforts, including a captive breeding program, have slightly increased their numbers, but we never did see any. However, we did see a bobcat! No pics, he crossed the road in front of us and disappeared quickly into the brush. The road to the mine had some very sketchy 4WD areas. The Acadia managed it quite well, but we really aren’t high clearance and there were some spots where it got a little hairy.

Excellent views from King Valley Road.

Pronghorn territory.

King of Arizona Mine.

Home again after our long drive.

After saying, “just one more day” for several days, we planned to leave our lovely spot in Kofa on Monday. But then we did it again and said “just one more day”, delaying our departure until Tuesday, 2/8. Our plan is to move to La Paz County Park, a first come/first serve campground situated on the Colorado River north of Parker, AZ. Riley will be delighted to be closer to the water and we’re interested in doing day trips to Lake Havasu City and exploring several hiking trails in the area. It’s such an amazing feeling, having the freedom to go (or stay) as weather and whim dictate.

 

A few more gratuitous sunset shots. 
It's a new show every evening!

Riley, patiently waiting for Daddy to start the campfire on our last night.