Lake Havasu City

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We had reserved a site at Cattail Cove State Park just a bit south of Lake Havasu City so we would have a place to go after our boondocking experience. The drive up US-95 was very easy. Initially the view out of Quartzsite is just lots of flat desert with the occasional hill or mountain jutting up in the distance. But when we get near Parker Arizona, the terrain changes quite a bit. It follows the Colorado River and there are large mountains everywhere.

The entrance into the park is down a rather winding road to get to water level. Lots of people come here to use the boat ramp and beach area and most nights the campgrounds are fully booked. The site only has water and electric but it is 50 amp which is one less thing to worry about. We are able to dump our nearly full tanks on the way in and since we are here for only 6 nights, tank capacity won't be a problem. 

View of Cattail Cove State Park Marina and Campground

We decide to drive the dozen miles into Lake Havasu on our first full day here just to get a feel for what it has to offer. I'll admit, it was a bit larger than I was envisioning. We found a 9 hole disc golf course at Grand Island Park and decided to check it out. The course was fine and we did alright (meaning: we lost no discs!). As we were heading back to the car, there was a cache nearby and we found another cacher looking hard for it. After a brief search, we discovered the hide and then stood and talked with the woman who was from the Pacific Northwest but camping in the area for the winter. 

We then headed over the London Bridge and went out to check out a few of the lighthouses. The ones we stopped at were scaled replicas of other lighthouses. One of them was even from New York State. Next we stopped at the London Bridge. I still find it hard to imagine this thing was disassembled in  London, all the parts numbered, shipped here and reassembled here. Several of the block still appeared to have the numbers visible. There was a cache right at the bridge and as we approached we saw 3 other people searching the ground, the stone wall and the bushes but to no avail. I was hoping that we would come up and just show them where it was hidden but after 15 more minutes of searching with them, nobody could spot it. We walked along the river area and took some pictures before heading up to the topside of the bridge. When we turn and look up, we see the three other cachers up there and had mad the find. That is one problem with caches located near bridges (or worse, parking garages), you are never sure what elevation to be looking at. 

View Across Lake Havasu into California

Chris Rests at Lighthouse Replica

London Bridge at Lake Havasu

Pretty Light Pole

View from Atop the Bridge

The following day we did some hiking in the state park we are camped at. There are even a handful of geocaches placed by the park personnel. The trail we did followed the river but was 50 feet above the water level. We found most of the caches we tried but did have trouble with one of them. After looking at the hint and past logs for any help, I discovered that a good friend of ours from Rochester NY had found this one about 9 months earlier. The text I sent her for help apparently was initially confusing, but she came thru later in the day and we came back out a couple days later to make the find.

Great Formations at a Cove Along Trail at State Park

Very Hilly Terrain on Our Hike

One portion of the trail we took was thru a narrow slot canyon. It was pretty neat to have the rock walls go up on either side as you walk down the middle. This one was not huge being only a few tenths of a mile long and the walls were about 30 feet or so tall. As we came back around to the campgrounds we came thru the overflow camping area. The lot was far from level and one of the motorhomes had its front tires lifted a good 16 inches off the ground. That was a scary sight and not good for the suspension on the rig. Plus the overflow costs $20 per day and with all the free BLM land in the vicinity, it's not clear why somebody would choose to stay here.

One day we headed up to SARA park. It is a big park just on the south side of town with lots of hiking, mountain biking and other activities. We came to do one specific hike that sounding interesting - the SARA Mountain Park Loop Trail. "The Crack" was the portion of the 5 mile hike that intrigued us. Here is the description from a trail guide:

• To begin your hike, go through the gate at SARA Park and follow either trail (yellow or red) down to the canyon, which eventually narrows to an arms width, tumbling down a series of dry falls through the crack.  
• Except for a seven-foot dry fall, you can, with care, readily negotiate the drops. 
• The seven-footer is smooth and can be slid down, like in a playground. It is possible to climb back up on the rocks alongside the waterfall. 

There were many people out walking the various trails in the area. As we arrived at the crack, there was another couple just ahead of us trying to navigate one of the drops and not having the best of luck. We jokingly offered to push them but they declined and asked us to show them how it to attempt it. With the pressure on, we managed to make the one drop without incident and they followed our lead. In short order we made it to the 7 foot drop and made it with no real problems but possibly without a lot of grace or style points. 

Starting Into The Crack

Narrow and Deep Portion of Slot Canyon

Chris Braves the Slide

We continued down the wash and eventually made it to the Colorado River. We could see a picnic table/shelter and even a bathroom just across from where we came out. Of course it took a fair amount of walking to get over to the spot. We ran into 2 other couples taking a break with their 2 dogs. Both dogs were incredibly well behaved given we were eating our sandwiches right in front of them. 

Balanced Rock

View of the Colorado River on Hike

More Rock Formations

For the return hike, we opted to take the high trail that goes up and around the crack. It was interesting to see the place from this different perspective. Plus we did not need to try to climb up all of the drop offs that are in the crack. With our side tracks to a handful of geocaches along the way, our hike was nearly 7 miles. The hike is one of the favorite ones we have done. Maybe some future blog post can highlight the top hikes we have found during our travels. 

Looking Down on Exit of The Crack

The weekend we were in the area, there was a vintage travel trailer show at Lake Havasu State Park. It sounded like fun so we headed there to check it out. Fortunately the park had a special rate if you were only coming in for the show. We felt we could could afford the $3 cost of admission. There were about two dozen trailers setup in a big parking lot with the proud owners wanting to show them off. 

Small Bright Red Trailer

Cute Little Scotty 

Interesting Lines

The oldest one we noticed was from the mid 1940's. As might be expected, most of them were quite small with several teardrop trailers. A few of the people had equally old classic cars there to pull their trailers and of course the two vehicles were color coordinated. Many of the people insisted we go inside to check them out and would tell us all sorts of info about them. I can't say there were any that "spoke" to us enough to want to trade in the motor home. 

Old Trailer with Matching Old Car

They Don't Make Wagons Like This Anymore!

Cute Trailer

While in town, we headed back to the library to get some things done and found the wi-fi was working significantly better for me than the last time I had stopped. After we got kicked out of the library when they closed, we headed to a newer Mexican restaurant in town. Azul Agave turned out to be a very nice place to eat. The burrito I ordered was one  of the best I can remember. 

One other day trip we took was a big loop between the Parker Dam and the town of Parker. The 40 mile loop followed the Colorado River on both the California and Arizona sides. The Parker Dam is apparently the tallest in the world at 320 feet! It doesn't seem that impressive mainly because you only see the upper 25% of it. We picked a very nice picnic spot overlooking the dam and Lake Havasu which was created with the completion of the dam in the mid 1930's. 

Parker Dam and the Hydro-electric Plant

Upper Side of Dam From Our Lunch Spot

Dam from California Side

There is a big hydroelectric power plant connected to the dam but unfortunately they no longer give tours of the inner workings. In fact, even though you can drive across the top of the dam to enter California, you aren't allowed to stop or walk onto the dam. We did stop and walk around the areas open to the public before we continued our drive along the river heading south. 

Along the way, there were many places to stop and check out. Plus there are numerous campgrounds all along the river on both sides. The road has many curves but the warning signs about burros on the road prevented me from taking them too fast. Well the signs and the fact our vehicle is definitely not a sports car! At one point we stopped to check out a burro family grazing along the road. And a bit further down there were two burros on the shoulder of the road. 

But Will We See Any?

Burro Family

Yep Burros on the Road

We came back into Arizona at the town of Parker and stopped at the big casino there to check it out. The boondocking area in the parking lot was sloped pretty significantly and likely would not have been a good place to stop with the motorhome. The casino also has a camping area but we didn't check that out. We did one big loop around the inside of the casino and decided the noise and smoke wasn't for us. The area around the casino had a great deal of rigs boondocking. But the area must be a huge off-road vehicle destination because about all we noticed in the distance was the sound of and dust from those people out there playing. 

The guy in the site next to us at the state park was constantly tossing bird seed around his rig so there always seemed to be some sort of birds or ducks wandering around outside our rig. One of the more prolific birds that kept showing up were interesting because of their strange head ornament. The California Quail were an interesting one to watch since they almost seemed to be dancing as they were eating. 

California Quail Coming for Food

Looking for Bird Seed