Quartzsite AZ Again

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We enjoyed our stay at the Lake Havasu Elks Lodge and were pleased to have our slide out problem taken care of while we were in civilization. Our next stop would be back to Quartzsite Arizona for a Newmar Rally on BLM land just south of town. It’s less than a 80 mile drive to the Roadrunner Camping area. It’s a fairly easy drive since it is almost all on a state route. This will be the fourth time we have come here in mid January to attend the “Gathering in the Desert”. We were here in 2017, 2018 and 2020 just before COVID hit. We have enjoyed attending the event in the past and worked it into our travel plans for the beginning of the year. The plan is to spend 8 nights before moving east to Tucson.

Quartzsite is a quirky little town with a population of just over 2300 residents, but each winter around this time, many tens of thousands of campers descend to the area to attend rallies and go to the big RV show that is put on each year. There are several conventional RV campgrounds around town, but the vast major those coming here will park their rig in the desert and camp without any real services like water, electric or sewer. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a federal agency that administers several hundred million acres of land much of it out in the western United States. They have a handful of areas defined around Quartzsite where they permit camping for free with a 14 day limit. There are also a couple of Long Term Visitor Areas that have a similar camping setup but charge a $40 fee to stay 14 nights. These areas come with some services though - vault toilets, trash dumpsters and fresh water fill and dump stations. For the really hard core boondockers, you can get a 7 month pass for one of these LTVAs for a mere $180 bucks.

The couple that use to organize the Gathering in the Desert as part of the Newmar Kountry Klub, have sold their rig and have passed the reins to a new crew. We were arriving a few days before the main rally was to begin in order to partake in some off road Jeep excursions. There were about 15 rigs already here when we arrived. We picked out a spot in the line that was forming and got setup. Since this rally always is at the same location in the Roadrunner area, I suspect that the 4 spots we have stayed at over the years would all fit into a circle with a 300 foot radius. The organizers had a table setup with registration information and the forms that need to be filled out for the BLM permit. They are expecting about 130 rigs to show up for the rally with maybe 30 of us coming in early for the off road pre-event.

Newmar Rigs Lined Up for Rally

Shortly after signing in, I came out of our rig and nearly took a spill on our steps. A linkage that goes between the step motor and the steps had broken and the steps now behave more like a swing. I managed to secure them so we could at least come in an out without the risk of taking a fall. The same part had broken six years ago, so at least I knew how to fix it but it might be difficult to find the very specific part for our model of steps in Quartzsite.

There was a meeting in the afternoon for those of us that were planning on going out for a ride on some of the local trails in the surrounding desert and hills. Most of the people here for the ride were in some sort of Jeep Wrangler. Some were stock units while others were lifted and substantially modified for even more serious terrain. While our Grand Cherokee Trailhawk is likely 75% as capable as a stock Wrangler, it was also quite new and has yet to get all scraped up. After discussing the intended route for the ride tomorrow morning, we decided we might just skip the off roading aspect of the rally and find other things to do before the real rally begins.

One other thing we needed to start thinking about soon was “where are we headed this summer?” I knew people around the campfire at the rally would ask and we didn’t really have an answer. Given we had most of this past summer’s camping sites for Colorado reserved by this time last winter, we were really behind on the planning. I suggested two options to Chris for consideration.

One thought was to recreate the plans we had made for the summer of 2020. We were going to head north to Canada and check out the Rockies, some of the national parks and do things like the Calgary stampede before heading west to British Columbia. That trip was cancelled when COVID caused the border to be closed. The second option was to head back to western New York. We had spent over 30 years in the Rochester area before leaving for our current lifestyle in 2016. We made a brief stop in the area for a couple weeks as we were heading to Maine in 2018 but we haven’t been back since. After some thoughtful consideration, we decided it would be nice to head back to our old stomping grounds somewhere around Rochester. Of course, we still needed to make concrete plans and reservations if we have any hope of pulling that off, but this will be a discussion for future blog posts.

We have spent a total of 40 nights camping here during our prior 3 visits to Quartzsite, so we have seen much of what there is to see in the area. But we had a couple of days to kill before the rally starts so we need to come up with something. One day we headed into town to do a little sightseeing. There was one small park that we had been to before to attend a geocaching event and we discovered there was a geocache there we hadn’t bothered to do. The monument there is in honor of Hi Jolly. This man was the caretaker of a group of 70 camels that were part of an experiment on using the beasts as part of the war effort in the 1850’s in this part of Arizona.

Hi Jolly Monument in Quartzsite

On another day, we dusted off the mountain bikes and headed out for a ride on an ATV trail with a series of geocaches hidden along it. As you can see from the included geocaching map, there is no shortage of geocaches hidden in the area. The smiley faces are ones we have found, but it’s clear from all the green and blue pins representing ones we haven’t found, we will likely never clear out all the caches in Quartzsite! Our ride looked to be about a 13 mile loop along some trails we haven’t explore previously. It was a nice ride and we only ran into a few ATVs along our route. The pictures from the ride give a sense of how vast and remote the desert lands are here. By the time we made it back to the rig, we had gotten in a 15 mile ride.

A Plethora of Geocaches Around Quartzsite

Along Our Bike Ride

After a few days, our area in the Roadrunner BLM was starting to fill up with lots of Newmar motorhomes. The weather was rather chilly so it looks like some of the fair weather campers might end up skipping the event. Starting on Wednesday afternoon, the rally kicks off in earnest with happy hour followed by a spaghetti and meatball dinner. All the attendees brought their camp chairs to the area around the fire pit and we all enjoyed a nice meal and got to know some of the folks.

The next two mornings, we had various speakers scheduled to give presentations to the group. We sat in on most of the talks since many of them were on topics or products we were interested in learning about more. One of the couples that was sitting next to us for most dinners and talks told us about the fairly extensive solar system they had installed in their rig. I was a bit jealous since we have been considering adding solar panels and switching from our flooded lead acid house batteries to lithium batteries for some time, but weren’t finding an installer we were feeling confident with.

A Group of Owners Listen to Presentation

We knew a system that would do what we want would be rather pricey. We weren’t looking to make the addition to “save money”, our goal was to get much greater flexibility when we do dry camp, be it in the desert like our current location or simply at an Elks Lodge that doesn’t have electric hookups. Such a system would eliminate or at least greatly reduce the number of hours we need to run the generator to recharge our battery bank. For reference, we find we need to run our generator twice a day - usually around breakfast and dinner - for about 2.5 hours at a time in order to bring our eight 6 volt batteries back to a full charge. For this stop, I estimated that we used $8.50 per day in diesel fuel so it’s not a lot of money. But if the solar panels could charge the batteries in the course of the day, we wouldn’t need to listen to the generator and could have a more peaceful stay when boondocking.

We asked the couple about where they had the install work done and were told back in Nappanee Indiana which is the town where Newmar motorhomes are manufactured too. Then they mentioned that one of the talks coming up was from the folks that did their system. Turns out that Solar Energy Systems LLC sends a rather large team and lots of parts out to Quartzsite and have a location at the RV show where they do some install work. Our rally hosts had contacted them and setup a presentation on the second morning. We listened to the talk and asked our new friends some more detailed questions of the capabilities of their system. We even got a tour from them of their rig and the setup. It was rather impressive what they could do and on most days their battery bank would be fully charged by mid afternoon.

Up until now, we were having trouble finding a company that we felt confident in doing such a major upgrade to our rig. But after listening to the presentation and getting first hand information from a client, we felt this might be the time to make the change. We spoke with the company’s owner and gave him the rundown on what we were looking to accomplish and he did some rough estimates on pricing. We weren’t positive we wanted to have the system installed out in the desert even though that sounded like it was a possibility. We told him we were working on our travel plans for the upcoming year and that we could swing through Indiana in late April. He penciled us into their schedule and told us he would follow up with a written estimate in the coming weeks. One added perk is that this solar install would qualify under one of the clean energy credits the federal government is offering. Thirty percent of the total system’s cost would end up being a tax credit. I’ll have lots more on this topic in future posts.

Back to the rally itself, we had a couple of nights with entertainment. Both were solo artists and they performed on a flatbed trailer as a stage. The music started before sunset but extended into the night. In the desert, the temperature drops pretty quickly once the sun goes down. And since the days have been rather cool, it was outright cold at night.

Music by Rocky

Decent Crowd for the Music

And the Sun Sets

A Fire to Keep Us Warm

One of the meals was a pizza party. A local vendor was able to supply 80 pies for the group although it did take them 2 trips from the shop in town to deliver them in a warm condition. Another evening brought a chili contest. There were at least 20 entries plus the hosts had made a huge pot so there was plenty for all.

Chili Cookoff Table

On the Saturday of the rally, a good portion of the group was going to head out to a place called the Nellie E Saloon or its more common name - the Desert Bar. We had been here back in 2018 out of our stop in Lake Havasu City for the fireworks festival. It’s quite an unusual place and we were looking forward to going back after 5 years. The plan was for all those wanting to attend, try to arrange car pool options and leave the rally around 10 AM. We ended up getting in touch with some friends of ours we met back in 2017 at a casino in Tucson who happened to be camping in a different BLM area on the north side of Quartzsite. It had been a few years since we had met up with them since we have been in Florida for the past two winter seasons and they are snowbirds from Washington state that drop down into the desert southwest. We got coordinates from them - we first met them because they are avid geocachers as well - and we arranged to meet them at their rig and bring them along.

Metal Artwork at Entrance to Desert Bar

It is a very bumpy 5 mile dirt road back to this remote, off grid bar. We got there early enough to grab a table and chairs and scoped out what the food and drink options were. We had a lot of catching up to do with them but managed to get a sense of what they have been up to. The Desert Bar seems significantly larger since the last time we were there. They do seem to get a rather large crowd with many of the visitors taking alternate routes in their ATVs. A band was just setting up as we finished our lunches and went to walk around. There were a couple of geocaches but only one of them was very close. Our friends had already found this one in a prior visit but agreed to accompany us over some of the ATV trails to the cache so we could sign in.

Some of the ATVs Out Back

Behind the Stage as Band Starts

View from Geocache Location Near Desert Bar

The time seemed to fly but we decided to head back with a quick stop at a larger grocery store than Quartzsite offers. We got back to our friends spot and sat around chatting some more until we realized we needed to hustle back for the chicken dinner that was being catered that evening for the rally. The rally ran smoothly with one exception. Nearly 40 rigs that responded with a “will attend” did not show up. But since much of the food was catered in and had to be paid for in advance, the original cost per rig was based on all the people showing up not just 75%. Those of us that did show up agreed to add some extra money to the kitty so the organizers didn’t have to deal with the shortfall. We all agreed that there needed to be a better way to somehow pay upfront to coax all people to show up if they registered and if not at least defray the costs.

We didn’t have much happening on Sunday. The RV show had started over the weekend, but we had walked the big tent with hundreds of vendors in past visits and we weren’t really looking forward to the massive crowds so we decided to skip it this time. Our friends drove down to see us again, mainly to pick up a hat that mistakenly was left in our Jeep unnoticed. We sat and chatted some more before we said our goodbyes.

A Sliver of Moon Sets Over Quartzsite

We enjoyed our time at the rally and are really looking forward to having solar and new batteries installed in a few months. I needed to tie up the broken steps before heading out. I had found a replacement part while in Quartzsite, but the weather was not cooperating and I wasn’t in the mood to lay on the cold ground with 30 MPH winds blowing. Our next reserved spot is in Tucson for a full 2 months.  The drive is nearly 270 miles so we stop at the midpoint in Gila Bend at the Elks Lodge. We had stayed there once before back in 2020. They do not have any utilities but there is a large fairly flat gravel lot to park for the night. We had the place to ourselves and was a relatively quiet evening. The weather was much improved here so I crawled under the rig and with Chris’ help got the steps working again. I hope this new part lasts for as long as we own the rig.

Lake Havasu Return

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We start out 2023 driving the 68 miles on a dreary day to Lake Havasu City Arizona. This will be our third visit to the area. We stayed at Cattail Cove State Park in 2017 and at the SARA Rodeo grounds in 2018 for the spectacular fireworks show. This time we are headed to the Elks Lodge. They have nearly 40 full hookup sites in a large lot next to the lodge. This is one of the few lodges we have visited that accepts reservations and we had called awhile back as we were making our travel plans. We booked for 14 nights which surpasses the combined total of our previous 2 stays. We knew we would be heading to dry camp in Quartzsite in the middle of January and wanted to have a place before then to make sure we had everything in order before going there. We arrived at the camping area and the camp host walked over to tell us which site they had us in.

Lake Havasu City is home to the famous London Bridge. This bridge started its life spanning the River Thames in London in the early 1830’s. By the late 1960’s, it was no longer able to support the increased loads and was sold to a real estate developer in Arizona. The bridge was disassembled and moved to Lake Havasu. It was reassembled over dry land near the start of a large former peninsula jutting out into the Colorado River. Once completed in 1971, a mile long canal was dug to go under the bridge and turn the peninsula into an island. Today there are several campgrounds, marinas and resorts on the 1100 acre island linked to the mainland by the old bridge.

London Bridge in Lake Havasu

We had done some sightseeing of the bridge during an earlier trip but that time we were on the island side. This time we head to the Lake Havasu City Visitor Center to check out the east side of the bridge. They definitely play up the British theme but given the significance of the bridge, it should be expected. The British flag flies next to the American and Arizona flags. There are a couple of original red phone booths from London as well as a few other statues and monuments brought over from London.

Fancy Fountain Near Visitor Center

Old Style British Phone Booth

There is a walking path to the south all along the canal and beyond. Even though it wasn’t the nicest of days, we head out along the walk and take in the sights. It is a pretty area with all sorts of small parks and beach areas along the way. There wasn’t much boat traffic out but given the iffy weather, that might be expected.

A Boat Cruise Anybody?

Another View of London Bridge

Coots Have Big Feet!

Mini Lighthouse Along Canal

Desolate Beach Area Today

About a mile or so down the path was a large skate/bike park. There were quite a few kids out and we just had to stop and watch them try their jumps. When we were there, the bikes outnumbered the skateboards and scooters. We did get to see some pretty impressive jumps and one wipeout. We head back up to the visitor center and Chris heads in to pick up some literature. While I was waiting, I noticed a couple of visitors had decided a photo on top of one of the phone booths would be a good idea. The girl made it to the top but was having difficulty making it back down. This is a neat area and is likely very crowded on nicer days.

Cyclist Gets Some Air

Phone Booth Shenanigans

Entrance Gate

The following day we decide to head out for a proper hike. There are numerous washes that head down into the Colorado River and we pick one route we haven’t tried before. The area we picked is immediately to the west of the SARA rodeo grounds and all of the hiking/mountain biking trails that start from there. The trailhead is at the dead end of Powell Drive. There isn’t a lot of parking but we find a spot along the road. Our goal was a place called Mallard Cove. AllTrails lists a 5.5 mile loop heading down to the cove and then along the shore to Chemehuevi Wash. We weren’t looking for that much of a hike but it looked like we could shorten it to a 3 mile loop by coming back up Mockingbird Wash.

Starting Down Mockingbird Wash

The trail starts off heading down the wash. Our goal was to take the East Rim Trail down and the wash back up. We did miss the turn out of the wash to get onto the desired trail but discovered our error fairly quickly and got on the right path. The trail was quite nice especially since it was well out of the main wash. We could get glimpses of the river from some of the higher vantage points. There are a few trail intersections that lead over into the SARA trail so we needed to pay attention to our route.

We Found the East Rim Trail

Trail Contines

Towards the bottom of the trail, it comes back over to meet the wash again. Once in the wash, we needed to check our maps to get a sense for where we are headed. The wash is 1000 feet wide and the trail seems to have disappeared. We work our way across and eventually spot the single track trail coming out of the wash on the far side. From here, it is obvious where we are heading. There looks to be a vault toilet and picnic table in the distance next to the cove. We don’t notice any mallards in the water but there is a very large group of coots out looking for a meal.

Heading Back to Wash

Approaching Mallard Cove

As we approach the tip of the trail, the clouds that had been gathering start to let out a sprinkle. We weren’t expecting rain. Doing a hike in a wash during a rainstorm in the desert doesn’t sound like a good idea. We take cover under the shelter over the picnic table and have a snack. Fortunately the rain was very short lived. Another couple showed up and we chatted with them for a while. They were snowbirds visiting the area. We ended up spending almost half an hour there. It turns out the outhouse and picnic shelter is part of the remote campsite intended for people arriving via boat.

Covered Picnic Table

Little Spit of Land Due to Low Water Level

Mallard Cove

We head out a few minutes after the other couple and work our way back into Mockingbird Wash. it starts out very wide and doesn’t narrow down all that much as we head up. There is lots of odd debris along the way and a few areas that look like other makeshift camping spots. When we get with a half mile of the car, we spot the entrance to the west towards the other wash and decide to take a quick look.

Heading Up Mockingbird Wash

Passage Between Washes

On the way back up, we stop at a very interesting little shelter in the middle of the wash. It was actually rather elaborate and even decorated. There was a notebook in a container that had details of the creation. A guy named Michael had started the hut just over 3 months ago and has been adding to it ever since. It looked rather sturdy but I wonder if it will withstand the first monsoon rain of the summer when this wash probably fills up? This was a nice hike of about 3 miles or so.

Michael's Hut

Chris Tries Out the Bench and Holds Basketball?

The following day would take us to the SARA Rodeo Grounds for one of our favorite hikes. The SARA Crack Trail follows one of the washes towards the river. About a mile into the hike, the wash narrows down into a slot canyon (the Crack) for roughly half a mile before emerging on the far side of the canyon. We have done this hike twice before. Each of those times, we have gone down thru the Crack to the cove along the river and then hiked back up the trail on the north side of the wash to avoid needing to climb up some of the dry waterfalls within the slot canyon. This time we wanted to try a modified route. Still going down thru the Crack but taking a more remote trail to the south once clearing the slot canyon. Some of the trails we planned to use aren’t in AllTrails or even some of the other map sources we typically use. We had found a website called Stav is Lost that has hundreds of hikes detailed all over the country. One hike was  a 9.6 mile loop hike that would give us some other options for the return trip. We didn’t plan to use his full hike but just parts of it.

We start off from the parking area and head down the wash. At about half a mile, we start to look for a side trail that heads up to Lizard Peak. Our goal isn’t to get to the peak but simply find a geocache that overlooks some sort of lizard artwork just up from the wash. The detour will be about a quarter mile round trip but well worth the effort. The proper trail goes right past the huge rock sculpture in the desert. It measures about 90 feet or so from the nose to the tip of the tail. Historical Google Earth imagery isn’t great in this area but I can see it was present in 2010 so it is at least 13 years old. The detail is pretty amazing including the white banding on the lizard’s tail.

Starting Down Wash from Trailhead at SARA Park

We Found the Lizard

Much Better View from Nearby Hill (with Geocache)

Back in the wash, we continue towards the Crack. As we come around a bend, we are greeted with a couple of big horn sheep right along the side of the wash. They only gave us a passing glance as we stood and watched them as they moved slowly up the wash. We spotted a third one well up the side of the wash. Based on the horns, there were two females and a young one but we never spotted a male. We spent almost 10 minutes just watching them.

Bighorn Sheep Along Wash

It wasn’t much further before we entered the heart of the slot canyon. The first drop is the one we remember the most from our previous hikes. There was a family of 4 heading back up the 10 to 12 foot drop. The young boy was really enjoying it and went up and down several times.

Approaching the Crack

First Dry Waterfall

After they got out of the way, it was our turn. The rock face is very smooth and nearly vertical. While it might be possible to just slide down, I didn’t want to test my knees or bones to the impact from sliding. There is a rope with knots tied in it every foot or so which helps hikers in slowing the slide. I made it without too much trouble. Chris, on the other hand, sat at the top for some time before she got up the nerve to lower herself. It wasn’t super graceful but no injuries occurred.

Looking Down Before I Take the Slide

Chris Gathers Her Courage

As we continued for the next 1/3 mile or so, we were kind of surprised by how many other dry falls we needed to get down from. We really only have recollections of that first one but there were a few others that were somewhat challenging. There was one particular obstacle that was a bit strange. There was an aluminum ladder sticking out of the gravel but only the top rung. There might have been a large hole that used to need the ladder to get out of in order to climb over the three foot diameter boulder sitting at the top but it had subsequently filled up with gravel? The Crack portion of this hike is what makes it so special and before we knew it, we were out to the light of day in a wider canyon on the outlet.

More Slot Canyon

Notice Top Rung of Ladder

Just outside the Crack was a geocache that hadn’t been here when we visited last, so we climbed up the side of the canyon wall 15 feet or so to find it and sign in. We knew we were looking for some sort of side trail up out of the canyon and wash. As we were looking for the possible path up, I noticed a couple of rock cairns that looked pretty neat and took a picture with my iPhone instead of my normal camera. I wanted to try the “portrait” mode to have it blur the background behind the cairns. I took the shot, took a quick look at it to make sure I got what I wanted and we proceeded on to find the side trail on the left.

It wasn’t until I was getting my pictures ready for this blog post that I took a close look at the photo and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The cairn on the left had the top 4 rocks levitating above the stack below. I looked closely at the shot but was initially having trouble understanding what was going on. I discovered that I could turn off the “portrait” effect and get the original image. It appears that the missing rock in the “portrait” mode was a very similar color to the background rock wall and the algorithm used to blur the background had also blurred this rock making the others levitate. It is a very unusual effect and I am contemplating how I might be able to get some oddball creative photos knowing this fact.

Rock Cairns with Levitating Rocks on Left

Closeup of Cairn Without (left) and With Portrait Mode (right)

We did find the very steep and rocky trail out of the wash. It isn’t really marked but visible to the eye if you are looking for it. We climbed up and gained nearly 150 feet before it leveled out. From this point you get a good view of the wash continuing down towards the river. We noticed there was one geocache that was hidden well off even this very faint trail. We decided we still had a lot of hiking to complete to get back to the car and adding more distance might be a bad idea so we continued on.

View of Wash Continuing Past the Crack

Follow the Faint Trail

Once we were up out of the wash, we didn’t see anybody else in the area we were hiking. In about a quarter mile, we spotted an arch or window in the top of a rock outcropping. Our trail got us close to this and we head up the steep and rocky climb to be able to sit under the arch. We figured this was the ideal spot to enjoy lunch.

The Window or Arch Comes into View

A Better View from Close

Selfie Time After Lunch

After lunch, we got a little bit turned around by following the more obvious trail only to discover a tenth of mile out, we were no longer on our intended route. Now wasn’t the time to see where this trail went and we headed back to find the faint trail that leads down the backside of the arch outcropping. The next half mile was a lot up ups and downs and twists and turns to get over hills and thru valleys as we made our way to the wash. There were a couple of geocaches along the side of this wash that hadn’t been found in almost 4 years! That gives us a good idea of just how remote this trail is when a geocache goes that long without being found especially given we are only 5 miles from the center of Lake Havasu. One other very lonely cache was a bit further out of the wash but we decided to go for it. It was a very steep climb but we found the large cookie tin container in pretty good shape. While sitting up at the cache, we spotted a couple of mountain bikers and one trail runner. At least we knew we were close to more populated trails.

Initially Followed the Wrong Faint Trail

Down in a Wash

There was still a fair amount of hiking to get back to the car. At one point our route took us out of one wash up a steep hill and across a series of hills for half a mile before dropping back into another wash. We mindlessly started up this wash thinking it was the way back to the car. When we realized our error, we spotted a guy mountain biking and asked if this wash headed back to the main parking area. He thought so, but did add this was his first time here. We figured we should go with our intended trail and backtracked to another steep climb out of this wash and into the adjacent one to the west. By the time we made it back to the car we were exhausted, but since it was a fun hike, it didn’t feel so bad.

A Split in the Trail

That 6.5 mile hike had taken quite of energy and we took a couple days off to recuperate. We also needed to deal with a new problem we encountered with the motorhome when we had arrived at the Elks Lodge. After backing into our spot, I was continuing with the setup of the rig while Chris went over to pay for our stay and handle any paperwork they had. As I was extending our main slide, I heard a very large popping noise just as the slide came to a stop at the end of its travel. The sites at the lodge are fairly close together so I was hoping that the noise I heard was simply the neighbor slamming a door. But I went out to see if I could notice any issues and spotted a glaring one fairly quickly. A 4 foot long 1/2 inch threaded rod that was tightened onto a welded bracket on one of the two main slide mechanisms was hanging in the air beneath the slide with a large gaping hole where it used to be welded to said mechanism!

Hole Where Bracket Was Mounted

The Bracket Ripped from Slide Arm

This didn’t look good. My first assumption what our slide was going to be stuck in the out position and we would need to get someone to fix it on site. This is the same slide that needed a replacement motor nine months ago as we were heading out from Florida on our way west to Colorado. I’ll admit that I wasn’t even really sure what the rod was used for but realized that there had to have been some significant force to break a weld like this. Over the next several day, I researched the way our slides work and came to the realization that the broken threaded rod and bracket are part of the slide mechanism used to set the max out and in travel positions. Only the rear bracket was broken and looking at the other one, I finally determined how these stop rods work.

Rear Bracket Portion of the Stop Mechanism

What the Stop Rod and Bracket Should Look Like

Of course knowing how they work wasn’t really going to help me in fixing the darn thing. There happened to be a RV dealer just across the street from the lodge. I went over the Tuesday after New Year’s Day and talked with the service advisor about getting this fixed. Although the place didn’t look like the type of place I would take our rig to, after discussing the problem with the guy, I felt very confident they would be able to fix the problem. Better yet, we both agreed that the slide should still be able to be retracted and extended without problem - the only caveat being that I might need to stop the slide motor manually since the stop rod on one side was missing. He told me to bring the rig over the following Tuesday early in the morning and they would be able to get it fixed before the end of the day.

That following Tuesday morning, the slide came in almost like normal and I drove it the half block over to the shop. I think he had forgotten that I had an appointment but as one of the service technicians came to drop off some paperwork, he was assigned to my job. I went out with the technician and described all the issues and showed him pictures since much of the problem cannot be seen with the slide closed. I have never done any welding in my life and as I tried to explain how he should fix this, he looked at me and said he is a master welder and would have no problems. It made me feel a bit stupid but confident I was leaving the rig in good hands.

Since we were homeless until later this afternoon, we headed out. First to the library and then we had plans to go out for lunch. We hadn’t decided what we would do for the rest of the afternoon while we waited but figured we could come up with something during lunch. It was right about noon when I got a call from the service center. I was expecting to be told they had run into some big issue and were going to need more than the one day. Instead, he told me the guy was just about done and we could pick it up around 1 PM! We still went out for a quick lunch and then back to the service place. We inspected the work and moved the slide out and back in and it seemed to be working just fine. I looked at the repair and really couldn’t even tell it was any different than the non-broken bracket up front. Better yet the bill was very reasonable. Two hours of service and $25 for supplies coming to a total of $315. When I had originally seen the problem a week earlier, I was convinced this was going to be big bucks to get it working. I was quite pleased with both the work and cost. We were really lucky to have this happen here in a fairly large town instead of a couple weeks earlier when we were in Death Valley.

With the concern over the slide problem behind us, we set out to explore more of the area. We had noticed a string of 15 geocaches along a remote road just south of I-40 about 20 miles north of town. From the sounds of it, Franconia Road is a popular off road route. It wasn't clear from the descriptions we read how extreme the road was but figured we could give it a try. We make it to the start of the dirt road and find it in pretty good shape. It is a rather desolate area but the views were pretty good. One of the geocaches was a good 500 feet off the road so we parked and headed into the high desert. The cache was named "High Tide" which seemed odd for the location until we got close to ground zero. Here in the desert, far from any water, was a boat. Not a small one like a kayak or canoe, but a 15 foot boat. It had seen better days but it would be nice to know how it ended up in this remote spot. We managed to find all the geocaches we went for and while the road did continue to the south, the geocaches were not as densely placed so we turned around after five miles.

View Along Franconia Road

How'd This Boat Get Here?

Distance View Of Franconia Road

We did one more day trip out of Lake Havasu. We headed down to Cattail Cove State Park just a bit south of town. We had camped here for 6 nights back in 2017 but we hadn't managed to get in all the hikes during that stay. We don't have an Arizona State Park Pass so there is an entrance fee but it was only $6. I think if we had a boat to launch, it would have cost a bit more. Our goal for the day was to hike the Cattail Cove Perimeter Loop at about 3.5 miles. The park was rather quiet once we got away from the campground which looked to be full. The parking lot near the trailhead only had one other car parked there. We start up the trail, planning on taking the loop clockwise. The initial portion is along a wide wash. There were actually rocks all lined up creating the intended path in the wash. I suspect this wash must not get much water flow otherwise there would be a lot of upkeep to maintain the rock lined pathway.

About half mile up the wash is a trail that leads up and out of the wash. We know this is the way we intended to go but there is a geocache about 1/3 mile further up the wash so we go for a detour to get it before heading back. There are three large drain pipes that go under the road. I was really tempted to crawl through one to see what was on the other side but passed on this part of the detour. The climb back out of the wash was a steep and rocky trail. It seems those two adjectives gets used a lot with trails in this area but it seems like they are just a fact of life here. The climb does have the reward of getting us some great distance views.

 

Drain Pipes Under US-95

Looking Back on Wash We Just Hiked Up

Getting a Glimpse of the Colorado River

Once at the top of the climb, the next mile or so is generally downhill. We didn't run into anybody else on this part of the hike. We then get into another smaller wash that heads down toward the river. It was a pretty section and even had some small slot canyon features. At one point we got to a location of another geocache but this was one we had already found almost 6 years ago. I didn't actually climb the hill to look for it but there was nothing about this spot that rang any bells for us. We must have come partway up this trail during a past hike but hadn't gone beyond the geocache.

Another Narrow Wash

A Mini Slot Canyon

As we came out of the wash near the river, there was a short spur trail that headed to a small peninsula sticking out into the river that had also formed a small cove and beach area. There was a restroom and picnic table and two primitive campsites that boaters can use. Based on the signs, this is Whyte's Retreat. We looked around the area before settling down at the table to enjoy our lunch. It was a nice spot except for the fact that it was a very windy day and we were right in line with it coming off the water. We did start to see a few other people out and about.

Overlooking Whyte's Retreat

The Mighty Colorado River

Small Cove

The next 1.25 miles basically follows the shore line right along the river other than being 25 feet above the waterline. There are several coves that the trail needs to snake around and even another geocache hidden near a cove. I couldn't figure out why we hadn't found this one during our last visit since I knew we had walked this part of the loop. It turned out this cache was placed by the park a couple months after our last stay here. 

Hiking Trail Above the Water

One of Several Coves Along the Trail

As we made our way back to the main area of the park, there were many more people out, but there were no boaters and definitely no swimmers! There had been some sort of geocaching event here a few months after our last visit so there were even more caches scattered near the campground and ranger station. We took our time to wander around and have now found all of the caches hidden in this park.

Overlooking the Beach and Boat Launch

The 2 weeks in Lake Havasu seemed to go pretty fast. We had tried to have dinner at the Elks Lodge one evening but it was so crowded that we felt like sardines in a can. We came back a couple days later for lunch and it wasn't too busy.  We had received a token from the camp host when the sites had lost water due to a water main break just down the road. It turned out the token was good for a half pitcher of beer to go along with our great lunch. When we make it back to the area, we will need to make it a point to make it over for food more frequently.

Now we just need to do a little bit of prep work for our trip down to Quartzsite for the Newmar Rally in the Desert.