Quartzsite RV Show

 

 

This past week was the big RV show up at Quartzsite.  It attracts tens of thousands of people.  We drove up to check it out and there were RVs camped out in the desert everywhere you looked.  It seemed like there wasn't a bare spot of desert anywhere in and around Quartzsite just a sea of RVs.   If you were shopping for an RV there were plenty of lots full of RVs for sale.  The "big tent"  the big white tent in the pictures above is where all the vendor booths are.  Lots of RV specific things for sale and other various kinds of "show" stuff.  If you want upgrades to your RV there are vendors there ready to slap on whatever you want. 

This year looked like it was a bigger turnout than in the past several years.   Quartzsite is a strange little town that gets completely overwhelmed by this huge show.  It is great for all the local businesses.  There were long lines waiting to eat at the restaurants and lines waiting for fuel at all of the stations.  You just have to be prepared to be patient if you go. 

Black Rock Mine

When we went on our adventure out to Red Cloud Mine we stopped along the way and checked out some other old mines.  This hole was part of the Black Rock Mine.  We found some pretty black crystalline rock here with a big long name that I don't remember.  It makes a pretty specimen in your yard because it looks like black cut glass.   We also stopped in the area of the old Papago Mine although there wasn't really anything to see there.  Just a big pile of really black looking gravel that is the old tailing pile. 

We also met up with some wild burros.  I got a good picture of two of them but there were at least six hanging out together.  A couple of them were babies.  Its amazing how healthy they look when you see what little there is to eat.  It is close enough to the river so they can get plenty of water and right next to the river there is a lot more vegetation.  

Just when we thought we would be able gold mine again it rained about a half an inch so now it will be a few more weeks.  It just depends on how soon it gets warmer.  Its only getting in the 60's so the ground isn't drying out very fast.   

White-face Ibis

We went out to check and see if we could gold mine but the dirt was still too moist.  As we were driving back past the fields of lettuce we spotted a flock of birds.  They were gathered down in a canal that holds water for crop irrigation.  At first we thought they were the long billed curlews that like to hang out down here in the winter but the bills aren't long enough or curved enough on these birds.  We realized we were seeing a flock of Ibis.  These are white-face Ibis although they don't show the little bit of white on their face unless its breeding season.  They were taking advantage of any water they could find.  It was fun watching them stab their long bills into the water and down into the mud.  I didn't see what they were catching and eating if anything. 

When we were working at the Imperial Wildlife Refuge the biologist had said he saw some of these birds hanging out around the refuge in the backwaters of the Colorado River.  During the two winters we spent at the refuge we never saw any of these birds so it was kind of nice to finally see them and it was a real treat to see a whole flock. 

Red Cloud Mine Wulfenite

Our rock club went on an outing to Red Cloud Mine.  The mine is located north of Martinez Lake and north of the visitor center for the Imperial Wildlife Refuge.  The road to the mine is pretty rough and its best to have a high clearance vehicle with 4 wheel drive.  We rode in a friends jeep and it was a long rough ride.  When we got there we were met by the caretaker of the mine.  He is also the guy who is mining small amounts of wulfenite from the underground portion of the mine. 

We were allowed to dig through the tailing piles above ground for a small fee.  It was a perfect day to be there because it had recently rained so the orange crystals (wulfenite) were easier to spot.   We found the two small pieces in the picture and more tiny ones.  The two large specimens with crystals imbedded in the rock I purchased for a small amount of money.  Red Cloud Mine wulfenite is world famous.  It is found in rock museums all over the world.  It is well known because of its unique orange color.  Most wulfenite found elsewhere is yellow.  The only other place that has any amount of orange wulfenite is a mine in South Africa.  Wulfenite is very fragile so its pretty much just a pretty specimen rock. 

Mittry Lake

 

 

 

Mittry Lake is just north of Yuma on a gravel road.  Its formed in between two dams the Imperial Dam and the Laguna Dam on the Colorado River.   It is managed by the BLM - Bureau of Land Management.  They have worked hard to make it a good place to fish with a smaller boat.  There are some really nice bass in there up to 10 pounds, some catfish even flatheads up to 30 or 40 pounds and then some sunfish and crappie but they are pretty small.   They close a lot of the lake off to fishing when the migrating birds come down in the winter so they have a place to rest and not be disturbed. 

They have a big problem with fires in this area.  There was a bad fire around the lake last season.  People love to camp here but their campfires get out of control so easily with it being hot and dry and then a wind kicks up and its a disaster.

We've had a few rain days lately so we are done gold mining for at least another two weeks maybe longer -- we'll see.