More KOFA

 We tried going out to the valley of names on the California side of the river.  We started to park our trucks and trailers to off load our 4wheelers when the local Indian law enforcement stopped us and told us the reservation was closed and we would have to go another 5 miles to BLM land to park.  Well we started to follow the gravel road and had to turn around and give up because it was too washboardy for our truck.  Our friends kept going and did the ride.  When they got back they told us when they came back on that road lots of people had parked their stuff on the reservation.  We just hit it at the wrong time when someone was around to enforce the no parking thing.  What is strange is even though the reservation is closed their casinos are open which are on reservation land also.

So I'm posting a few more pictures of the KOFA wildlife refuge.  It is such a beautiful area. 

 We are getting ready to move to Quartzsite for the month of April.  We hope to do some more gold prospecting while we are there.  We will then be going up into the White Mountains northeast of Phoenix for the summer.  It should be cool up there and there is lots of 4wheeling trails.  Right now it is still snowing and below freezing at night up there so we aren't in any hurry to get there.

KOFA MINE area

 

When you follow the road back to the KOFA mine area and stop before you get to the road that has a sign indicating no motorized travel then you are close to the mine and the cemetery.  The pictures face toward the mine.  The opposite way is the way to the cemetery.  In order to find the cemetery we had to get on top of a hill and then could see it down below us.  It is an easy walk through a wash  and around the bottom of a hill and there the cemetery was. 

When we went back we headed north at the T in the road and headed north to the Polaris/ Anterres mine area.  We have explored it before but took some new people who enjoyed going into a small opening in the hillside where they stored core samples.  They are pretty colored rock and make a nice little souvenir.   

The weather now is pretty nice staying in the 70's and low 80's with some days only in the 60's but plenty of sunshine.  The only thing that hasn't been pleasant is the wind has been kicking up in the afternoon.  We got caught out in it when we went for a walk.  The sand really stings your legs when it is whipping down the street at 30 miles an hour.  The dust gets stirred up and the mountains disappear in the dust filled sky. All the dust in the air makes for pretty sunrises and sunsets if there are clouds to reflect it.   

 

Desert Pronghorn

 Our ride out toward the KOFA mine took us past the area in the refuge that is closed to any kind of activity.  It is where they reintroduced desert pronghorn back to the area.  There were over 200 animals before mining took off and small towns of people lived out here.  They were pretty much all gone and then the state decided to try reintroducing a small herd to the area.  When we volunteered at the refuge they brought in twelve pronghorn and put them out here inside a mile wide fenced area.  Once they were adjusted to their new surroundings the pronghorn did pretty well.  Now you might see some crossing the highway or even still close to their original starting point.  That is where we saw this small group.  They were just outside of the area that had been closed off for them.  

We stopped and watched them for awhile and they seemed more curious of us than anything.  It is amazing to see animals this size surviving out in this desert.  Horses and wild burros are also out here but the refuge tries to limit the number of horses and burros since they are not native.  The people we were riding with were really excited to see wildlife.  Their big complaint when they go in the wildlife refuge is they never see any wildlife.