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.  

KOFA Cemetery

 We took another ride into the KOFA Wildlife Refuge.  This time we went on the ride toward the KOFA mine.  We went past a lot of RV's camping along the road.  They like to camp here because it is free to camp for up to 14 days.  The road is in pretty good shape.  You can drive a car out on it pretty far but there is some washboardy parts.  We followed the road almost all the way to the mine.  The last part of the road is closed to vehicles and is private property.  

We parked and walked about two tenths of a mile toward the east and found the cemetery.  There is a fence around the whole thing or at least where they identified most of the bodies are buried.  There are a few stones with writing on them mostly in Spanish.   They seem to be from the 1880's.  There were a few large wooden markers but mostly just rocks outlining graves or covering them.  It was a very peaceful setting for a cemetery.

The Thumbs

 We followed the trail that leads to the Big Eye mine.  I took pictures of Thumb Butte and Thumb peak when we got around to the backside of them.  Along the way we saw a few campers enjoying camping out in the desert --off grid.  If your going to camp out here you must bring everything including lots of water as there is nothing within 30 or 40 miles.  The Castle Dome museum is out this way but they have nothing for sale useful for camping.  

On our way to the mine we didn't see one other vehicle but about twenty minutes after we got to the end of the road by the mine here comes the motorbikes, 4wheelers and jeeps.  We had gotten pictures and weren't going to try walking to the mine itself so we got out of there.  Luckily, the rest of the riders stayed and never caught up to us on the way back out.   It is nerve racking when you have a lot of riders passing you on narrow, dusty trails.   It is so beautiful out there that even if you don't see any wildlife its still worth the trip.

On the Way to Big Eye

 Our neighbors wanted to go for a 4wheeler ride so we suggested going out to the Kofa Wildlife Refuge.  We had tried this ride by ourselves but never made it to the Big Eye mine because we ran out of time.  The road we wanted was the road to the Castle Dome museum which is about a 40 minute drive from where we live in the foothills of Yuma.  We started out twenty minutes ahead of our friends knowing we would need extra time to get to the parking area where we can unload our 4wheeler to start the ride.   The road to the refuge starts out paved through the Yuma Proving Grounds and then turns to very wash board gravel.   We had to crawl over the wash board road because our truck rides so rough we get rattled to death.  We just got parked an unloaded when our friends caught up with us and they had stopped for gas.

We started the ride from the parking area at the kiosk for the refuge.  These are the first pictures I took.  The first one is Castle Dome peak and the second one is Thumb peak.  Our ride was going to take us all the way to the back side of thumb peak and then some.  It was a beautiful day with temps in the low 70's and not much wind.  It had rained a week or so before so it wasn't even dusty!

Salt & Cactus

 A friend of ours has a really cool cactus called a pencil cactus.  It doesn't have sharp spines like most cactus.  It is actually soft to the touch.  As it gets more crowded in its planter it will have more blooms.   There are so many kinds of cactus it is mind boggling and each one has something unique about it.  

We had new tires put on the 4wheeler and took it out to where we gold prospect.  We noticed right away that the new tires gripped the road better.  When we were out there I took a picture of the white stuff all over because it looked like snow.  We got a lot of rain and it seems to have made the salt rise to the surface.  The area we prospect in is close to the river and is where the salt deposits are more plentiful.  This area used to be part of the ocean and the salt was left behind when the water evaporated.  It will be awhile before the dirt is dry enough to go back to gold mining.   It is nice to have a little break  from digging and the weather is getting very nice so it is time to do more 4wheeling and exploring.

Citrus Time

 Grapefruit and oranges abound in the neighborhood.  Also there are lemon and lime trees full of fruit.  Some people advertise free fruit and some seem to use all they have hanging from there trees.  Grapefruit are always in the most abundance because so many people are on meds that don't interact well with grapefruit.  The oranges aren't the best eating like a Florida orange but for juice and recipes they work well.  

It is finally raining here after almost nine months of no rain.  So we are done digging for gold for awhile.  I haven't been called back to work yet and with covid raging in Yuma I'm kind of glad.  The restaurants and bars are all open and there are large gatherings of people at the outdoor markets and outdoors listening to music.  It is no wonder the covid rate is really high here right now.  

Interesting Rock Formations

 I have more pictures of some of the sites out on the Barry Goldwater Range.  I thought these rock formations were rather unique.  I like rocks and belong to the Yuma Gem and Mineral Club.  We go on outings to find interesting rocks.  There have been two outings so far this season but I didn't go.  The person we usually go with in a jeep didn't come down this winter so not sure if we will go on any outings.  The club also has two meetings a month which haven't happened because of covid and not sure if there will be any meetings.  Most of the members are in their late 60's and 70's so they are reluctant to gather in crowds.  I'm not that comfortable with it either so we will see.

The weather here in Yuma has been fairly warm and dry.  Our cold snap is usually from mid December to mid January and that is holding true this season.  We have had a few weeks of 60's during the day and 40's at night.  The weather forecast starting around January 15th is predicting close to 80 degrees.  Last spring we stayed in Yuma until the third week in April and it was getting way too hot.  We are hoping to leave by the first of April but would like to get vaccinated before we go.  It just depends on how well the vaccinations in our area are going.