Up We Went

We went out on the Barry Goldwater Range again.  This time we took some friends along whohad never been out there.  They have their own 4 wheeler and they go much faster than we do.  We got to the Fortuna Mine area and they wanted to go up the steep hill in the top picture.  We followed along having never attempted anything that steep before but we made it to the top without a problem.  When you get to the top of the hill the bottom picture is the view you have of the valley below and some of the old mining roads.  The weather was nice and the wind wasn't blowing so we didn't eat a lot of dust however the 4 wheeler was pretty dusty when we were done.

We've accepted a job for the summer at a small RV park in SE Colorado.  The RV park is called Circle the Wagons RV Park  in La Veta, CO.  La Veta is a small town 40 miles west of Walsinburg, CO which is on I-25.  Its up in the mountains at 7000 feet.  We will have plenty of time off to explore the area with our 4 wheeler.  All of the trails look like they go way up in the mountains and can be as high as 10,000 feet.  Not sure how we will do in that altitude but we will find out in May. 

Bluebird Mine

 

We took a drive over to the California side of the Colorado River and checked out an area called the Bluebird Mine.  We had our rock club picnic here last winter but Jim didn't go so I wanted him to see the rocks they mined here.  It is mostly kyanite which is a blue crystal and you can also find some garnets but they are not gem quality.  Jim was breaking rocks with his rock hammer and was bent over for too long and rehurt his back.    So now he is recuperating and its a good thing the dirt is too wet to gold mine or he would be trying it even with his back out of whack.

We went to the gold show in Quartzsite over the weekend.  Lots of pretty gold nuggets for sale some costing as much as $10,000.  Beautiful stuff and with so much gold there they had Quartzsite's version of "security".  The security guards were older than dirt -- one was using his walker to get around the place.  I'm sure there were enough honest people there carrying weapons that no robber would get away with anything.  Conceal/carry is legal in Arizona and we have heard that most guys are "packin'.

Tumco Mine

We went for a hike out at the Tumco Mine.  We haven't been out there in years.  It's an old mine on the California side that produced quite a bit of gold.  They had to use cyanide to get it out of the rock because it was fairly fine.  You can still see the areas they used to wash it and where the waste ran on the ground.  The hole that was dug was impressive since most of it was dug back in the very early 1900's.  The piles of tailings were also impressive and looked like they made new mountains.  You could see where an old well had been but they also piped water out of the Colorado River which is not too far from the mine site but still also quite a feat.  There is one active gold mine in this area and it is a huge operation.  The rest of the area is full of small claims with gold miners like us just working small areas trying to find a small bit of gold.

The weather is finally getting warmer again back in the 70's and 50's at night.  The only bad thing is it rained again.  It has been the wettest winter we've seen.  It has rained at least once every three weeks just enough to keep the dirt too wet to run through our drywasher.  So no gold prospecting for us this winter.  

It's Yuma

It rained again here in Yuma which is good for flowers but not for gold prospecting.  I took a picture of a flowering brittle bush.  The bees love the flowers and so do I.  The dark mass in the tree is a mistletoe.  We like the pretty berries for a nice Christmas look but they are a parasite that can kill the tree in which they live. 

I have been asked why we still call the blog fishtales since we got rid of the boat.  We plan to do some fishing along trout streams and whenever else we get the chance.  Our main focus will be gold prospecting.  Its called fishing until you catch something then its called catching.  Gold is kind of the same.  Its called gold prospecting until you find the gold then its called mining.  Now that it rained again just as the dirt was getting dry enough to prospect again there goes prospecting for several more weeks.   We have had a cold blast with temps in the low 60's but the wind was very cold coming out of the north.  It should be warming up from here on out!

Colorado River water

On one of our 4 wheeler adventures we followed a gravel road along a canal.  I took a picture of where two canals come together.  The top picture has a palm tree on the waters edge.  You can see how the truck is covered with brown palm fronds.  This makes an excellent habitat for bats, rats and other critters to live especially along the water.  People don't realize what desert dwelling creatures will use for shelter.  The one canal is taking water east of Yuma and the one going to right is going to the fields of Yuma and also to the water treatment plant to supply the area with drinking water.  People will also try fishing from the banks along these canals.  They catch catfish that have followed the current from the Colorado River into these canals.

All the talk of walls to protect the border don't mention the other deterrents in the Yuma area.  Some of these canals also go along the border.    A few weeks ago an illegal drowned in one trying to swim across the canal.  What they don't realize is how strong the current is running just underneath the water.  The other problem is the walls of most of the canals are concrete and steep so once in its hard to get back out.   The news reported that they identified the deceased as an illegal who had been deported several times and had been convicted of several crimes. 

Road to Big Eye Mine

We took the 4wheeler out to the Kofa Wildlife Refuge.  We have always wanted to go to the old Big Eye mine on the refuge but the road is terrible.  You need a major 4 wheel drive vehicle.  The road was a challenge even with the 4wheeler.   We got within 2 miles or so of the mine but had to turn around because we didn't want to be out there after dark.   It was a beautiful ride with lots of beautiful scenery.   Once you get way back in there it is very peaceful, no people noise at all.  Not sure if we will go back there again because even the road to get out to where we can take the 4wheeler off the trailer is very rough. 

We are enjoying the local Xmas lights.  A lot of people decorate so it makes it very Christmassy even if there are palm trees and no snow.  Hard to believe Xmas is right around the corner.

More Desert 4Wheeling

After the Thanksgiving holiday weekend we went out on the Barry Goldwater Range again.  We seemed to have the whole thing to ourselves.  Everyone must have worn themselves out over the holiday.  So we went almost as far south as you can go and then thought we would see if we could start over the pass through the mountains.   We didn't get far because the road was made up of the finest most powdery sand and our tires wanted to sink.  We were out there by ourselves so we turned around not wanting to risk getting stuck. 

We stopped along the way and enjoyed these rock formations.  Also the ocotillo (the bush in the bottom picture) were in bloom.  They get green leaves on the branches and pretty reddish orange flowers on top of the branches.  They brighten up the desert.  The wind kicked up and we started to eat dust so we headed back.  Jim spent the next two days cleaning up the 4 wheeler.  He hates to see it covered in dust.