Sunday, December 1
Bridget, Spike, and I drive up the hill and pick up Dale at his camp. We’re going to investigate the area north of Mittry Lake.
We come to Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA). There are several of these areas near Squaw Lake.
A permit is required to camp. This is what the Bureau of Land Management website says:
“A Long Term Visitor Area Permit is required from September 15th through April 15th each season. The cost is $180.00 and is valid for up to 7 months. A Short Term Permit can be purchased for a 14-day stay. This permit is$40.00.”
These photos are of Senator Wash LTVA. Notice the four solar panels on the first rig above.
If I remember correctly, these RVs are parked on Hurricane Ridge. It is breezy up there, but they have a wonderful view of Squaw Lake.
Squaw Lake is a very pretty lake. It seems larger than Mittry and has a more accessible shoreline. (But Mittry has more coots!)
Dale and I wander around the day use area, long enough for me to take some of these photos, but not long enough to have to pay a day use fee of ten dollars!
As we we drive out of the day use area which includes a boat ramp, a guy pedals his bike down from the RV camps. He has a two-wheeled cart behind his bike on which his kayak sits. I wish I’d taken a photo of that! That’s a pretty nice life!
We continue toward Imperial Dam.
By now Dale knows that I have to stop whenever I see a good photo opportunity, like these egrets.
Dale is a former truck driver. I think my abrupt stopping in the road to take pictures initiates an automatic response from his safety-conscious driving days.
“Uh, you could pull off the road,” he suggests, as I stop right in the lane. I hardly hear him. I bring the window down. My focus is on snapping pics.
“Oh, wow!” I exclaim. “Look at these birds! I’ve got to get this!”
Fortunately there aren’t any vehicles approaching from either direction, and the birds allow me these shots.
We cross Imperial Dam and drive into another camping and day use area on the other side.
Although the rigs are pretty close together, this would be a good place to camp for those who like to go out on the water frequently. The boat ramp is close by.
A couple is unloading gear from their very long kayak. Dale asks why they have so much gear. The man explains that they were out for a few days, camping.
The kayak has lots of storage room.
“That is one big kayak,” Dale remarks as we look it over.
“Oh, yeah, it’s big,” the man replies. He adds with a chuckle, “We call it the barge. You don’t make any sharp turns with the barge.”
The road dead-ends across the dam.
We turn around and go back the way we came. We find another road to explore. At a group of tiny, unoccupied houses, we find three burros strolling the street and nibbling at the various plants growing in front of the houses.
On the way back to our camps, Dale says, “Could we stop for a minute? I want to get some firewood.”
I let Bridget and Spike out of the PTV so they can wander around while Dale collects and breaks up the wood. He fills up a bin with small pieces which goes in the back of the PTV, along with some big branches.
Dale and I talked previously about going to the Winterhaven post office tomorrow (Monday). We decide to wait until Tuesday to improve the chances that his prescription will be there. Once he has that, he can continue his trek eastward across Arizona.
It’s about 3:30 when I drop Dale off at his camp and drive down the hill to home.
rvsue
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“REAR VIEW MIRROR”
In June 2013 while the crew and I camped in Utah, I happened to discover a field of burros.
