01/09/02 Paddling Topock Marsh: Yesterday I drove up to Bullhead City to the Super Wal-Mart there to stock up on some odds and ends. There doesn't appear to be any Super Wal-Mart stores on the west coast.
On the way back I stopped off at the Topock Marsh in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. I found three boat ramps and then found a camping spot. This morning I launched from the North Dike ramp under an overcast sky. Right away I spotted the first of a dozen American egrets. During the day I found hundreds of American Coots, dozens of ducks, a dozen or more great blue herons, half a dozen osprey and a white pelican. A pelican in the Arizona desert? Well, I saw several others in a marshy area on the Utah/Wyoming border this past summer.
Topock Marsh is right next to the Colorado River but doesn't seem to flow into or out of it. Dunno why the marsh is there. It's about 10 miles long and a couple of miles wide. 5-6 foot marsh grass is about the only vegetation. Big thickets of small, dead trees are all over the marsh. That indicates (to me) there's a dam somewhere that has backed the water up into this area but I didn't see any, nor are there any on my map.
Coots (and ducks) make a terrific racket running on water and flapping their wings to get to the safety of the marsh grass when frightened.
This was a noisy trip what with truck, train and airplane noises carrying such great distances. I don't think it was silent the entire time I was on the water.
After the trip I looked around for another campsite near Catfish Paradise boat ramp. I finally went off towards Oatman. I explored a couple of back roads and then got stuck in the sand... and I do mean stuck. I quickly found the back end dug all the way down to the bumper. The undercarriage was now resting on the sand and the wheels were up to high to get any traction. I tried digging out underneath with a short handle shovel but needed a long handle one. As it was, if I had gone any deeper I could have been arrested for mining without a permit.
Fortunately I wasn't too far from the village of Topock and walked the two miles into town. I found some sort of auto repair place right away and went looking for help. A good old boy had a 4X4 and got me out very easily. I gave him $20 and got my butt out of there and back down to Lake Havasu City.
01/13/02:
Still hanging out at Lake Havasau City. Havasau National Wildlife Refuge extends down and includes part of Lake Havasau. I could only find one on Lake Havasau to launch from and I wasn't about to pay a $7 day use fee to a state park. Remember "London Bridge is falling down, falling down"? It's here in Lake Havasau City. Yup, the real Lpndon Bridge of old. I vaguely recall hearing years ago it had been torn down in London and shipped to the Arizona desert. This is where it came. I thought it was bigger and had stores and stuff built in. Apparently, not so. Just a big old stone bridge crossing the Colorado River into California.
I may stay here a few more days. Craggy Wash is one of the more scenic BLM camping areas. It also has a back road six miles long with a gradual incline the entire way. I moaned and groaned when I had to run on an incline. I'm just starting to run again (OK, jog, not run - OK, OK, shuffle, not jog). Prior to coming here I was only up to 20 minutes of shuffling and thought I might not be able to repeat that much here, but I did. This morning I got up to 30 minutes, all up hill. I want to do that another time or two and start the return trip too. If I can do that, I should be in good shape towards my goal of hour long runs.
01/17/01:
Came back to the campsite this afternoon from doing chores in Lake Havasu City and this guy stops me on the way in. He pointed up in the mountainettes and I spotted a good size desert big horn ram. I first saw him at the very top of a bluff, face on, making a perfect silhouette against the blue sky. Then he turned, presenting his profile as if posing for a portrait. Super great stuff. A few minutes later he wandered down a little lower, found a nice shady spot and lay down for a nap.
I've hung around here long enough. Think I'll head over to Joshua Tree National Park tomorrow and see what's in that neck of the woods.