01/03/03:
I've been blessed with gorgeous sunsets almost every night that I've been in Arizona. Sometimes the entire sky turns red, other times the east will light up followed by the south and finally the west. Quite a show when various cloud formations are present.
01/08/03:
I turned off of US-95 into the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge at mile 92, 10 miles or so south of Quartzsite. Lots of camping back in there and lots of jagged mountain peaks. I've been here several days already.
Haven't done much hiking but have been running most mornings and trying to walk in the afternoons. All road stuff. I run a few miles in the morning, drive to the end of the run, walk another few of miles in the afternoon and then drive to the end of the walk for the next day. A couple of days of winds up to 35mph plus some rain has limited my activities though.
Lots of clouds have made for some gorgeous sunsets and some good sunrises too.
01/13/03 Stone Cabin:
Well, I'm winding up my stay in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Supposed to be some desert big horn sheep up in the Eagletail Mountains but all I saw was a lone jack rabbit and a chipmunk. Still running and poking around in the mountains. Ran 60, 50, 50, 10 and 45 minutes the past few days.
01/22/03 Capitol Dome:
Still here in Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Did some chores in Yuma the other day and moved down to the Capitol Dome area of the refuge at mile 55 off US-95.
Didn't run this morning. Instead did a 3.5 hour hike into the hills and mountains off Road 75. Lots of mine shafts, trenches and stone walls in this area. Some of the shafts go down 20+ feet with pretty sheer rock sides. Fall down in one of those suckers and you'll be there a while. With all the shafts in the area looks like a buncha giant gophers used to live here.
Lots of small, quartz outcrops in the area. Lots of clear and purplish crystal type stones that have been shoveled out of the mines.
01/24/03 Capitol Dome:
Poked around some more near the Capitol Domes on Road 75. More mine shafts and I almost slipped into one as I peered down towards the bottom. That got the adrenalin flowing. Those miners must have been some tough dudes. Most of the shafts are straight down through rock and just all of the excavated debris is chunks of rocks and stones.
Several ruins with nothing left but stone walls. No wood at all. Wonder if rafters and roofs were removed for use as shoring in the shafts?
Lots of saguaros, ocotillos, barrel and cholla cactus and just a few prickly pears.
Moved farther on down Road 75 to a new camping spot. Still getting great sunsets every night.
01/25/03 Capitol Dome:
Followed Road 75 another 10 miles to its apparent end. Lots of mountain peaks and hills and neat places to explore. There were a few bad spots in the road and once I got to the end I started worrying about making it back out again so turned back. Got over the one I thought was probably the worst and stopped at a good camping spot.
Passed 8 jeeps heading in. Never saw them again so maybe there's another way out. Saw another truck coming back out that I didn't see go in so that may confirm another exit.
01/27/03 Capitol Dome:
I'm finally on my way out of Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. I still have a lot I can do here but it's time to move on. The past couple of days have found me still wandering around at the base of the mountains. Lots of washes with steep banks 10-15 feet deep makes traveling a little difficult. Still, I'd average 3 hours or so per day.