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Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge I have come across that has campsites where you can boondock (free) for up to 14 days. I stayed there for 4 days and was the only camper I was aware of. It was very quiet. Hunting season just ended, so maybe hunters scared all the wildlife away. The weather was perfect. It was in the 70′s during the day, did not have to use my fans, and at night it was in the 50′s, so the furnace was not needed.

The area is a semi-desert grassland with lots of mesquite trees. The refuge is trying to restore it to the way it was before cattle grazed here. They want to encourage masked bobwhite quail and pronghorns to return.

Airforce jets practice over the area. One day I had my back to the window, something made me turn and look out. Saw a Airforce jet coming right at me, I could see the pilot! By the time I ran to the door, it had done a 90 degree roll and was gone. It happened so fast. There were a lot of jets in the area the next day. Maybe the jet that flew over me was just checking out the area because of this.

This area is called “cocaine alley” because of all the drug smugglers that enter the United States through here. That may be why there is a helicopter landing pad on the refuge and a strong presence of border patrol. Also, I got the best internet connection I’ve had for a long time. A communications tower was nearby, out in the middle of nowhere.

Mule deer in a no hunting area of the refuge.

Saw what I think is a western harrier at Arivaca Cienega on the refuge.

Getting here

After leaving the Benson, Sierra Vista area, stopped at Patagonia State Park. There were a lot of pipevine swallowtails there (above). The park was crowded. You have to get there early in the day to get an electric spot. A lot of people were on a hunt to see an elegant trogon. Unfortunately, I never saw one.

Black phoebe.

While Big Bend and the Buenos Aires Refuge are trying to repair damage caused by cattle grazing, Patagonia State Park allows ranchers to graze cattle at the east end of the lake, near some marsh and the Sonoita Creek (prime birding area). People swim and catch fish in a lake that cattle go into. Along with going into the lake, the cattle eat and trample tree saplings. You would also not want to walk along the trail at night, with cow droppings all over the place.

Sleeping bull, with muddy feet.

Posted in Airstream, Arivica, cow, deer, National, Northern harrier, Patagonia, phoebe, State, wildlife refuge | No Comments »

Back down I-395

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Drove down the I-395 to Southern California. Stopped one night at Davis Creek Regional Park just out of Reno and another night in the parking lot at Manzanar Historic Site. Once the sun went down, it was really cold both places. Ran out of propane the second night and got pretty cold.

Top picture is Mono Lake. The picture below it is Conway Summit just before you head down to Mono Lake. Below is Manzanar.

RV’s seem to be back on the road in a big way. When gas was around $5.00 saw a noticeable drop in RV sightings. This trip passed a large number of RV’s heading north as I got close to Los Angeles. Pleased to see diesel at around $3.50 and below here. Hope the trend continues.

This was the first time I’ve taken the I-395 to the I-15 to get to the Riverside area. You avoid a lot of freeway traffic and get to go downhill over the Cajon Pass when going south. After the junction with the 14 near Ridgecrest there is a lot of truck traffic and the two-lane road deteriorates some.

Posted in Airstream, Lee Vining, Lone Pine, Mono Lake, Reno | No Comments »

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Finally made it to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the high desert (4,000 feet elevation) of southeast Oregon. It’s huge and beautiful. The auto tour route is 41 miles long! The nearest town with reasonable gas is Burns, 35 miles away. Glad I came well supplied with food and propane. In driving the tour route, it surprises me that I haven’t used more fuel than I have. In part this is probably due to my staying in the refuge, so there is no driving 20 miles to get here.

The weather has been in the 50′s and 60′s during the day and the 30′s at night. An early winter storm is coming through that has brought the temps down to the 40′s during the day and 20′s at night. My rv has come through great in the cold, with the furnace coming on intermittently at night. I prefer being here in cold weather rather than the hot and buggy summer.

The refuge has brought in sheep to get rid of some invasive weeds. The sheepherder has 5 or 6 labs, along with Australian shepherds. Guess the labs are to protect the sheep. They chased after my truck after I took this picture.

So far, I’ve seen coots, ducks, magpies, hawks, pheasants, quail, long-eared owl, and western grebe. I’ve heard sandhill cranes, but have not seen them.

Getting here

Took I-395 south from Pendleton, Oregon. Went over a lot of brown rolling hills that gradually turned into forests then back to brown rolling hills. Passed a lot of cattle ranches. Probably took more gas taking this two lane highway, as compared to a truck route, but it was worth it. Glad I filled up near Pendleton. Didn’t pass many gas stations.

Posted in Airstream, Burns, ring-necked pheasant, sheep, wildlife refuge | Comments Off

Mount St. Helens

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Finally made it to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Mounument. It was just a viewing, I didn’t really explore the area. A lot of the visitor and camping areas were either closed or in the process of closing for the winter. There was a strong, cold and gritty wind blowing at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, while just a few miles down the road it was hot with no wind. Not many people there. Definitely would like to come back again.

View north from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The land next to the parking lot is recovering, while the next ridge over is still pretty bald after 25 years.

I arrived late Tuesday afternoon and ended up parking for the night in a pull out just outside the blast area. They don’t want dogs in the blast area except in specially marked places. Their scent can scare some animals away.

Posted in Airstream, Mount St. Helens, National | No Comments »

Skagit County, Washington

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

I am in Skagit County, Washington, an incredible place. It is around 40 miles from Port Townsend, but of course I took the long way around on the #101 and the #5, to avoid paying a large ferry fee. After driving through overcast Seattle and then coming to the beautiful, sunny farmland in Skagit County, I knew this was someplace I would like to stay for a while. The rv park I’m at is on Fir Island, with the Skagit river on one side and farmland on the other. There are places all around to explore. Whidbey Island is just to the east, with Deception Pass State Park. There is also a naval air station there and their jets fly right over where I’m staying. It’s like a free air show. I have to jump up and look every time a jet goes by. It is probably a reflex from my childhood.

The city of Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island, is 11 miles away. They have a beautiful park, Washington Park, that has a scenic loop road you can drive, but be forewarned, don’t drive anything longer than 20 feet. I drove my truck and had to back up and maneuver to get around sharp curves.

The two pictures above were taken at Washington Park. It is the first picture I’ve gotten of a Cedar Waxwing. It was eating berries, as I guess they are prone to do. The deer below it was eating the same berries.

Black Oystercatchers.

Anacortes is a tourist town and seems to want to develop every square inch of their land. There is a subdivision next to Washington Park and another subdivision is in the process of being built next to it. (OK, step off the soapbox).

Also at Washington Park, a wooden ship with the ferry to the San Juan Island in the background.

Barn swallows enjoying the sun at my rv park. Skagit Flats, the area I’m in, was named a birding hotspot a few years ago, but fall and winter are the prime times for birding.

View from a hang gliding spot above Skagit Flats. Guess the goal is to get past the trees and land in farm land.

Posted in Airstream, Anacortes, cedar waxwing, deer, Oystercatcher, Skagit County, swallow | 2 Comments »

Prado Regional Park, Chino, California

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Moved from Rancho Jurupa Park to Prado Regional Park because I had used up Jurupa’s 14 day limit and needed to stay in the area a little longer. Prado is in Chino, 15 or 20 miles from Rancho Jurupa. It is on land leased from the Army Corps of Engineers…2,000 acres of parkland and a 60 acre lake. Found it to be a birder’s paradise. It’s rare to see so many different birds in one place. About 70% of the lake is lined with willows and other marsh plants, so there are lots of places for birds to nest and hide. There are also woods next to the lake that herons and other birds often fly to and probably nest in.

Prado Park also includes Prado Dog Park, for training work and hunting dogs; a shooting range (used in the 1984 Olympics); a radio controlled air park; an equestrian center; and a golf course.

Adult black-crowned night heron. Have never seen so many.

Juvenile black-crowned night heron.

Commorant

An osprey. Note the powerful legs and feet.

It was so good to see and hear a Western grebe again. There were a number of pairs of them. They tend to stay in the middle part of the lake, so it’s hard to get a good picture.

Geese and ducks of course.

Birds seen but not pictured: black-necked stilt, black phoebe, common tern, common moorhen, egret, turkey vulture, coot.

Campground at Prado. If you squint, you can see my rv in the center.

Posted in Airstream, Chino, cormorants, County, ducks, geese, grebe, heron, osprey | Comments Off

Paria Movie Set, Pahreah River Valley

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

After staying in Kanab, Utah a few days I went to what is known as the Paria Movie Set around 30 miles from Kanab. I read where you could boondock there and saw pictures on a web site of where a man and his wife drove their motorhome there. There is a turnout on the highway with information about the area. You have to drive over a 5 mile washboard road, then over and down a steep hill to get to a self registration site that has a few picnic tables. About one-third of the names on the registration sheet were people from Europe. Know I have seen a lot of European tourists in Utah, many in rented rv’s.

Pahreah was established as a town in the 1800′s. It had been used by Paiute indians before that. The town had a Mormon church and schoolhouse, along with a post office. The settlers did not realize the area was on a flood plain and recurrent flooding forced them out. Movie and television crews used the area in the 50′s and 60′s. The last movie shot in the area was The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976. The movie set was moved in 1999 to a site less likely to flood, but in 2006 vandals burned it down.

Pahreah Cemetary with plaque added by relatives of the original settlers.

On the afternoon of my second day at Paria, three trucks towing large horse carrying rigs and a LARGE tour bus drove in. Really surprised at the tour bus driving over the road. A few hours later a large group of people riding mules started arriving. Guess they started at another point and ended at Paria. Then they were all gone and it was quite again.

The road to Paria. Around 20 passenger cars drove over it both days I was there. When I was leaving I had some trouble in soft dirt going up a hill. Wondered if the large bus the previous day had contributed to it. Would not want to drive the road when there has been any rain, or camp in the rain with its history of flooding.

Posted in Airstream, Kanab, Pahreah River Valley, Utah | No Comments »

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Have been visiting Capitol Reef National Park in Utah the past few days. Stayed in their campground for two days (second picture), but have retreated to a private campground to recharge my rv and all my electronics. The park campground has no hookups.

The Fremont River passes through the park and allowed Fremont Indians and then Mormon settlers to farm in the area. The Mormon’s left lots of fruit trees. The third picture above is a barn from the Mormon era.

There is a 25 mile round trip scenic drive through the park (above).

Robins are the most common bird seen in the campground. They would probably eat from your hand. Mule deer come through the campground every evening to graze.

From Bottomless Lakes State Park in New Mexico, I stayed one night at Santa Rosa Lake State Park and then three nights at Bluewater Lake State Park. At the Bluewater Park there were winds of 30-50 mph, which is why I stayed the three days till they had passed. I then went on to Canyon De Chelly National Monument for one night at their free, no hookup campground. Want to go back there sometime in the future. The route from Canyon De Chelly to Capitol Reef was incredible (pictures above). It had recently rained, so the red soil was super saturated in color. There was not much traffic, so I could go as slow as I wanted. The 178 miles took me all day. It was not till I got within 30 miles or so of Capitol Reef that I started to see more traffic. Everyone wants to go 75 mph on these two lane highways in these beautiful surroundings with gas prices what they are. Know I’m showing my age.

Picture above is from a scenic overlook of Hite City, an old mining boom town that was engulfed by Lake Powell. There is a road and a campground there now, don’t know if it is the same exact spot Hite City was at.

Posted in Airstream, Chinle, deer, National, Santa Rosa, State, Utah | Comments Off

Adolph Thomae, Jr. County Park, Arroyo City, Texas

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

I have been staying at the Adolph Thomae, Jr. County Park in Arroyo City, Texas for the past week. Thought I’d post some pictures so I’ll have a reference for when I next come to the area. The park is located along the Arroyo Colorado at the end of a road through the small town of Arroyo City. It is surrounded on three sides by Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. In addition to it’s rv sites, it has two lighted fishing piers and a boat launch area. It is a lot better than most of the rv parks in town. There is a problem with litter, especially Sunday afternoon. The Arroyo Colorado has some of the same problems as the Salton Sea in California–pollution and fish die offs. People don’t seem hesitate to eat the fish though.

RV sites by the water. They were full when I arrived, so I got a spot in the woods area. The water sites tend to be more crowded, so probably better to leave them for fishermen.

As the sun was setting on my last day at the park, serious clouds started to roll in with thunder in them. Brought a little rain. Next day it was nice again.

Posted in Airstream, Arroyo City, County, South Padre Island | Comments Off

More From Brazos Bend State Park

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Brazos Bend State Park really amazes me. Driving through the nearby farmland, you don’t expect much. But wow, once you drive into the park, it is just incredible.