March 13, 2005 - Van, TX (Outside of Quartzsite)

Well, after that first little jaunt into the non-traditional Quartzsite, a small group of us decided to try out some of the roads Ray & Kay Hill had been on in the past.  There are several books for 4-wheeling and the Hill's loaned us one of theirs.  Henk & Thea had David and Joanna (and I hope I spelled her name correctly) with them, and Frank & Susie were with us.  We went East on I-10 for about 9 miles or so, and then left the pavement going more or less south.

There had been more rain than usual, and the desert was unlike I'd ever seen it.  I've been coming to the deserts off and on most of my life, but I've never seen it so green before.  Everywhere we looked it was green.  And the cholla cactus was looking positively fluffy.  Sometimes called the Teddy Bear cactus, and for the first time we could see why.

And the blossoms were starting to show up, and it was only January.  I was real glad I had my boots on.  A hitch-hiker like that hangs on real good.  The little barbs are so sturdy, I was glad I had my Leatherman tool with me to pull it (and others like it) out.

The ocotillo weren't really blooming yet, but their new growth was red, which gave the plant a hearty look.

Most of the "crowd" discussing something of value, and then Barb caught me taking a ...... picture of the ocotillo.  What'd you think?  See that shot above this one?  Well, that's what I was taking when she tried to embarrass me.

What we see here is the sex life of the cholla, Teddy Bear (because it looks nice and fuzzy--yea, right!), and sometimes Jumping Cactus.  Frank was noticing all the "dead" nubbins from the end of the plant just laying there on the ground.  And then a closer look confirms that it's all apparently from this single plant.  And there among the pieces was a skeleton of what the insides look like.  Quite a sturdy wooden structure.  These cactus willingly give up the ends of each arm to a passing animal and if none cares to take it, it'll just drop it when there's a slight breeze.  Then they grow another plant wherever they land when conditions are right.

A crooked saguaro and then a close-up of one of those fuzzy little teddy bears.

Wish I'd have had the presence of mind to put something down alongside this tiny flower.  And then Barb discovered a quartz crystal growing inside this little piece of quartz.  The desert is fascinating, even when it's not as green as this.

More greens and reds, and then the landmark we used to make sure we're heading in the right direction.  These antennas were visible a long ways off.

We were driving along, and spotted this pile of rocks out in the meadow.  Well, it wasn't really a meadow, but it was an area with out a lot of plant growth with stickers.  David was examining it to see if he could make any sense of it, and then we spotted another pile, like a cairn, another 200 or so yards away.  And on the way to examine it, Frank found a saguaro that was probably the same age as him.  They don't usually put out arms until after they're about 70 years old, and Frank's a good bit younger than that.  And then when we got to the other little pile of rocks, we found the survey stake.  $250 seemed like a fair penalty for removing it, so we left it. 

This abandoned stone cabin was one of many in these hills.  Gold mine nearby, and this was interesting because the stones had been imported.  None like them anywhere around here.  And again, the lushness of the desert when there's been plenty of water (these look like bluebonnets, but are they?).

From left to right, we have Henk, David, Joanna, Susie, and Thea.  Seems the little cholla spines are grabbing everybody who's not watching all the time.  Then a real small ocotillo but grown fast, a saguaro that is full of water and getting positively fat with it, and more of those beautiful little yellow flowers.

And now it's lunch time.  Right on some tailings from the mine.  Or maybe it was mine(s).  There were many shafts that we looked at, and lots of dangerous holes in the ground.

Those two pickups were there when we got to the end of the road by the mines, and Susie went over during our lunch break to chat with the women that were with the trucks.  We could see some men up on the side of the hill, and we could hear their machines, but we weren't sure what they were doing.  Turned out they were miners!  And Susie came back and told us we were on their mining claim and we had 5 minutes to leave.  And then she laughed.  Truth is, nobody knew who's mining claim it really is, and the other guys were just in there doing their thing for fun as much as for gold.  And that "slot" in the ground is about 20' deep, and this is not a place to go strolling on a moonless night.

There were quartz veins all over the place, some of which had obviously been excavated and some not.

Where the road makes that oblique turn to the left is where that abandoned cabin is, and again we were amazed by the green desert.  This quartz vein had been worked on quite a bit it seemed.

As I was taking a shot of the end of the shaft (which didn't turn out good enough to publish here) Barb was behind me recording the event.  Occasionally, my claustrophobia is controllable, and I can do things like this.  Momentarily, anyway.

One of the "miners" and his little gas powered shaker.  It had an air pump that replaced the water used in a traditional shaker.  And more beauty, even in the area that was all chewed up by mining efforts.  A saguaro and ocotillo sharing the same spot.

The tailings from the mine shaft I was standing in can be seen as the flat spot up there.  Must have been a miserable place to work in the summer.  Besides, it was a tough hike just to get up to it.  And further up the ridge, there was yet another mine, but we didn't even try to get to it.