Saturday March 21st 2020

Today I pulled the plug on my current travel plans. I’ve taken a site at an RV park in Eloy Arizona for the next two months. It is the same park I spent the month of March in during 2017. It is about an hour south of Phoenix along Interstate 10 south of Casa Grande Arizona.

My decision was driven by a desire to be ahead of the ever changing restrictions imposed by the government to fight the COVID-19 virus. I’ve been watching the news with respect to my next month of destinations closely. I probably would have been OK at my next stop at the Dead Horse Ranch State Park near Cottonwood AZ. This state currently seems committed to keeping the parks open for camping, but it could change at any moment. My options in the Cottonwood and Sedona area are not as plentiful as in Phoenix and points south, so it would be a risk.

My second stop in April was a week at the Grand Canyon. The park is still open, but the buildings and exhibits aren’t. The bus transportation has been stopped, but car traffic has not been opened into all areas of the national park. The Trailer Village campground is only open to fully self contained RVs with existing reservations. I meet the criteria, but who knows how long the current condition will apply.

After the Grand Canyon I was heading to Monument Valley on the Navajo Indian Nation. All access to Navajo tourist attractions has been suspended. I still have a viable campsite in the middle of the area, but what I could see would be very limited. I also understand the cell phone access and internet are not good at the campground. I’m not sure this is the time to be that disconnected.

The next stop was going to be at the Glen Canyon Lake Powell National Recreation Area. Once again the campground is open, but buildings are closed and tours aren’t running. The government and health officials in nearby Page Arizona have started to raise concerns about all the tourists in the area. Similar concerns last week by Moab Utah officials was followed a couple of days later by public and private campgrounds and hotels being ordered to close. This is probably a counter measure to the large number of people heading for Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks both of which remain open to a limited extent.

At the beginning of May I was planning to visit Zion National Park again. The campground is not the issue since my plan was to stay in Hurricane UT a couple of dozen miles west of the park. The problem is they’ve shut the buses down in the park, so it is one big traffic jam.

The next significant stop on my travel plan is Yellowstone NP at the end of May. I still hope to make that one, but time will tell. For now, I’ve got a site in a good size RV park that should be isolated from the changing government requirements intended to keep the health care system from getting overloaded.

Friday March 20th 2020

The day began sunny and cool. The temperature managed to reach the high sixties before a layer of clouds arrived to slow the increasing warmth. It also managed to obscure any chance at a sunset.

All of my days this week have begun with the President’s task force briefing on the TV. It’s on at 9AM in this time zone. In so many ways it is a depressing start to the day. They provide one or two new pieces of information and over an hour of low value “discussion”. Not long after they get finished the 11AM local news come on and repeats the information with a twist based on the “discussion”. I’m not sure if the reporters are committed to providing information or providing tabloid level sensationalized “news”. As I said, I find it depressing.

To get away from the TV, I took another short hike today. There were fewer people on the trails, but the day use area of the state park still had lots of cars. Perhaps many people were on different trails. The wildflowers are still pretty, but the yellow brittle bush blossoms are starting to fade. The mount of yellow is going down.

There was a great deal of turnover in the campground today. Most people stop here for one to three days. They are from all over the United States and Canada. Tonight there was even a foreign language speaking family in a rental motorhome on a site nearby. I don’t know if they are US residents, stranded travelers or something else. They just stood out as unusual in these times. One aspect of social distancing in the campground is that conversations between campers are getting more limited and are taking place at closer shouting distance than conversation distance. I’ve exchange hellos with a few neighbors, but not much else.

Thursday March 19th 2020

Yesterday’s storm continued into the night. Eventually the wind let up, but light rain continued off and on into the morning. The trails and little washes in the area showed the signs of heavy runoff. In the metro Phoenix area many instances of downed trees and flooding were reported. To the north in the Flagstaff area more than half a foot of snow fell. By noon the sun was peaking through scattered clouds.

The temperature just barely broke the sixty degree mark today. I bundled up to go out and explore the campground. At first I had to stay on the paved roads, but by late afternoon the trails were dry enough to walk on without doing the long jump over puddles every few feet. There were a lot of bird out late today. The wind was gentle enough that the birds voices could be heard clearly. I managed to get a few pictures of them, but I still haven’t gotten any pictures of the Cactus Wrens going into the nests in the big saguaros.

The rabbits in this park seem to be very skittish. I see them on just about every walk, but they don’t stand still long enough to pose for a picture. Usually, they are running for cover before I’m thirty feet away. Tonight I got one that was a little more photogenic. I was within twenty feet when it stopped and watched me play statue. At least I got a picture.

By the end of the day three was a nice sunset. I keep trying to find new places to take sunset pictures. It is a bit of a game to get a different cactus in the foreground of the pictures.

Wednesday March 18th 2020

It was mostly cloudy this morning, but that was the best it as going to be. The cloud cover steadily increased and the temperature dropped. Shortly after the noon hour the rain arrived. It started with a thunderstorm before before becoming a steady rain with lots of wind. There was no pretty sunset to take pictures of today.

I managed to get a little exercise before the rain began. I walked through my camping loop, then across the desert trail to one of the other loops and back again. It was cool enough that I needed my hoodie to stay warm in the breeze. The rest of the day was spent inside my RV home. The wind caused the slide out room toppers to rattle and the whole rig to shake. I had to keep the volume on the TV cranked. TV watching along with some cooking and some eating made up the remainder of the day.

The storm system is forecast to linger for another day. By tomorrow afternoon it may be back to partly cloudy, but I’m not holding my breath. I don’t think I’ll get another chance at a sunset picture until Friday or so. At least it is the six to ten inches of snow falling at the higher altitude near Flagstaff AZ.

Tuesday March 17th 2020

The weather is on the down slop of the roller coaster. It was a sunny day, but there was more wind and a lower high temperature. The temperature peaked in the low seventies. Up to half an inch of rain is forecast for tomorrow into Thursday. It will also be cool enough that there will be snow at altitude.

I spent some time today investigating alternative places to spend the next few weeks. My reservation is up a week from tomorrow at this location. Assuming the state doesn’t close the state parks for camping, or the highway for travel I’ll stay here until then. At the beginning of the week I’ll decide if I’m going to move to my next two week state park stay or go into hibernation at an RV park. There is nothing wrong with the state parks. I’m basically in isolation at the parks anyway. It is rare that you get within twenty feet of another human. The problem will occur if a well meaning public official (bureaucrat) decides there is a public health value to closing the parks. I can see the value of closing the restrooms and restricting camping to self contained units.

Today was a two long walk day. The first was a walk on the trails this morning and the second was a walk around the camping loops as the sun set. I think I’m taking pictures of the same cactus over and over, but they are such interesting specimens.

Monday March 16th 2020

Today’s weather was a continuation of yesterday. It started clear and sunny without a cloud in the sky. As the day progressed a few clouds started to arrive in the area. More clouds are expected tomorrow and by Wednesday it may be raining. Today’s high temperature was just a little warmer than the Sunday. The temperature peaked a little above seventy five.

I finally got around to taking the hike I almost did on Saturday and Sunday. The difference today was I was prepared. I had water, my cell phone, a small pack and I was wearing my hiking shoes. It was a nice hike through the wildflowers and up toward the base of the Superstition Mountains. There are a few short steep sections of trail, but overall it was an easy hike. Round trip it was less than two hours. I took lots of pictures.

My mind wasn’t fully on the hike. I need to make up my mind about my travel plans. The COVID-19 virus is a major wrinkle in my carefully laid out plans for this years travel. As things stand right now I have one more week here, followed by two weeks in another Arizona State Park. Assuming an instate travel ban is not implemented, I should be OK. My next planned stop at the Grand Canyon is the first probable issue. Grand Canyon National Park has been shutting things down on a daily basis. The campground is operated by a concessionaire that also runs the lodge. When they decide to shutdown the lodge, I’m pretty sure they’ll close the campground too. I’d need to find another place to stay for that week. The next six nights at a private campground in Monument Valley might be OK, but I don’t think I’d be taking any tours. So, why go? The week after that is at Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. It has a similar problem to the Grand Canyon. Time wise, it is now the end of April.

I’m thinking the safe alternative is to find an RV park for the next six weeks and hibernate. I would then need to travel north quickly to catch up to my itinerary in the middle of May. The alternative with more risk both to my health and possibility of interruptions is to push forward and adapt as needed. Unless I come up with another great idea overnight, I’ll be on the phone tomorrow looking for an RV park.

Sunday March 15th 2020

The weather was just about perfect today. There were only a few high wispy clouds in the sky with a gentle breeze. The temperature reached the seasonal average in the mid seventies.

Last weeks rain has provided a boost to the flowering plants in the desert surrounding the Lost Dutchman State Park. I walked out the Siphon Draw trail a considerable distance today. Once again I wasn’t prepared for a long hike, so I turned back before getting to far into the middle of nowhere. There were many other people on the trail. I’m guessing with all of the things closed because of the COVID-19 virus people are choosing a hike in the desert as an alternative family oriented activity on a Sunday. We were all treated to a beautiful display of yellows and purples along the trail.

Everything is green this time of year. Later in the year it will be brown, but right now the green background is complemented by lots of yellow blossoms. When you get closer smaller purple and blue blossoms can be found near the ground. The cactus still haven’t started to blossom, but there big green presence punctuates the landscape.

There was a fair amount of turnover as the weekend came to an end in the campground, but this area was full again tonight. Most of the campers in this area seem to come for a night or two before moving on. There are a few that are here for the two week limit like I am.

Saturday March 14th 2020

After four rainy days today was a bright sunshiny day. The temperature peaked just north of seventy. It is still a little below the average temperature for the day in this area. Tomorrow is forecast to be a little warmer.

I was slow getting started this morning. I rolled over a couple of extra times before getting out of bed and then spent extra time lingering over my breakfast coffee. Once I did get out of the RV, I wandered around the campground to get a little exercise. Today was a big turnover day. There were a lot of empty sites by the noon checkout. This evening they were all full again.

Toward the end of my walk around the campground I ventured onto the trails behind the campground. The trails head up into the Superstition Mountains. They gain altitude but not very quickly. I stopped a little way along the trail and reversed direction. I wasn’t prepared for a long hike. My cell phone, extra water and few other sensible hiking aids were back at the RV. I’ll return prepared for a hike another day.

A couple of helicopters one of which was the Sheriffs were operating out of the far side of the park this noon. I don’t know if it was an exercise, demonstration of some sort or a real emergency. One helicopter started up and departed the area over the mountain. As it was returning over the park the second helicopter lifted off and departed the area in the other direction. The first helicopter then hovered for a couple of minutes before leaving the area. It sure seems like some sort of exercise, but who knows.

The day went by quickly even without live sports on TV. I couldn’t get into the replays a couple of the networks tried to use to entertain us. Games shows, cooking and home improvement shows are going to get more of my attention than they deserve on the weekends without sporting events.

Friday March 13th 2020

Today was the fourth and hopefully last day of rain for this storm. The forecast calls for three nice days before the next storm system moves in off the Pacific Ocean. The wind blew and the rain fell hard during the night. The sounds woke me up a few times, but only long enough to roll over. The day had large periods of time with visible blue sky and even a little sun, but you had to watch the horizon for the next rain storm. Every day since Tuesday bands of rain have been moving across the area from southwest to northeast. When it did rain today it was hard and windy. The temperature only made it into the mid sixties.

During the breaks in the rain I continued to explore the campground and the state park in general. There are some beautiful views of the Superstition Mountains from all over the campground. As the day went by the campground continued to fill up for the weekend. The sites with electric and water service have been full every night, but some of the sites without services were available during the week. It looks like they will all be full this weekend. There are some ranger lead events scheduled for tomorrow, but I’m guessing they will be canceled as a virus spread mitigation. I hadn’t planned to attend anyway.

As the sun was setting I thought I was going to get a very nice red sunset. I hiked up hill and away from the parked RVs to get a better view. Before the sun reached the horizon another storm line moved in between me and the setting sun. I got some interesting pictures looking toward the sun and away from the sun toward the mountain, but not the real sunset I was expecting.

Thursday March 12th 2020

It was a matter of waiting for the next rain storm today. I think there were a few showers overnight. They weren’t hard enough to wake me up, so I’m basing my conclusion on the wet roads and ground this morning. Rain threatened all day. Big storms were visible on the horizon in all directions. The first shower didn’t arrive here until late afternoon, but it was followed by a very brief appearance of the sun. The forecast is for more rain with the chance of flash floods through tomorrow afternoon.

During the dry part of the day I got in some exploring around the Lost Dutchman State Park. It is a beautiful area. Much to my surprise there are many Saguaro cactus here. I thought I left the area of many saguaros yesterday. Most of the saguaro cactus in this area are bigger and older than the ones in the Lake Pleasant area. Saguaro cactus live more than 200 years and don’t put out any arms until about fifty years of age. Around here many of the cactus have multiple arms and are very tall.

There are many trails to hike in the park and the neighboring National Forest. The ones I walked today were soft from the rain. A couple had muddy areas and standing water to dodge. The great view of the Superstition Mountains was often obscured by a crown of clouds. Once the sun returns, dries out the trails and casts a better light on the mountains it will be a beautiful area to hike.

The rain seems to have returned at full force. As I’ve been writing this blog entry, the rain has been making its presence known on the roof of my RV home. A quick check of the weather radar shows a lot of rain to come. The forecast calls for a sunny weekend before a chance of rain returns next week.