Before leaving Yuma, we call some friends in Las Vegas. They have a rustic cabin near the West Rim of
the Grand Canyon, and invite us to join them.
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| Joshua Tree National Forest |
We turn off onto the dirt road that leads up to their place,
and are immediately in the Joshua Tree National Forest; Acres
of huge Joshua Trees, more impressive than Joshua Tree National Park. A few miles outside of the national forest up we arrive at their place. Our
amazing friends have trimmed brush along the road so Dave is spared some
Arizona pin striping and cleared a spot for Dimples on the hillside below their
cabin.
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| View From The Door |
We originally plan to stay only a few days, but our friends
convince us to stay longer. We have cell
service with data, plenty of power with our solar and generator, and they have
a well and we can fill our water tank, but dumping is a problem. Our macerator can pump uphill from our site
to their septic, but our hose is ten feet too short. We find an extension hose on-line at camping
world. It’s even on sale. But the fastest shipping available is 7-10
days. Our friend devises a solution, 10
feet of PVC pipe gorilla taped to the macerator hose.
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| Sunset |
So with our MacGyver sewer solution we ultimately spend 8
days here, hanging out with our friends and their colorful neighbors, sharing
meals, watching sunsets, hiking a bit and drinking a bit (ok A LOT.) Thanks S
& B for a great start to this summer!
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| West Rim - Grand Canyon |
We also venture off the mountain a couple of times. Drive up to the Skywalk at the Hualapai
Indian Reservation but opt not to do the walk. ($75 each and no camera’s
allowed… too much and no point.) On our
way back we stop at the western town.
Looks like a movie set decorated in rust and calico. There are a few shops, a restaurant, horseback
rides and Native Americans dressed like cowboys posing with Asian tourists
brandishing rifles and six shooters. On
the road in there was a sign that says, “This Is A Fee Area.” We ask and no one seems to know how
much. We’re hungry and head to the
restaurant and ask them about the entry fee, they don’t know either. So we order lunch. Since this is the western town it’s BBQ ribs,
beans and corn on the cob. When we get back up the mountain, we check out
the Skywalk Website. Turns out the
protocol here is to buy tickets at the main tent, and take a bus to three sites,
including the western town, which is outside the main gate. OOPS! Shouldn’t $33
for a marginal lunch cover the price of admission to one site?
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| Pearce Ferry |
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| South Cove |
Lake Mead is nearby. We head first to the Pearce Ferry Landing Park. The boat launch here is closed because
there’s no lake here anymore, just sagebrush growing where folks were swimming
last summer. At the South Cove boat
ramp, the water is so low that the dock is pushed out as far as possible and
only half of it is afloat. Water levels
in the lake are at historic lows. And so
the drought continues…
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| New Valve Stems |
As we’re getting ready to leave, we notice that Dimples has
a flat tire. The leak is coming from the
valve stem. Chris uses our handy dandy
portable pump to fill up the tire and we are able to get down the mountain and
change the tire in a level shaded spot at a service station along the
highway. Turns out that the vibration
from the remote tire sensors is wearing on the valve stems. (Probably the cause
of our last flat.) Once we get to
Overton, we have all of the valve stems replaced with metal ones. Now were ready for the wilds of Southern
Utah!
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