My World and Welcome To It
The South Desert
This grew out of a weekly walk from a couple of weeks ago, the pet semetary post. When I came upon that place from the north I was convinced that some of those plants had been placed there.
It's a serious look at some desert that I don't often see. Like the forest, or a river, a desert changes from place to place. Some spots are incredibly sandy and some are so rocky as to be almost impassable. Here's a look at THIS spot.
Sam and I drove to the very South end of our home patch of desert. This is about 2.5 miles (4Km) from where we normally walk. It's not the end of the desert by any means, but it is as far south as people have access. We saw a complete change right away, there are lots of Ocotillo which doesn't occur in our end.
This would be the view towards my house. This part of the desert is much harder, and the sand has some clay mixed in so it will hold water after the big rains we had.
I still believe this is part of the original 'El Camino Del Diablo' (the Road of the Devil). This road runs South East from here and was the only overland route to the river Ford in Yuma until the very late 19th Century. Thousands traveled this way to get to Southern California and later to the Gold Fields in Northern California. Hundreds died on this road.
El Camino Del Diablo is about 60 miles (100km) and water almost does not exist. It took 3 to 5 days to make this distance and a great many people and animals dehydrated and died. By the time they'd have gotten to this point there would be a little sign of civilization, but they still had 20 miles to go to the river.
We saw hundreds of Sidewinder tracks on this walk. It was the first time since the last big rain that we'd seen more than a few. It seems it was about 4 days of heavy traffic for the snakes and now they have gone back to cover and we don't see many tracks.
This is how desert plants protect themselves. This Ironwood tree and Mesquite bush are fully armed and if you try to reach into them you will bleed.
Cholla like this are still pretty rare in the low desert, but if you tangle up with one you will not repeat the mistake. Those thorns stick in easily and leave the plant easily then you have to pull them out of you. Even Sam knows to stay away.
We saw quite a lot of Devil's Claw (top) and Ajo Lilly (bottom). Both are very rare in the fall, and we will monitor them to see if they actually make seed and are ready for spring. It looks to me like that Devil's Claw will make it.
We walked across (east to west) on this patch of desert to this point, the South East corner of a significant solar energy site. It covers around 1000 acres and I haven't been to this point since it was finished several years ago.
We walked South to the end. There is a well established dirt road that marks the boundary for us. This is a civilian witness post that is just in the Marine's Bombing Range. Admittance to this area is strictly forbidden, and no fooling.
This is very adequate protection. There is a LOT of training done here and they really aren't kidding around. You can however, take the El Camino Del Diablo to Organ Pipe National Monument if you get the proper permits. It takes a lot of hoop dancing through, and you have to have at least two 4 wheel drive vehicles in your party. My friend and I plan to give it a try this winter.
This is what the desert looks like with no human involvement.
I know this has gotten long, and I thank you for staying to the end. It's my world, and welcome to it!
All words and photographs in this post are mine. For better or worse
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You know I am a beach person and love being by the water, but the beauty in your area and these shots is wonderful in its own way
I was caught by Surprise by the unexploded Ordnance sign, not because I haven't seen similar because I have seen many both from my times in the military and from Mine fields I have seen in various countries, I just wasn't expecting to see it there
Those signs (every 100 meters or so) really protect that side of the road :) They are quite common here, there are two big bombing ranges and the Army Proving Ground. All of them have secrets and places that nobody goes.
I was based in an Army camp in NZ called Waiouru for a few years and we had a few similar ranges.
This brings back memories of when we were building a communications tower at one stage in the field, I cannot remember right now where it was, but we had the tower up about 200 feet, when a colleague was coming along another road to bring some more supplies and we saw his driving along towards our sire and out of the blue they stopped and were reading a sign posted by the road.
They then called us and told us were we in a known MIne field, getting off the tower and out of the field was very how shall a put it nerve wracking.
We went back to our main camp and checked the map we had been given and it was not marked as a Minded area, so we checked with the Mine Action Center, they went and checked the area and it was safe the Mine sign was either put there in error or as a prank.
There is a road that cuts through the proving range that is swept and available to the public. It ends up in some really neat country right near the Colorado. But the signs give me the willies every time I go :)
That would be a nasty prank to pull, but I could see that happening. "Hey, whadda ya say we give the tech weenies a little something to think about..."
I can understand it give you the willies, unexploded ordnance is not to be messed with for sure
We laughed about that afterwards for sure over a few beers, driving in areas when road side bombs can be common is a good excuse for a few beers at the end of the day LOL
It really is amazing that the desert has so much going on in it and that those plants can not only survive in it but thrive. I hope you and your Buddy get the permits and make that trip, that should be some awesome post material.
Thanks for sharing your world.
I made the trip about 25 years ago with my Uncle. I was impressed and he mostly just kept moving. Erv and I will camp somewhere near the middle WHEN we go, and diddle around plenty.
It ends in a federal wildlife area that also happens to be the northern edge of the range of jaguars. They have camera sightings quite regularly there. I'm really excited by the possibility.
Sounds like a great adventure, any thoughts on taking Sam along on this one?
Oh yeah. Sam's in for this.
I never saw a single snake in all the time I lived there. Brings back memories though, the desert scenes though I rarely ventured out the PHX city limits.
They aren't all that common here. I've seen 3 this year and am out and about every day. But there are times when they are obviously really active. We've just been through one of those times here.
Where I grew up there were places that were just infested with rattlesnakes. If you went to those places you were almost certain to see them. I haven't found a place with that sort of infestation here.
Are they as aggressive as they are made out to be? They have quite the reputation (rattlers).
They are not. I understand the Pacific Rattler can be aggressive, and I know that the diamondbacks have an uncomfortable molting season in the spring, but generally if you make a little noise they will get away from you. The know you are too big to eat....
Very sparse, and beautiful in its way :) And resilient! How majestic :D I haven't been to a real life desert myself, but these photos and the text explaining things are really interesting <3 Very good post <3 <3 <3
It is sparse, with the rare 'wet pocket' where it's incredibly lush. I just love living here, and never tire of seeing it.
Thanks for the kind words.
I am always amazed by how nature defends itself and adapts to the environment. I am glad you enjoyed your walk, photos you took look lovely. 💚
It is amazing. The Ocitillo are just amazingly well armed. In the early, early days they were used some for fencing and personal protection. They transplant really easy and NOTHING will go through a row of them. You can still see examples of 200 year old Ocotillo fences.
They turn green and grow (and take in water)like the one in the first photo in even the smallest of rains, but most of the time they just look like dead plants.
It's such a vastly different landscape then to what I am currently drenched in. High hedgerows, lush plants and green green and rain and green. It's funny how many different climates we are lucky to experience here on good ole' earth. :)
Yeah, it is something isn't it? I'm just in awe of the heavy forest when I get into it. But I do love the desert, for some reason I understand it.
Isn't it funny how we find environments that just suit us and then find ourselves and our lives gravitate towards it? I have always been in love with water and thus, even when not always planning it, have seemed to always live near and even on water for much of my life. Funny ole' world, funny ole' life :)
How neat! I have never been to the desert! Ive always wanted to visit, but i dont think I would want to live there, haha. Too hot and dry for me...
It's pretty darn pleasant right now :) But it does get hot and is almost always dry. There are places and spaces that are darn near out of this world. I'll keep showing more and more, I'm sure.
The 'season' has just started for the dune runners over in the Imperial Dunes area. Exotic machinery going fast. You can bet I'll go there a couple of times this winter.
Wow, sounds fun! Never gave it much thought, but it makes sense people would go out and ride around on the dunes. There are loads of people out here who go 4 wheeling through the woods...
It's such a fascinating environment! I would love to shoot over there a few days. There's some interesting flora and fauna that I haven't seen before :-) Glad to read Sam is able to learn which plant to avoid :') Would be quite a task preventing him from the sharp thingies all over.
I really enjoy these photo stories, they show me place that's very alien to me :-) All green grass and sheep around here! Lol.
The diversity really amazes me sometimes. We are in an area that is primarily creosote bushes, but you can find patches like this one. Not far from here there a LOTS of cacti species, or Joshua Trees, or Yucca zones. There are areas with lots of brush like rabbitbrush and sagebrush, and there are places with enough Mesquite trees to keep cattle fed (that is some good sweet meat btw). It's never quite the same, any more than the forest is just the trees.
Oh, and Sam learns. I've picked more than a few stickery things out of his hide, but he seems to understand where they came from and avoids them.
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TrufflePigVery nice post with some awesome pictures. It's been a long time since I had to study habitats in my grade school science class so it is really interesting to see the vegetation and and landscape around there. We have a military base North of where I live. Many days you can hear the explosions from the firing range.