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Just down the road from my camp site was a well and water holding tank. It had a blue flag on top so people crossing the border illegally could spot it from a distance. When I stopped by just after sunrise I found evidence that someone was recently there collecting water. The concrete pavement was wet and a small puddle formed where they spilled a little from the faucet at the bottom of the tank. The drug runners and human smugglers move under the cover of darkness and tend to stick to the high desert ridges. In my camp site I found an old horse blanket, a jacket and many rusted tin cans and food wrappers. All had been there for a few months at least.
The desert blooms like a cultivated garden. |
Bright red blooms top an Ocotillo. |
A Teddy Bear Cholla cactus is NOT huggable or even touchable. I ate my lunch on a bare spot on a hillside that was almost covered in Teddy Bear Chollas. I accidentally kicked one and the spines stuck in my heavy hiking boot. So I reached down with a wad of paper towels and tried to pull the spines out. They slipped right through the thick bunch of paper towels and went painlessly into my hand. I pulled those out very carefully with my other hand. Then I scrapped the spines out of my shoes with a rock.
Later I learned that Teddy Bear Chollas love to attach themselves to anything that brushes past. Then they often root wherever they are scraped, pulled or dropped. I did not get infected but ever since I have steered clear of Teddy Bear Cholla cacti.
The Sonoran desert is ablaze with flowers big and small. |
Tiny white desert flowers bloom from the desert pavement. |
A dry lake bed unexpectedly created very difficult driving conditions. The Jeep started to bog down in a foot of fine powdered clay. It felt like I was sinking into fresh snow. Instinctively I shifted into 4 wheel drive, dropped into a lower gear and stepped on the gas. I had to keep my forward momentum if I wanted to avoid a lot of shovel digging. Fine tan clay particles flew from the front wheels and created thick clouds of dust that engulfed the Jeep. I could barely see out of the windshield and I flicked on the wipers to push away the dust. The passenger side window was open about 1/2 inch and dust started to swirl around the inside of the Jeep as well. Somehow I managed to keep the vehicle moving forward and by listening to the engine, I maintained a steady pace. In a few minutes I found some solid ground and headed around the dry lake bed. I was rewarded with another garden in full bloom and a stunning view of volcanic cinder cones in Mexico.
During the summer monsoon season the lake can fill overnight with six inches to a foot of water. I suspect that some of the water percolates downward and makes possible the lush green vegetation that currently surrounded the dusty road.
Fine clay and sand cover the desert floor from a dry lake in the distance. |
Cinder cones rise from the desert and are part of the Mexican Sierra Pinacate. |
A rare white desert lily blooms near a cinder field. |
Volcanic cinder cones and a Saguaro cactus. |
I was amazed at all the different flowers in bloom by the dry lake bed. For over an hour I wandered around the desert enjoying beauty so rarely seen and then by so few people. The white lily surprised me the most. I never expected to see one in the dry desert.
Even some of the cacti were blooming. I did not dare touch their flowers but they did smell wonderful. The desert was transformed into a magical garden where any flower seemed possible. For the next day and half, until I reached the outskirts of Yuma, the Sonoran desert was an incredible spring garden.
Lavender flowers. |
White flowers that look like poppies. |
Yellow blooms amidst tiny white flowers. |
A white lily with six flowers, more buds and it is almost three feet tall. |
Beautiful cactus blooms. |
Tiny purple and white flowers. |
As I left the dry lake bed behind I crossed into solidified lava flows and cinders that came from relatively recent volcanic activity. My best guess was that the flows originated one to two thousand years ago. Similar cinder cones exist in southern California. Unfortunately most of the volcanic action took place in Mexico which for this trip was off limits as I did not have my passport. One of my college geology professors conducted extensive research on the Sierra Pinacate in Mexico up until 2011 or so.
The transition from the dry lake bed soil lush with vegetation to the almost barren lava flow was abrupt.
The lush and green lake bed deposits abruptly transitions to barren, gray lava. |
Volcanic cinders mix with fine clays and support many desert plants. |
One mountain but two very different rock types and colors. |
The road degenerates into a set of twin tire tracks in the Sonoran desert. |
I came to Tule Well, a desert outpost of yesteryear, around 3 PM. An adobe building, a well, a Boy Scout monument and a small primitive campground comprise Tule Well. No water or even outhouses are available. I still had five gallons of drinking water in the Jeep. I always carry a steel, flat blade shovel for safety. I quickly dug a poop pit.
The Devil's Highway continues to Yuma while a branch road goes north towards Interstate 8 and Colfred, Arizona. I had less than a half tank of gas and had not shifted higher than 2nd gear all day. I considered heading towards Colfred but decided to head for Yuma instead.
I scouted the area for an hour or so and was all alone. Then I set up my tent and started to cook dinner. Two carloads of campers arrived from Billings, Montana. Like I, they were escaping the cold and enjoying the remoteness of the desert.
The Tule Well water tank was surrounded by a tall, heavy chain link fence. |
A steep trail led to the Tule Well Boy Scout monument. |
I left Tule Well and headed west around 9 AM. The road was smooth and wide. This section was mostly sand and clay. Every evening the Border Patrol drags a rig of old truck tires over the road. Then they look for footprints and tire tracks in the smooth surface after the sun sets. During the day tourists and recreational dune buggy riders frequent the road from Yuma to Tule Well. I saw several throughout the daylight hours.
The desert floor near the mountains consisted of 1/4 inch size gravel that weathered from the mountain. It was as if the mountain was getting sunburned and shed it's skin for thousands of years. Literally the mountain was being buried in it's own detritus.
A smooth and wide section of the Devil's Highway west of Tule Well. |
Old tires strung together create a road smoothing rig for the Border Patrol. |
The Sonoran desert continued to bloom profusely but the variety of flowers thinned after I left the dry lake. Around almost every turn I saw new arrangements of flowering shrubs and small plants. All looked so carefully and artistically arranged that it was hard to believe someone did not plant them. They were arranged by the hand of nature and she did a wonderful job!
After I passed the Tinajas Atlas mountains the desert opened to a wide plain and the final stretch of my journey to Yuma.
Orange cactus flowers surrounded by stiff and sharp needles. |
An open and sandy desert past the Tinajas Atlas mountains. |
I took a detour just before Yuma to visit an old mine. Now maintained as an historical site the remains of the outbuildings were carefully documented with narrative signs. I looked for a tailings pile and found several but it was too hot to dig for minerals. I continued on over rough roads, careened through desert washes and finally arrived at the western edge of Yuma around 2 PM. A sign marked the end of Devil's Highway and a paved road was in sight. The journey was wonderful and I saw incredible beauty. I knew that I would be back next year. I never met with physical danger which I credited with the diligent work of the Border Patrol. They are amazing people and work hard to keep us all safe from the criminals and drugs that all too easily flow through our porous border with Mexico.
I spent the night in a Motel 6 in Yuma and then headed to California.
The Davis Plain on the west side of the Tinajas Atlas mountains. |
Journey's end after three days on the infamous Devil's Highway! |
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Heading for Mexico Page 2 |
Tim's Life Main Table of Contents |
Travel Table of Contents |
Page 4 Cinder Cone and Patton's Museum |
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