Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - Yuma - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge - Quartzsite

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - Yuma - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge - Quartzsite, AZ

January 30 - February 10, 2019

On Wednesday, January 30 we left Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and headed for Yuma for a utility stop.  We stayed at Villa Alameda RV Park, and although it was a nice neat and clean park there were too many rules about laundry so we probably wouldn't stay there again.  It looked like many years ago it used to be an orange grove as there were still trees there.  We were allowed to pick oranges and minneolas and they were delicious.

On Friday, February 1 we drove to MST&T Road on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and spent eight days boondocking there.  Friends Cleve and Debbie joined us after two days.  It was beautiful, peaceful and quiet.  The ocotillos have started getting leaves on them.

On Thursday, February 7 we drove down to Castle Dome Mines Museum and Ghost Town, about an hour away from our campsite.  In 1878 the mining town area was actually larger than Yuma.  The mining started in 1864 and ended in 1979 when silver prices dropped.  The current owners opened a small museum in 1998.  Then Fish and Wildlife decided to take everything left from the mining era off of Kofa land.  The buildings were scattered over five miles.  The owners of the museum requested permission to take all of the old buildings and artifacts and bring them to the museum and permission was granted.  There were over 300 mines in the area and the owners pulled as many artifacts out of them that they could.  Now there is a town where you can go through all the old buildings and see the artifacts.

There was the newspaper and printing shop,

some old Levi's they found in the mines, along with an old quilt,

and a drilling rig.

This ore bucket was used to take people in and out of the mine.  It could go as deep as 200 feet.  Somehow I just can't see myself doing that.

I thought the story of these wagons was interesting.  In 1878 the Castle Dome Mine had the largest wagons in the world built.  They cost $2,000 each, could carry 20 tons (about the same as a semi-tractor trailer), and a loaded wagon would take 40 horses or mules to pull it.  The front wheels were 5 feet high, and the back were 7 feet high.  You can click on the picture to read more about them.

This is the first shelter a miner would build where he could be comfortable (comfortable is relative) while he built his cabin.  The roof was built from ocotillo branches.

There was the bank,

the machine shop,

the saw shop,

the blacksmith,

the dress shop,

the church,

and of course several saloons.

There was a hotel,

and with those saloons you're going to need a jail.

Look closely, can you see the gentleman who might have stayed a little too long?

There was the mercantile, sort of an old-timey Walmart.

The woman who owned this stove was rich indeed.

This is the stamp mill.  They are in the process of getting it to run again.

If you're driving between Yuma and Quartzsite on AZ95 you will see the Stone Cabin on the west side of the road.  Much of the cabin is intact.  It was built by the French in the 1700s and over the years has served as a pony express stop, stagecoach stop, a stopping point for miners, and eventually from the 1950s to 1998 a cafe and gas station.  Here is the history of the cabin and some pictures of the things from the cabin that belonged to the owners.

It cost $15 per person to go through the buildings.  Although it was interesting our recommendation is if you have $15 burning a hole in your pocket and you're nearby then go see it.  Otherwise don't make a special trip.

On the way to the museum we saw this blimp.  It looks like a big fish in the sky.  They use it as border security.

On Friday Debbie and I took a walk up the road and when we got back we found these two working hard.

We drove to Crystal Hill to look for quartz crystals but the area is pretty much picked over.  The road in is really rough so our recommendation is don't waste your time.  I did find the two larger ones and John found the smaller one.  They're hard to get a picture of but the larger one has little tiny crystals forming on one end.  The middle one is more translucent but it didn't show up.  The little one you can tell is a crystal.  So much for our rockhounding. 

Here are some pictures I took of the sunset Friday night.

Saturday, February 9 we moved to Shady Lane RV Park in Quartzsite.  It has full hookups and we were able to get the cleaning and laundry done.

Monday morning we head to Lake Havasu for Winter Blast Pyrotechnics Show.  It's a week of fireworks every night.  From what I understand the makers of fireworks come here to show off their fireworks to prospective buyers for cities and towns.  If that's not correct I'll let you know in the next blog.

Roving on...