Back Home Again... in the DESERT (May 2017)

Joshua Trees at Sunrise

After four months living in sticks and bricks helping a friend and a small medical scare that turned out to be a little benign tumor in my airway, I am back home again where I belong.  I am a very happy camper.  (turns out that thing was what was making me cough all the time)  Doctors have advised me to keep away from campfires and forest fires so I will not be allowed to return to campground hosting work.  And I will not be able to grind and polish anymore rocks without a professional respirator/filter.  SOOOO... sometimes our lives take a surprising turn, but it's all good.

Caught up with van dweller/now sticks and Bricks dweller, Bryce.  He has a great little place north of town... and has tamed it... note green grass and his rose bushes.

We walked downhill into this Wheeler Canyon... then along the canyon past a slot, then back up another road to a ridge and along the ridge returning to the car. It was a long hike, 3 hrs??? Loved it. Bryce is great company and a good hiking buddy.

Bryce heading down Wheeler Canyon

Sometimes nature is a little gross.  A rabbit head.

Then, on the other hand, nature gives you this wild beauty.

Look, a slot canyon.

There is this BFR (Archaeology speak for "Big F_ _ _ ing Rock")
wedged in the slot.  Neat.

Bryce inside the slot canyon.

Looking straight up from inside the slot.

Looking straight down on Google Earth.

I came, I saw, I conquered. Well it almost conquered me, but after a one-hour nap, I bounced back.

People sometimes bury ashes in the desert and leave memorials.  A little farther on we found a recent one for some one's dog.  In the slot canyon there were a couple more up inside a hole in the wall of the slot.

I love horses and wild horses especially.  Found traces, this dung was fresh, but no horses.  Oh, I would so love to have them visit my camp.

In spite of the wind, wind almost blew my heavy suitcase solar panels away, I was able to cook my supper in the solar oven once. Gosh I love the solar oven. I am so happy to be back in the wilderness, and even happier that Bryce showed me some other spots farther up the mountain where I could camp. There was even fresh wild horse dung up there... so I may move up there for a couple nights in hopes of seeing them. I'll be spending more time here in the future.

Horse tracks and dung everywhere, but no horses.  One camper told me he had not seen any in three weeks.  As it gets hotter and dryer, they go higher in the mountains where there is more water.  Here is one I saw a few years ago when I camped here, pre-RTR days.

Wild horse near Pahrump, 2010.

Awesome flowers everywhere.  Some folk see the desert as boring and dab and brown.  You have to get out and walk around to find these colorful little treasures.

I am always intrigued to find mushrooms in the desert.

 

My grandmother had Pussy-Willow bushes in her yard.  These blooming Creosote bushes remind me of Pussy-Willows.  In the background off the the left you can see my white rig.

I love camping among the Joshua Trees.

 Sometimes the most amazing things are very small.  You have to get out there and walk about slowly to see them.

Thanks for hiking with me, Bryce.

I do so love being back in the desert wilderness.  I can never live in a city again.

So, now I am making final preparations for hiking the Arizona Trail, trying to work out all the logistics, where to store the trailer, where to leave the van, if I will leave it at various points along the way, so that it's not far away should plans change, or whatever.  Lots of details.  Still need some gear... i.e. trekking poles, a better side-opening tent, better rain gear, and a few other things.  Just this week there was a large fire in Passage 5 area... closing 45,000 acres, and closing the trail.  So, all that needs to be taken into consideration as well.  But being unable to go to the camphosting job I had accepted for this season, gives me time to do all this planning and get it all worked out, and to train.  This is going to happen.

If you have offered to help be ground support and are available this fall for that, please email me and tell me what areas you can assist with.  Charlene.swankie@gmail.com  (Stalkers need not apply. LOL)

Las Vegas to Elko, NV (a major transition)

I arrived in Henderson, NV feeling tired and decided the traffic was kinda freaking me out after being in the desert for six months… so I found the nearest large casino/hotel and just mellowed out a few days. Rested, I decided it was time to go find my brother, since he had not responded to any Facebook messages or emails.  Last I knew, he worked at the Tropicana… so I went there.  Ugh… traffic.

Sat., March 31, 2012: They sent me to the Rio and the Rio sent me across the street to the Palms Casino Resort. Finally found him, had dinner, and he walked me out to the street where we discovered the strip had just gone dark for the Earth Hour… that was neat.

April 1, 2012 Las Vegas Sun: For one hour on Saturday, darkness will replace the bright pink neon glowing on the Flamingo and bulbs twinkling on Fremont Street casinos as part of a global environmental awareness event.

World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour returns to Las Vegas for the fourth consecutive year, and dozens of Strip and downtown properties are participating by turning off their non-essential exterior lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

I spent the night in the Rio parking lot as I really should not drive in the dark and woke to a view of every major casino in Vegas.  Trump Tower, Treasure Island, Wynn, the Mirage, Caesars Palace, the Rio and of course the Palms. (note to self… don’t park overnight in Rio parking lot… train tracks right beside the lot and it’s a party place for young folk who don’t sleep)

		Las Vegas, from my van-living-room. VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My brother and his wife, have a fancy big BIG house. I was getting fixated on T.V. again... so I had to get out of there. Also allergies acting up over his two very loveable little dogs. Why do I have to cry every time I leave someone else's pets that I get attached to?

People – T.V. watching; Dogs – Swankie-watching.

Such cute little pups (baby brother,
and his little Grayson).

Big house, lovely home and yard, and pool.  Good visit.  (Sorry to have missed my other relatives in Vegas, but I gotta go find fresh air.  See you next time around.)

Back on the road again... and what have I got... too much wind and lots of tumbleweeds. I kept thinking of the tune to the old cowboy favorite "Tumbling Tumbleweeds."  Who sang that?

A little ways north of Vegas is a spot all Vandwellers should take note of. I spotted the water and had to take a closer look. If not for the wind... I would have camped right there for a few days and paddled the whole darned thing, but after six months not kayaking, I was in no mood to battle wind and I had a headache. This is the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and camping for 14 days is allowed and free (first come first served).. small town of Alamo 3.5 miles away. 

Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge–Valley of Shining Water.

Lots of waterfowl.  230 species… I only saw about four.  Really want to spend a couple weeks there.

They even had a Photo Blind there. Never saw one of those before. This is a special place.  And they even have petroglyphs… which I also did not see.

Can't I ever get away from airborne allergens???  A controlled agricultural burn.

This is the scenery of my child's/mind's eye... I used to draw horses running across such landscape... when I was a little kid. Who threw all my drawings away?

White River Narrows Archaeological District.  Now why the heck did I pass this up... wondering as I drove by... what kind of archaeology is out here. Duh!!!! Petroglyphs. What kind of archeologist am I???

So I made it to Ely before dark and settled into a casino parking lot. It was 74 degrees inside the van. By morning it was 47 degrees and I had three inches of snow on top of my solar panel. That had to go. SNOW... there is snow on my van????  SNOW, I tell you, SNOW! This is a heck of a coming-out-of-the-desert party. NOW, I miss Quartzsite's warmth (It is 70 degree F there today).

Something occurred to me last night… not putting my brother down or anything BUTT they are very proud of their material accomplishments and possessions and they value the VALUE of things.  On the other hand, vandwellers I have met (including myself) seem to be equally proud of what we don’t own/possess and we tend to brag about how little we spend and how frugal we can live… and still have a great quality of life.  Just saying…

Other Considerations to give more consideration to:

Ely, NV. It has to get better than this... the snow I mean. O.K. some things I didn't consider: 1) where are my warm gloves and winter clothes? 2) how do I get snow off my solar panel and roof rack and trailer roof??? Keep the ladder a little more handy.

Ely gets exciting in June I guess…  with bathtub races???    http://www.elynevada.net/events/bathvideo2.html

I saw a parking lot next to a hotel/casino that had plug-ins for campers and RVers.  Several men were on top of their rigs this morning pushing the snow off.  Consider SNOW and how to get up to your solar panels.  You might try to avoid snow at all costs, but it can sneak up on your while you sleep.

Plan for today… or sometime this week… find winter clothes and gloves… and get the ladder out and more easily accessible.

Well, that was fun.  Resupplied.  Saw this GB vehicle in the store lot.  Found a side street up the hill near the P.O. and parked.  Heard a whiney outside… and looked out to see this…

How special is that?  It doesn’t get any better than this, until tomorrow.  (That should be me! lol)

Altitude: 

Six months at 882' in Quartzsite. Then a week in Vegas at 2,000+'. Now Ely, NV 6,427' and next Elko NV at 5,060'. Then to Salt Lake City, UT at 4,226'. Then Rifle CO at 5,650' until job starts up the mountain near there to 9,000 feet. Good question. Can I do it. I think the headache and breathing problems were triggered by the pollution of Las Vegas valley (it's really bad folks) and the two dogs at my brother's (and the vegetative state I got myself into checking out their 'thousands of t.v. channels." I live outside because I will die inside. Already with a migraine pill and sinus treatments, my head is clearing... now to get the chest to clear up. Fresh mountain air (cleaned by the snowfall last night). Will just rest here in Ely until I feel better. Blogging, sleeping, blogging and sleeping. Lots to do in this here van-home... and I"m never bored.