Tag Archives: camping

Snowbirding 2018 Postcards: At Buckskin Mountain State Park

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The original plan for my first two days away from the Quartzsite area was to stay in Parker, AZ, at the Bluewater Casino. There’s overnight parking there, as well as a boat ramp and marina. But when I got to Parker on Thursday, I realized that it was the weekend of the big Parker 425 off-road race. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that crazy event so close to the weekend.

So I continued driving up Route 95 in the Arizona side of the river until I reached Buckskin Mountain state park. That’s where I got a campsite in the “cabana” area right on the river. The cabanas are cinderblock structures, open on front and back, with a picnic table inside and a grill outside. You back into a parking space in front of your cabana and use it as part of your site. It’s not perfect, but it does make a nice, easy place to hang out outdoors in the shade. Best of all, there’s a power outlet, so I can enjoy little luxuries like my microwave and don’t have to worry about running down the battery when I watch a DVD at night. And who could complain about a waterfront campsite?

View from my site.

On Friday morning, I took a short hike to a viewpoint overlooking the camp. That’s when I confirmed something I suspected the evening before: I’d been to this campground before. It had been about 10 years ago, when I was still married. My wasband had come with me to a two-day aerial photo gig for the Parker 425. I’d flown the helicopter while he’d driven out with my first camping trailer, a Starcraft tent camper hybrid. We spent the night at Buckskin and he’d complained — what else is new? — about all the retired guys who walked by and tried to chat him up. We’d walked up to that same viewpoint during our short stay. I know that if I looked hard enough in my archives, I’d find the photos I took there.

Buckskin Mountain State Park, from the overlook trail.

Although I’d intended on continuing along the 1-mile loop trail yesterday morning, a cool breeze started up while I was chatting with another camper at the viewpoint bench. I decided to go back to camp and do the longer hike when I was better prepared with water and a sweatshirt if I needed it.

Buckskin is a nice place to stay — if you like camping in campgrounds. There are scheduled activities, such as Friday night campfires, which I attended last night, and Saturday ranger-led hikes, which I’ll join today. There are free DVD rentals and a trading paperback library. There’s also a bookstore/gift shop. The Tuesday ice cream social, which I’ll miss, is probably a real hit with the retirees who stay here. And while it’s a shame the marina store is closed, being the only one using the dock for my boat is kind of nice.

Campfire at the park.

Snowbirding 2018 Postcards: Boating to Lunch at Parker

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I’ve resumed my travels after nearly two months in southwestern Arizona and Southeastern California. The next 10 days or so will be spent making my way north along the Colorado River, with various stops in campgrounds where I can launch my little boat and get out on the water.

And that’s exactly what I did yesterday. I’ve got a riverfront campsite at Buckskin State Park north of Parker, AZ. I launched my boat yesterday morning and, after changing into shorts and a sleeveless shirt — in February! — Penny and I made the 9+ mile drive downriver to the Bluewater Casino in Parker.

The engine started rough with the usual excess of smoke but soon smoothed out and the smoke went away. I brought it up to nearly full throttle, which got me a whopping 30 miles per hour of speed. The ride down was on nearly glassy water; other than a handful of kayakers, I was the only boater out there.

The Bluewater has a huge marina with dozens of empty slips, but I pulled in at a waterfront restaurant called The Cantina, where I was able to dock right out front.

My boat docked at the Cantina on the Colorado River.

The Cantina was mostly a bar and I had low expectations of the food on the small menu. With relatively low prices, I expected small servings, too. I was wrong on both points. The smoked tri-tip on flatbread with melted mozzarella was big and tasty. I ate outside in the sun, overlooking the river and marina. I wound up taking the chili cheese fries back to camp with me; I later reheated them with dinner.

I headed back at around 1:30 PM. By that time, the restaurant was busy with newly arrived weekenders in town for the big truck race and there were more boats on the stretch of river between Parker and Buckskin. I motored back at around the same speed. Back at Buckskin, I parked at the marina dock, which was technically closed; I thought it would be easier and safer than anchoring it in the water at my campsite, especially with the changes in water levels due to dam releases upstream.

It had been my first boat outing in over a month and it felt good to be out on the water again. I’ll take it out again today and tomorrow and then move it to Lake Havasu, just upriver from Parker Dam, on Monday.

Snowbirding 2018 Postcards: RTR from the Air

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I’m still in Quartzsite — I’ll be here for two more weeks — and I kept hearing about something called RTR. I knew that it was a gathering of RVers out in the desert east of Quartzsite, and I had heard from one participant that there were 3,000 RVs parked out there. Yesterday afternoon, I decided to take my drone out there for a look.

Quartzsite is surrounded by BLM land. For the most part, you can camp there for up to 14 days at a time for free. (There are some areas closer to town that provide services such as garbage dumpsters and outhouses and require a fee.) One of these free areas can be accessed by a roughly paved freeway service road that ends suddenly with a right-hand turn to the south. From there, the road is narrow and unpaved and cuts into the desert. This is the path you follow to get to the 2018 RTR campsite.

I estimate that I drove about 8 miles from town to reach an area jam-packed with RVs. The types of RVs ranged from rickety vans to costly Class A motorhomes. They were parked alongside anything that could be remotely considered a road. There were vehicles driving around — very slowly, I should add, to keep the dust down — and the campsites had plenty of people milling around. I parked my truck at a road intersection near a sign that said “No Camping Beyond this Point” and set up my drone in the bed of the pickup for launching.

I did two flights from the pickup bed. The first was a high-level flight that circled the camping area, taking video and still shots of the entire site. I was about 400 feet up for these.

This first shot is from the southeast, looking back toward Quartzsite, which you can see at the base of the mountains in the top left:

RTR Quartzsite 2018

This shot is more from the south west. You can see the road I drove in on cutting diagonally across the top right of the photo, as well as semis on the freeway off in the distance:

RTR Quartzsite 2018

For the second flight, I flew at about 150 feet — low enough to get some detail without bothering the folks on the ground. (I should emphasize here that I never flew over people — I always flew around the perimeter of the event.) Again, I took several still images and a few short video clips.

This shot was from the west of the event looking back to the east. I’d love to explore that road that winds up into the mountains.

RTR Quartzsite 2018

This shot was from a bit lower. You can see my truck in the lower right corner.

RTR Quartzsite 2018

Keep in mind that this is only one of the many areas where people are camped out in the desert here. I’ll share more photos as the place continues to fill up.

Also, please remember that these photos are copyrighted and may not be shared without permission. You may link to this page but you may not reproduce these images elsewhere. I am a commercial drone pilot with a lot invested in my equipment and training. If you want to buy any of my images for reproduction as postcards or posters, contact me.

Snowbirding 2018 Postcards: Camping at the Holtville Hot Spring LTVA

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The Holtsville Hot Spring in Southern California is a BLM — that’s Bureau of Land Management — managed property just off of I-8 east of Holtville. The property features a maintained hot spring with two soaking tubs and a hot shower, a 14 day free camping area, and a long-term visitor area (LTVA) where camping is available for $40 for two weeks or $180 for the entire season.

I arrived here on Thursday with my friend Janet and we camped out for the night in the free 14 day area. We had a nice soak in the hot tub the following morning and then Janet departed for Yuma and Quartzsite. I stayed behind. I decided that I wanted to spend a few days in the area and I splurged for the $40, 2-week camping permit. I can use the remaining time next week at another LTVA in California or Arizona.

The main benefit to camping in the area north of the freeway is that it is easier to access the hot spring via a hard-packed dirt road that I can take my bicycle on. The sites are spread apart and because there are some trees in the area, there’s a certain level of privacy. The farther away you go from the hot spring and freeway, the quieter it is and the fewer campers are around you. I’m about half a mile away and can’t really hear the freeway at all.

The folks who stay in places like this are serious about off the grid camping. Just about every single rig out here is equipped with at least one solar panel. I have yet to hear a generator running. There are no power, water, or sewer hook ups or even a dumping station. The only luxury convenience is a set of dumpsters so you can get rid of your trash. I noticed more than a few folks filling up gallon sized jugs at the hot spring from a hose that’s provided just for that purpose; I’d like to think that they wash with this water and don’t actually drink it.

Almost all of my fellow campers are retirees and I estimate that at least half of them live on the road full-time. The types of campers range from slide in truck campers like mine to luxury Class A motorhomes pulling cargo trailers or cars. More than a few people have motorcycles or ATVs. People are friendly and often stop to chat while walking or biking by with their dogs.

I sent the Mavic up for picture of my campsite today. Here’s one that gives you a good idea of the area around me.

This photo faces south on an overcast, hazy day. Normally, you’d be able to see mountains in Mexico, which is only 6 or 7 miles away. If you’re wondering why I didn’t back all the way into the campsite, it’s because there are a lot of soft, sandy spots that I could get stuck in. Because I’m only staying here a few days and because I can use my bicycle to ride between my campsite and the hot spring, I didn’t bother taking the camper off the truck. I did, however, lower the legs to steady it so it wouldn’t rock so when I’m inside. The photo makes the place look kind of dreary but I think it’s today’s overcast skies more than anything else. The weather has been in the 70s every day, dropping to the 40s at night. This is the first overcast day I’ve had in over a week, but there’s still enough solar radiation to charge the camper’s batteries.

Snowbirding 2018 Postcards: Holtville Hot Spring

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My friend Janet and I arrived at the Holtville Hot Spring this afternoon just in time to get a nice shot of the lagoon. We’ll go for a soak in the tubs in the morning. Janet will head back to Wickenburg afterward, but I think I’ll stick around here for a while. It’s so nice not to have a schedule.