Kofa National Wildlife Refuge - January 2020

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Part two of our winter adventure. Click here for Part One.

Tanked for New Years

It was an easy drive to Kofa National Wildlife Refuge from the Mojave. We arrived mid afternoon even with the time change from Pacific to Mountain Standard Time. Getting through the dreaded Quartzsite area was not too bad. The white cancer (RV's parked everywhere) was evident but had not yet spread and engulfed every piece of flat ground for square miles around this annual RV ritual site.

Solitude greeted us after our 4x4 drive out to Horse Tanks. We set up camp.

The storm that dumped snow in the Mojave provided rain here in the Castle Dome Mountains. Bedrock depressions - called tanks or tinajas - that capture and hold water from rain events are vital for survival in these arid lands. We were excited to find so much new water and found this a very special time to visit here. In the late afternoon we climbed high above the Horse Tanks.

The weather remained cloudy and cold. 

Cholla had cast off their flowers.

The next morning we explored the Gray Tanks on our early morning coffee walk and, again, were so pleased with our timing with the abundance of water after the rain.

We spent the day hiking, climbing, and exploring the high drainages that came together at the Gray Tanks. It was cold but the wind was not bad as we set off. Ancient trails run through this area.

This is the land of Saguaro, Ocotillo, and Cholla.

This was an thrilling landscape to move through.

We reached a high point and took in the view to the north - across King Valley with the Kofa Mountains beyond.

We descended an adjoining drainage and continued our wandering and explorations.

The Lady continuously commented on the seams of quartz that filled cracks in the welded volcanic tuft.

Natural shelters were abundant and we explored every one we could.

We approached a drop off with a plunge pool below.

As we stood  at the top of the small waterfall, we spotted a man below us in the canyon. The Lady waved to him.

"Do you know where the petroglyphs are?" he called up. "My name is Hari as in hurry hurry hurry."

We down climbed and introduced ourselves to this energetic young man from India.

"Yes, we know where the petroglyphs are," I answered.

"Can you show them to me? It would save me so much time. I drove all the way out here from San Diego," Hari explained.

"Sure," the Lady answered.

"Oh good! Thank you! But first I must show you something. This is very important. You must come with me!"

We followed Hari to the back side of a boulder. A natural shelf held several small grinding holes called cupules. Hari also pointed out faded pictographs above the cupules. We wondered if we would have found them without Hari's insistence. We thanked him.

We relaxed along the running water, snacked and drank while Hari filmed the site he had found. We then enjoyed showing Hari the three main rock art sites, shelters, and bedrock mortars that show long use and habitation of this area. In talking and sharing stories with Hari, we soon discovered we have a mutual acquaintance in the ancient rock art community.

It was a pleasure to meet Hari. We passed on information about a site he could visit the next day in the Kofa Mountains and he shared a site we could possibly search for as we traveled further east in Arizona.

Thunderstorm clouds built in the south the next morning as we broke camp. We wondered and would watch to see how this may impact our day.

We drove only ten miles to our next camp spot but the drive on rough roads took over two hours. We found a comfortable spot at the mouth of another canyon cut into the Castle Dome Mountains. It had warmed to an amazing and delightful 60°! The sky was blue above. Since it was early in the day we took advantage, opened everything up, and dried and aired out our camper and bedding. After the days of storm and cold, this was a wonderful turn in the weather.

We were camped below a spot on our topographic map called "Little White Tanks." We were anxious to explore. A natural shelter caught our eye as we entered the canyon.

We found faded pictographs on the walls and ceilings.

The Lady did a thorough search.

The Lady decided we needed to climb and investigate all the shelters above.

She searched with her see mores.............

.......and we continued up to the ridge top that offered expansive views.

We continued out the ridge. The views allowed us to orient ourselves to new landmarks. We dropped down into the headwaters of Little White Tanks.

This was still the land of saguaro and ocotillo.

Further down the deepening canyon we reached the top of a pourover into a deep plunge pool. If it had been warmer, we may have been tempted to go for a swim.

This had been an important site in the distant past as shown by mortars and faded petroglyphs.

There was one "cowboy glyph" from 1909.

We continued downstream.

One tank has been created in recent times with a small dam. We posed for pictures at the USF&W game camera set up to record visitors.

The natural pool below the dam was the largest of the tanks. Fencing was placed to keep domestic livestock out of the water.

We down climbed to the pool and found petroglyphs lined the walls enclosing the tank.

We were within sight of our truck and camper.

For fun, we decided to climb the wall on the left and descend into a smaller connecting canyon to return to camp to watch the last of the storm that had skirted around us all day.

Somewhere during the down climb along the large tanks, the Lady remarked, "We got tanked on New Year's Eve!"

"Well, since we don't drink," I added. "This is the best way to get tanked."

It was New Year's Eve. We should celebrate. To do so we walked out to a small high point about a half mile from camp and watched the last light and shadows of 2019 move across the landscape and call the year to a close.

2020 came in with perfect weather. Our map showed that the road we camped along continued about a mile further and ended at the base of a small point. We used the easy walk out the road to reach our next area for exploration.

Each small canyon emptying out of Castle Dome Mountains was ripe for exploration and adventure.

We rounded the point and took a bearing from our location on our topographic map to Figueroa Tanks using a compass. The Lady removed her compass from the map, held the compass in the proper position, rotated her body until the magnetic needle was "boxed" in the needle outline, and thusly took the bearing from the map to the field. She found a distant landmark that was on the bearing line that we could hike toward, therefore keeping us on the proper direction of travel. Using the scale of the map (1:24,000) we estimated the distance to our destination. We started hiking.

As we say - in a hop, skip, and a jump - we arrived at Figueroa Tanks.

Our next objective was Saguaro Tank, another spot labeled on our topo map. It was around three miles cross country from Figueroa Tanks. We came upon tinajas holding water in a beautiful bedrock section of a wide wash we crossed.

We intersected a road not shown on our map. The road ended at the Castle Dome Wilderness boundary.

We again got a bearing from our map to take to the field. The Lady started out on that direction of travel line that would take us to Saguaro Tank.

As the raven flies, Saguaro Tank was 1.5 miles away from this location.

This was an incredible landscape to travel through as it was full of wonders.

Brittlebrush was the only flowering plant we saw.

We entered a small steep canyon and climbed up to the developed tank also outfitted with a game camera. Red lights flashed recording our arrival.

This was a marvelous day wandering through and exploring new territory for us. It was also excellent practice using our navigation skills to find the points we wanted to reach. It was soon time to head back down the canyon.

This was our last full day in Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The day was warm allowing us to comfortably hike in short sleeves. We had plenty of time to reach camp - six miles away - before dark. But even if darkness came, we'd have no problem moving in the night. Confidence built from years of experience brings a calmness that envelopes our backcountry adventures and negates any need or desire to hurry. Why rush through this exceptional place?

After another blissfully quiet night, we packed up the next morning and headed further east into Arizona's backcountry. 

Click here for Part Three.