A Simple Morning Walk

Some people say there is nothing to see in the desert. I don’t agree; you just have to have a camera slung around your neck and notice. Here, I’ll show you on this morning’s walk what I saw.

A blazing orange and yellow tangled mass of flowers belongs to the Mexican (or red) Bird of Paradise; actually these are quite popular here in landscaping and are breathtakingly bright. They attract hummingbirds.

An early morning shot of the golf course, quiet enough to almost catch the rabbits eating. Mother quail dives with her babies into the brush before I can fire off my camera.

Farther along, a magnificent cactus flower perched alone at the top like a crowning glory. And another.

Still in the same yard, some motion catches my eye running along the privacy wall and lo and behold, it’s the elusive roadrunner! He pauses long enough just to pose then is off across the yard diving for cover.

Like pimples on a youth’s face, this cactus is covered with the flotsam of spent blossoms.

Right around the corner is a beautiful agave thrusting its bloom skyward amongst its friends; the Saguaros and Pygmy palms looking on jealously.

I capture a flowering tree; some type of Acacia it appears from the leaf structure, and finally arrive at the reason I brought out my camera this morning. I am astounded to see what appears to be a plumeria flowering but had thought plumerias aren’t supposed to bloom or grow where it is so arid; don’t they need the tropical moisture and humidity of places like Hawaii? But what else could this be then? I’m dying to step up and take a sniff of the tropics but fear trespassing right into someone’s front steps so I merely dial in the zoom on my camera so I can get a little closer, then head for home.

Running the River

We’re still neophytes at boating the Colorado River but we’ve made some interesting observations on our two short forays. Most boats using the river in this section are of three basic types: inboard fiberglass go-fast, party barge pontoon style, or the flat-floor bass fishing boats. Nowhere does one see the larger cabin cruisers with deep V drafts. This mighty river, amazingly, is just too shallow for that! Aluminum boats like ours are such a rarity (we saw none) that we were amused to find everyone waving to us as they passed until we were driving out the first time and happened to pass a sheriff pulling his official boat—exactly just about like ours! We figure everyone was initialing mistaking us for the police so that was certainly a moment for hilarity!

As mentioned in my previous post, it appears as though the river level can fluctuate daily; enough so that it would be beneficial if we can come across some website that might make mention of the dam releases in terms of water flow and also when they may be planned. *Later update; I did find a Bureau of Reclamation site which gives water flows historically by gage location and the flows seem to vary to make a difference of between one and three feet of water, with lowest levels usually occurring shortly after midnight and increasing throughout the day. The problem becomes anticipating what days in the future will have the higher flows or conversely, if one wants to just hang out on a sandbar, which will have the low flows.

As you can tell from some of these pictures, the sand bars are not always above water to visually make note of, so the driver has to constantly stay on the alert. The first picture will give you a good idea; the river up to the point of the sandbar is running about 9-10 feet deep when suddenly it shoals quickly to 1.5 feet! Surprisingly too, most of the sandbars are in the middle of the river, not along shorelines; some even crossing the entire width of the river save for maybe 15 feet out from both banks, necessitating single file boating in those sections. We often have to jump sides when one side gets too shallow for comfort. Our depth/fish finder has never been so important a tool. This is definitely not hit the throttle and go type boating as we could enjoy in Coos Bay’s 35-50 feet depths.

Our latest trip out had us doing a little exploring in what are known as the backwaters of this labyrinth water system. The reeds and elephant grass along the main shorelines hide the fact that there are numerous other bodies of water paralleling the main channel. Some of these we found are actually large ponds and lakes which on Monday we had entirely to ourselves. The channels wind in narrow passages and with our motor tipped up and running just barely above idle, they were a fascination to explore. In one in particular we marked, Marc noted many schools of fish; more than likely crappie. Exploring these back waters and lying there at anchor in total quietude will probably become one of our favorite pastimes. We’ll be back out there again as soon as we can get the parts for the boat repair!

The Second Time is Not a Charm

We didn’t get a real early start for our second try at the Colorado River but we were pulling away from Squaw Lake launch before 10:30 a.m. Since it is a Monday, the river traffic has quieted significantly from the weekend and we nearly have it to ourselves until we see a few boats around Fisher’s Landing, the first major marina, fuel stop and settlement.

As we move farther upstream the mountains get closer, steeper, and the topography a lot more interesting. The tall elephant grass, impenetrable, still grows a solid shield wall fifteen feet high along the riverbank. Suddenly the small boat ahead of us pulls over to the base of some rocky cliff sides and starts snapping photos when I see movement and shout to Marc “big horn sheep!” I am able to snap a couple of quick pictures then I take over driving the boat while Marc gets some with his camera. The first two photos of the sheep have been enhanced to better show their color and definition but I left the other shots Marc took untouched. Can you spot the two sheep in the last photo? They blend in so well with this rocky terrain is it any wonder they are elusive to see? This is part of the Imperial Wildlife Refuge and even given the sparse vegetation the sheep look sleek and well fed. The one was at times standing on hind legs to eat the taller branches of the desert Palo Verde tree, only occasionally bothering to glance down at us.

Almost directly across from the sheep rocks, we note some ruins. Our river map is not real good on reference points so we are not sure what these buildings originally were. They almost look like a bridge abutment but there is no matching set on the opposite shore and if we’re where we think we are on the map, it merely reads “cable hole”. We motor on.

Not too much farther to reach our goal of Pichaco Recreation Area, the area visited on Memorial Day in the Dodge, but Marc decides he is hungry so we pull up to a sandbar and toss anchor in the middle of the river. It is very peaceful; we’re alone save for the rustling of the elephant grass in the breeze, the bullfrog croaking and birds twittering. Bird life thrives along the river. There are no sounds of civilization and to be surrounded by such a vast empty wilderness is amazing.

We pull anchor and precede about 150 yards when our motor once again starts sputtering and quits. Well, here we are, another day short of our goal. Marc pulls out the paddle to keep us from hitting the bank and we proceed to slowly drift downstream. After about a half hour of this, Marc tries to get the engine going again and with a few little fiddles here and there it manages to roar to life. Not wanting to take the risk of continuing upriver, we head for the launch at allowable speed.

The river is different today, not only from the standpoint of being nearly empty of traffic; it is also higher. The sandbars that were 4-6 inches out of the water on the weekend are now awash with at least a foot or more of water, but we find one not too far from the launch that is just looking a little too inviting to pass up since the water temperature is reading 80 degrees and the air temperatures are reaching about 110. Marc anchors, wades out and starts assembling our umbrella and setting up the lawn chairs. A couple of cold ones and we’re all set to enjoy relaxing for a few hours! “Wow, this river-dog stuff is really “cool” isn’t it, Dear?”

Just Living

I have the same routine every morning as I get up. Coffee first of course, then I open up the front door wide open to let in the cooler dawn air as I walk outside and start the fountain. I now have four hummingbirds coming, literally, at the crack of dawn every morning to start feeding and it continues voraciously throughout the day. I have found they even hover above the first tier of the fountain and either drink or bathe. They perch in the Palo Verde tree out front and cheep and guard: they have moved in.

Marc and I continue to make improvements to our space here but on a slower schedule than previously due to the days heating up. We usually hibernate during the afternoon hours. Evenings have still been pleasant however, so we frequently have our neighbors stopping over for a cold one and some chat as we sit outside by the fountain.

Marc is accomplishing some shelving and new wiring (220) in his sea container, trying to sort the other sheds and truly turning it into his Happy Place. We finally finished all the touch up painting on all the sheds.

I determined that my potted plants purchased earlier just weren’t going to make it with their roots cooking so I transplanted the bougainvillea and hibiscus into the ground and they started behaving much better. Our neighbor had given us a small palm which needed some TLC so that remains but in a huge, new pot. I myself (with Marc’s instruction) ran the irrigation lines to all of the above. The jury is still out on whether our three tomato plants will truly produce this far into the summer; they get blossoms which aren’t setting too well. If we remain in the area we are thinking of building a raised bed and trying for fall planting of a full blown vegetable garden. Believe it or not, I have never gardened before and I am actually looking forward to the experience.

Best of all, we had some custom made shade-cloth drops made to enclose the two sunniest sides of our front porch to cut down on direct sunlight. The front one will roll up in winter if we want. As an added benefit it seems to have cut the temperature on the porch by about ten degrees as well; a much needed improvement since our front door is entirely glass. So far our two small air conditioners are keeping up with our moderate needs since we set them about 82-84 degrees trying to conserve on electricity. It’s very expensive here as compared to what we are used to in Oregon—more than double a KWH! Yes, we’re aware the park model is not level; Marc is allowing it to settle into the gravel all its wants to find its final skew so he can work from there to level it. Makes cooking on the smooth cook top a fun and exciting new adventure!