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Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Annual Easter Campout 2024

April 1, 2024 by scubajedi

Every year a group of friends get together to camp at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. For a prior year’s story see this adventure. This year we had about 15 people sign up, two dropped out and many left early. Not because of anything bad happening to them but bad weather. This year the forecast was weirder than ever. Typically, it can get a bit toasty out there and our concern is over how hot is it going to get? A couple of days ahead everyone was checking the weather, and it did not look good for the home team. Friday was good, clear and warm. Saturday was supposed to be windy, Saturday night/early Sunday rain. It’s usually a toss-up in Arizona as to whether the weather reports are accurate. I have seen days where they say 70% chance of rain and it’s only cloudy etc. So, we just didn’t know.

I took the day as a floating holiday from work so that I could get headed out early. We usually all meet at a restaurant in the beautiful cosmopolitan city of Ajo for lunch on Friday. Ajo is what was called a “company town”. Back in the days of yore, companies, such as mining companies would build housing for its employees. Ajo is the Spanish word for garlic and as far as I know garlic has nothing to do with anything in the area. I read that The Spanish may have named the place using the familiar word in place of the similar-sounding O’odham word for paint (oʼoho). The Tohono O’odham people obtained red paint pigments from the area. (Source: Wikipedia, what else?)

The restaurant we normally met at closed down I believe even before the pandemic. There are very few choices for restaurants in town and the default has been The Agave Grill. One of our campers recommends the chef salad. Click here For a Yelp review. Only two people were planning on hitting The Grill for lunch and I wanted to join them. My grand plan was to head out and be at the park by 11-11:30, set up, then head back to Ajo to join then for lunch. Epic fail. I did get to the park at 11:30, checked in, but the 20-year-old ranger (Ranger Skippy) told me that I couldn’t go to the campsite until 1 because they were still cleaning. Um, what? You mean they have maids like in a motel? I went out to the site anyway and there was no one there. The other group sites were occupied but site 5, our reserved site, was clean, the beds made, carpet vacuumed, bathroom cleaned. I jest, it’s a campsite. A ramada and picnic tables surrounded by places for tents. The ramadas are a fairly new addition. In years past there were no ramadas for shade and it is usually hot out so we’re all huddling under the nearest Palo Verde “tree”. These skeletal monstrosities are more like a bush with branches that dwindle out to nothing and produce leaves the size of a grain of rice. So, our park entrance fees at work, they built ramadas and added a shower in the restrooms.

I decided to set up anyway, who’s to know? I texted my friends that I was supposed to meet up with at The Grill and said I wasn’t going to make it after all. By the time I did get set up I was so sweaty and gross I would not want to go into a civilized place, if you can call Ajo civilized.

I had purchased a new tent and this was her maiden voyage. The rain forecast was not making me feel too great but I had high hopes that the weather forecast was wrong or would change. The tent is called an “instant tent” and it really is. After years of clumsy flimsy poles to wrestle with Coleman finally produced an easy-up tent. If you want to see a demo of how easy, click here. I got all set up before anyone else got there.

Everyone trickled in little by little. Four of us travelled into Sonoyta, Mexico to make dinner reservations for Saturday night. This is a tradition for us to go into “town” and have dinner at The Excelsior Hotel restaurant and have dinner, shop at the local liquor/furniture/nik-nak store and get ice cream. There is also a taco stand right near the store that has been there feeding flies and people for 48 years. On the day we make the restaurant reservation, we usually dine here. The tires on the taco truck are completely flat, its swarming with flies and the food is delicious. I’m not sure if it’s because the health inspector doesn’t make it out there too often, or because it’s the only taco truck around as to how it’s been there for so long. Or the fact the tires are flat. All I know is that it won’t be entering The Great Food Truck Race any time soon.

Back at camp everyone was just chillin. When it got dark, we made a fire and all sat around regaling about hikes we’d been on, wacky situations we’ve found ourselves in and general campfire banter. Since most of us have seen a few winters in our day, we pretty much hit the hay fairly early. Now came the time for me to test out the new air mattress/cot situation. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was it comfortable, but I woke up once during the night and thought I was at home. The sun was rising at around 6am and so I got up to have coffee. We had decided to have the traditional Easter morning breakfast potluck Saturday morning rather than Sunday because of the predicted rain. The forecast was not changing and so we erred on the side of caution and had the breakfast on Saturday. That was a good idea. We had to fight the wind a bit, 40mph gusts are the enemy of paper plates and napkins. One napkin blew into a nearby bush and one of the campers went to get it and got nailed by a teddy bear cholla.

We were able to remove the offending segment with a comb and just picking the thorns out. Cholla thorns are like fish hooks and have a barb that is both painful and difficult to remove.

After breakfast, some people went on hikes, others, like me, stayed around to chew the fat and enjoy the 40mph breezes. I mulled on whether to take one friend’s offer up on staying with them in the Air BnB in Ajo or to stick it out, hoping the weather forecast was wrong. We just didn’t know. Meanwhile, I was able to complete work on a knit beanie and start another. Stitch and Bitch, but I was the only one stitching and others were bitching about the medical procedures they had last year, what procedures they have scheduled and how difficult it can be to get up out of a chair anymore. Yes, gentle readers, we are all over 45. Um, okay, 50. I’ll leave it there.

The weather forecast was not entirely wrong. The rain was supposed to start at midnight, but it didn’t really start until about 3am. At least the wind let up some and my tent stayed dry. On the inside. By the time I emerged from my tent the rain had stopped. It was still overcast, and I was able to make coffee. It would still sprinkle off and on. A few people had bailed on Saturday afternoon, opting out of dinner in Sonoyta and avoiding getting their gear drenched. They missed out on being able to say, “Wow, it sure is brisk out”. This is something I had never heard uttered at an Organ Pipe Easter Weekend campout. I am sure I will never hear it spoken again at this event.

All in all, good trip. I do not regret staying in the rain. My tent kept me dry, I got to see some old friends, eat good food and see a family of illegal immigrants get busted at the border.

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2020 in Retrospect

December 31, 2020 by scubajedi

Originally published in December of 2020

Well, here we are. Who would have thunk it a year ago that we would be where we are now. The one bright spot in an otherwise gloomy year is the White House crazy train is finally slowing down. That is all I will say regarding politics.

I was reading posts from days gone by, I am a bit depressed. Pre-pandemic I was not doing much compared to the past 10 or so years. At least, I wasn’t writing about the things I was doing. A few Uber driving stories and that is about all.

As for this year, the last time I got together with friends was February where we went to a play. After that I managed to squeeze in a weekend at Ren Fair before they shut it down late March. During that time our offices at work sent most people who could to work at home. This was a huge challenge for the IT call center. We are on the front line taking calls from people who were hurled computer equipment and told to call us if they needed help. Boy, did they. All I will say about this is this:

I think the most exciting thing that happened to me was in January before the shit really hit the fan was I was in my first major auto accident. Not my fault and I wasn’t hurt. However I did need to replace my car for obvious reasons.

There I was peacefully driving home from the office and thinking, wow, traffic is going surprisingly smooth today when I saw my lane I needed to be in come to a grinding halt. I know this section of road and how it slows way down because of poor engineering, so I was able to stop. But, the car behind me not so much. The driver did not have insurance, luckily, as an adult not only do I carry full boat car insurance even though that car had been paid off for a while. Thinking back, this was probably the best thing that could happen to me. My car (see above) had very high mileage and I was going to replace it in 2021. I had driven so many thousands of miles with Uber that, though in good shape, it was mostly worthless because of the miles. I was dreading trading it in as I would get nothing for it, and as usual, I don’t have a lot of savings to spill on a down payment. My credit had been in the toilet for a long time and I was worried I was going to get screwed on interest rates for a loan. I took a lot of effort using the Uber money to get ahead and surprisingly enough my credit had recovered. The Enterprise Rental Car place gave my contact information to sales and they contacted me about replacing my car. Long boring story short, it was a great experience. Insurance came through with paying the Kelly Blue Book and I had the money for a pretty decent down payment. My interest rate was low and I ended up with a cool “new” car and do-able payments. That would have never happened if I went to a regular dealer and traded the car with a gozillion miles on it.

The big green bow makes it easier to spot in the parking lot amongst all the other silver Altimas.

So, that was January and February. March, relocated from office to home. I won’t bore with details about that. A few technical challenges, had to upgrade my internet so that people could hear every word I was saying on the phone rather than every other word. I just want to say that I am grateful that I am fortunate to be able to do that. Business continuity in a disaster. Not everyone so lucky. On the Uber and Lyft pages I belong to online many drivers were S.O.L because business dropped severely. So even though it has sucked with how busy we are supporting all the new work from homers at the end of the day I am truly grateful for it. Could have been a lot worse.

Other than the off hike or road trip, not much else to report. Our annual campouts were cancelled this year, and that was a bummer. One key person in our group passed away without being able to see him again and that was very sad. My annual Christmas gathering, Festivus will not be taking place for obvious reasons. Hopefully 2021 will ring in better days to come. But I will leave you with a few images commemorating 2020 and a quote from one of my favorite movies (silly as it may be), “Ever After” the line uttered by the great Angelica Huston,” Just remember, no matter how bad things get, they can always be worse”.

RIP Esmerelda Smokycoat

Stay tuned for the Road Trip to Marfa adventure. This is the one thing I did this year anywhere involving an adventure, but will be a separate post!

My Big Fat Greek Uber Driver

October 5, 2017 by scubajedi

I have been driving a lot more with Lyft lately. I seem to be doing better on it these days. Today was no exception. I get off work at 12:30 pm and today I had to come home first and fill out an online application and take a grammar assessment for a company I am interviewing with. I wasn’t really looking but I got a call from a recruiter who saw my resume online and thought I might be interested. It sounded worth a look. I am just hoping my third grade grammar is up to snuff.

The grammar assessment was stupid simple, pretty much aced it. You, did I know the difference between their, they’re and there etc. Elementary stuff. After that I got my water and headed out. I live in Mesa/Gilbert so I drove down to Gilbert city center and parked under a tree in a curbside spot neat the intersection of Page and Gilbert Road. I was looking at emails on my phone and in about 5 minutes I had a request. It was an Arab guy going home from a doctor’s office. He lived in Scottsdale at McDowell and Scottsdale Rd. Not a bad first ride, I was optimistic for the day.

After that I headed in to Old Town and parked in the shade on 1st ave and Scottsdale Rd. I wasn’t there 5 minutes and got a request from around the block on Main Street. Easy pickup. It was four young men heading to Chase Field for the ballgame. they had already had a few beers and were very jolly. The guy who sat in front asked if he could borrow my AUX cable to listed to his music. Now, I usually say no, I am the DJ of my car and I knew they were going to play contemporary vulgar music. I was right. But they seemed good natured enough and I was sucking up for good ratings.

So we heading downtown and the new DJ was all over the place with the music. They settled on Tom Petty in honor of. This I liked. I told them Petty was from Gainesville, Florida where I went to University. I also told them that my psych professor was Petty’s drummer’s father. They thought that was way cool. Then the new DL found a quite famous Greek song that I remembered from middle school and I told them that between classes instead of ringing bells they would play music and that song was one they played. You have probably heard it it is instrumental then gets progressively faster. “Zorba the Greek” it’s called. It’s a long song and part of the way through one of the guys in the back seat blurts, turn it to something else, I’m thinking my Big Fat Greek Uber Driver.

Well he immediately backpeddled saying he meant to say Uber ride! We all busted up laughing, I almost peed. For one thing, I am not Greek. Another thing, I was driving Lyft, not Uber. Third, I am only a little fat.

I dropped them at their destination and could only imagine the poor Lyft driver who picks them up from the stadium when the game is over.

I was close enough to the airport at that point and took a look at the wait queue and it was fairly small. I got to the lot and kicked back, I was 22nd in line for Lyft. Mind you there’s usually 60+ cars there. I was there about 10 minutes and boom, a request. It was early and only had the two rides so I was doing okay. Picked up a young woman from Terminal 4 South and she was going to…..Gilbert! I was going full circle. Not just Gilbert, but way east off Power road. For my readers not familiar with The Valley of the Sun, that is a very long drive and it put me close to home. I always have a dollar amount in mind when I drive and as soon as I hit that I’m clearing down. That ride put me over so I was homeward bound.

The last rider was a recruiter for a staffing firm and said their grammar assessments are based on what a third grader should know and that I would be surprised how badly people do on them.

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Over an out for now,

Your Big Fat Greek Uber Driver

Rideshare (Uber/Lyft) Tales June 23 2017

June 24, 2017 by scubajedi

Some interesting Uber passengers this week (so far). Picked up a lady from the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Phoenix. She was there on business, she is a corporate trainer for Marriot, and the Renaissance is part of the Marriot chain. I used to work in hospitality many moons ago so we started chatting about this and that. She is a corporate trainer and has worked in many capacities in the hotel business. I was telling her about some weird stuff I encountered especially on the night shift. So she was telling me that one time when she was MOD (Manager on Duty) at a Marriot the housekeepers found a dead man in the room. He had committed suicide. The housekeepers were mainly from the Caribbean and very superstitious and refused to clean the room or any on that floor because it was now haunted by the spirit of this man. So, my girl has to request a work order from purchasing for the services of a Santeria Priest to cleanse the floor of this ghost or the 25^th floor would never be cleaned again. She got names from the housekeepers and called around to get quotes. So, just so y’all know, the going rate for the services of a witch doctor to cleanse a place of a ghost is roughly $1000. So start saving. My momma died at home and I reckon she’s still there because we never got anyone to hold a séance. She was in her own bed and when I came home that afternoon the bed had of course been stripped. I made it up and slept in it that night, I have no fear of ghosts, not even of my ow mother though she was pretty scary in life. So during the night, the light on the bed stand switched on by itself. I of course woke up and thought Hmmmmm….. then switched it back off. It was one of those lams where you just touch the glass and brass shade and it turns on or off. So a few minutes pass and the thing switches back on again. I wonder a bit then switch it back off. I was actually beginning to think that she was there. The next morning I mention this to my brother and he says, yeah, that lamp has a short or something ‘cause mom would bitch about the damn thing randomly tuning on or off by itself.

That was a relief, saved $1000.

Until the next adventure

The Scuba Jedi

How It All Began for The Scuba Jedi

August 15, 2015 by scubajedi

I first started diving in 2006. At the urging of a friend who told me that SCUBA was like snorkeling on steroids, I decided to go for it. I am a fairly fearless person so the idea of diving wasn’t so scary to me. I hear people all the time when I bring up the fact I dive have a ton of excuses loaded up as to why they “can`t” dive. Their ears won`t equalize, they`re claustrophobic, they`re afraid of sharks, and so on. My biggest excuse for not learning to dive prior to August of 2006 was I didn’t think I was going to look good in a wetsuit. So I was rolling out of a bar one night and right in the same plaza was a SCUBA center. It wasn’t far from home and so I decided to call them and sign up for lessons. That was in July of 2006 and by the end of August I was able to get in a class. I took a three day crash course and was eligible for my open water certification within a weekend. I wasn’t able to get on a trip to go for the open water portion until November. I purchased some good fins, a 5mm Henderson Gold Core wetsuit, some other tidbits such as safety sausage, whistle, dive knife, lights, and was ready to go. I found a carpool partner for the trip to San Carlos, Mexico. I had never been to Mexico before so this trip was a trip of firsts. My first time to Mexico, first time SCUBA diving, and first time visiting a strip bar. Details to follow on that last one.

Me near Eagle Rock

The shop I dived with, Scuba Specialties was the best dive center in Arizona. The instructors were second to none, the facility was fantastic, and they did a great job keeping everyone together on the trips for the camaraderie and friendships being established. For the open water skills, my instructor was shop co-owner Frankie Smith. Frankie is a lot of fun as well as being a Master Instructor with loads of experience and a talent for making you feel calm and secure. We had to split the students up into two groups and I was diving with Frankie and a set of twin girls whose father was with us to help. Their dad was a divemaster. The first dive was just to follow Frankie around and get comfortable breathing under water and to look around at the marine life. There were a lot of sea lions there and they were swimming along with us and playing. Going through the skills is quite the gauntlet. I did pretty well until the last dive on the second day. I was getting tired and the second to the last skill I had to do was mask removal and clearing. During our classroom session, our instructor, Gary, said somehow, some time, somewhere, no matter how experienced you are, something is going to flip you out and you are going to spew your reg out. I thought, no way, not me! I`ll never do that! Well, when I removed my mask, I opened my eyes and I freaked out when the salt water burned them. I spit out my regulator and Frankie had to wrangle me back to reality, he jammed the reg back in my mouth and I completed the skill. I gave him the OK signal and he sent me off with Beau, a divemaster, to swim around and calm down. I had kicked up enough silt from flailing that I caused poor visibility, but I followed Dive master Beau for a while. We surfaced a little ways from the ship and had a surface swim. Being inexperienced I had way too much air in my BC and it was strangling me. I tried to swim but there was a current and I was exhausted from the incident down below with the mask. I begged Beau to help me and we did tired diver tow. I did my last skill which was releasing the weights and re-installing them. I had trouble with one of the pockets and Beau couldn`t even get it so he let it go. I got back on the ship, ditched my gear and went to sit on the bow to catch some sun and mellow out. We were at a site called Eagle Rock which is right up against a large rock wall where the waves roll and cause some light turbulence. There were waves and the ship was rocking. I started feeling worse and worse and worse. The guys were very attentive and kept asking me if I were okay. Being the rugged independent trooper, I kept saying I was just fine. Soon I admitted that I wasn`t fine. I was getting very seasick. They told me to get out of the sun and so I went and sat in the middle of the ship. Beau brought me some cold fresh water and I drank it, but he told me to pour it on my head. I did and it made me feel a bit better. But, that didn`t last and before I knew it I was chumming off the side. All I had in my stomach was water and so that`s all there was. Izzy, one of the instructors, laughed at me and asked me if I was feeding the fish. I said, well, kind of…if they like water! So I got my open water certification. I went back to my room and calmed myself for the night`s festivities. We went to dinner and I bought Beau a nice shot of expensive tequila. He asked me if I would be interested in going dancing and I said sure! Here`s where the strip club comes in. I was shocked at first, but thought there is one of two things I could do. I could get indignant and ask to be taken back to the hotel, or I could have more tequila. The tequila won out.

Heading out for my first open water dive

After that I was hooked on SCUBA. I made another trip to San Carlos the January after that trip. Once again I was with Scuba Specialties and this time the instructors aboard were Kendall, the shop owner, and John Flanders who is now the owner of Academy of Scuba. I was fun diving and ended up with Leslie, a Dive Master, as my dive buddy and roommate. January was mortal cold and it took some getting used to. I didn`t even complete the final dive on the last day as my feet were turning purple. But it was great being able to dive for the fun of it and not have to go through all those skills! I ended up driving down there all alone, I couldn`t hitch with anyone else nor did I have any passengers. I don`t mind going alone as I listen to audio books and keep myself entertained. As I mentioned, I am relatively fearless and don`t get too nervous about things like driving into Latin American countries by myself. On the first dive I lost my snorkel and the second dive, Leslie found it. We stayed at the same dive site and as fate would have it, there the thing was. I`ll bet there are a lot of snorkels and various other SCUBA knick-knacks laying on bottom. I had to surface first as at the time I was an Air Sucking Pig (ASP) and seemed to go through my tank faster than anyone else. I was feeling so mellow and at ease, but when I surfaced I noticed the ship`s motor was on and there was a commotion on deck. I saw three of the fun divers cutting the wetsuit off Ron, one of the students getting his open water certification. I hurried to get on board and John came up behind me and demanded me to move aside! I jumped back and let him on first. The surface support then helped me on and I stayed out of the way. Turned out the three fun divers were EMT`s and Ron had suffered a diving accident. Later on we found out what happened. They were on bottom doing their skills and when John went around the group asking everyone what they had left for air, Ron indicated 500psi. So John told him to get with Beau and head up. Well, Ron wasn`t too comfortable apparently because it does get harder to breathe when the tank is low. He began to panic and therefore started aspirating water in through the corners of his mouth. Beau was pressing Ron`s reg to his mouth to make sure he didn`t spit it out. After Ron was in full on panic, Beau released his gear and brought him up. He was unconscious by then and luckily the firemen EMT`s were on the job! They managed to resuscitate him and as soon as everyone was back on board we headed out. A faster ship met us up and took Ron, one of the EMT`s and Kendall out of there. They took him to the Naval Hospital in Guyamas for the night. Kendall stayed with him. Needless to say, Ron`s diving was over for the weekend. The next day we went out again and everyone completed their certification and I only dove the one dive that day as I was freezing.

Since then I have earned my advanced level PADI cert. I have traveled to Grand Cayman (see The Grand Cayman Adventure), St. Maarten, Bonaire, and Curaçao for diving. I have also been back to San Carlos many times.

San Carlos

Family Tree

August 15, 2015 by scubajedi

The Scuba Jedi was once employed in a job where I got to talk to all kinds of people from all over the world in all walks of life. Once, I had a caller who worked for the Daughters of the American Revolution in Alabama. I helped her with her technical issue then we got to talking about family histories.

Many years ago, a cousin of The Scuba Jedi did a partial family history. This was on my father’s side of the family and my cousin Newt, that is, my father’s sister son did a little research. Turns out my great-great grandfather was a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army and my way great grandfather and uncle were both soldiers in the Colonial Militia and fought in the American Revolution. Also, an uncle on my mom’s side did a family trace and found out that their peeps emigrated in the late 16oo’s to New Brunswick, Canada. So I am really, really American. A Daughter of the American Revolution and a Daughter of the Confederacy.

I don’t really know that much about the distant ancestors, but I was made aware of a series of letters that a distant cousin found and posted on a web site. The letters are from Lt. Andrew Aston of Alabama to his wife Minerva from the battlefield. His last letter was written on January 18, 1862. He was unfortunately killed at the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19, 1862. It was his first battle, and he was buried in a mass grave at the site. He was 35.

Inner Basin Adventure

June 8, 2015 by scubajedi

You can camp year round in Arizona. You do have to pick your places as during the winter camping up north is out of the question, and in the summer camping in the desert would be a bit uncomfortable. My favorite camping in in the mountains where there are tall pines and aspen, grass and shade. The thing is, when the monsoon season hits (around July 4), it rains every day and I really hate camping in the rain. So when I got the invite to camp the weekend of June 5-7 in the San Francisco Peaks I jumped at the chance. The weather would be beautiful, it was before monsoon season and it was hotter than the seventh chasm of hell in the valley.

I get off work at 1:30 in the afternoon so I could bolt on up there right after. I would have the car packed and two of our camping party were going up early to snag a couple of skookums campsites at Lockett Meadow.

Of course it rained.

There are three basic physiographic regions in Arizona. Basin and Range, which includes the Sonoran Desert and the Phoenix area, the Transition Zone, which is chaparral, the areas around Payson, Sedona, and Prescott and last, the Colorado Plateau, which is high elevation and snow in the winter. The Colorado Plateau was where we were headed.

The image is misleading as the Colorado Plateau should be green and the Basin and Range should be brown

As I left Phoenix, it was raining. But I had high hopes that it would clear off. As I headed up a mesa to the transition zone, which I refer to as The Riddermark, it got worse. However, when I got to Flagstaff it seemed to be clearing on one side and really dark and foreboding toward he east. Thank Dog we were going west! Lockett Meadow is located on the north east side of the San Francisco Peaks. The Peaks were once a huge, cone-shaped stratovolcano that rose somewhere between 16,000 and 20,000 feet high and looked like Mt. Ranier in Washington or Mount Fuji in Japan. About 250,000 years ago it blew it’s top and left behind several peaks and a nice place to camp called the Inner Basin. The actual campground is located in a place called Lockett Meadow. I tried to research where the name came from but could find nothing. My guess is it was named after some bloke named Lockett.

I got a text from Deb back in Phoenix that our campsites were going to be 14 and 15. Megs and Ken had already arrived and were setting up. stopped for some firewood then headed on to the forest. I thought that the meadow was toward the bottom of the peaks. Boy, was I wrong about that. I headed in on the gravel road and it was still sprinkling. I still had high hopes that it would stop. Wrong again. Once I turned off FR 420 on to FR 552 (AKA The Fury Road) I saw a sign that said it was unmaintained, steep and curvy. Now, here’s something about me that part of my ‘wuss feature. I really hate and am terrified of driving narrow, steep, unpaved roads. But I tell myself I gotta do it. So I chived on. I bottomed out in a few places and was white knuckled on the steering wheel. I kept telling myself to stop whining, I’ll be all right. But some people are afraid of the dark, some are afraid of the number 13. My phobia is of driving on roads like this.

Like this but scarier

I’m yelling out loud, “Where is this f****** campground??!!!”. When I get higher and higher where it seemed to level off it really started raining. I was glad it was raining on the road as I was driving. I finally reach the campground and start looking for sites 14 and 15. I got to number 8 and there was Ken standing in the rain wearing a bright yellow rain poncho. I pull in and park. I had a huge golf umbrella in the car and it came I handy. Ken asked me if I wanted to sit in the car with them so I did. they said that they had to move from the original sites as the wind was blowing so hard they thought they were going to end up in Oz with the Munchkins. the left the easy-up (A portable shelter) down there and thought they would go get it when more people showed up.

After that we went to get the easy up. The wind was not kind to it and two of it’s legs were broken at the knees. We managed to take it down and get it in the car and drove back to the camp. Still raining. Megs’ daughter Hannah showed up with her partner, Hannah. The Hannah’s were like a well organized military unit. They had their tent up in about two minutes and then Little Hannah (aka McGuyver) built a fire in the rain. Then they built a lean-to using large sticks they found and a tarp. Meanwhile I got my tent up and furnished with Megs’ help. The lean to was going over the fire. It was at an angle so that smoke could escape. During the building of the lean to Megs and I were holding up the tarp while the Hanna’s finished off planting the poles and tying them down. It was then that Deb and Paul came in. They were thinking we were in 14 and 15 and kept going. They then came back around and we started yelling at them to stop. They kept going then stopped but we were all stuck hammering things and holding up tarps. They stopped a bit down the road then kept going. It was about then that Ken was trying to reconstruct the easy-up. They got the tarp secure and I hopped in my car to try and catch Deb and Paul. They were too far ahead of me and I found myself starting down the gravel road to hell. I stopped and did a very tight 3 point turn hoping to not crash into a rock or something.

When I got back Ken was still struggling with the easy-up, The Hannah’s were comfortable installed under the lean to and Ken says, “Fuck it, let’s go get a room in town!”. They didn’t have any blankets and Deb and Paul were supposed to deliver blankets. That was the perfect excuse to get the hell out of there and the freezing cold rain. Also, it started lightning.

As soon as we got into phone range I texted Deb to find out where they were. They said they got a room and said there were still enough rooms left. I texted Ray and told here where we were and soon we were all in Deb and Paul’s room having happy hour. It was nice sleeping in a warm dry room instead of the wet cold tent with lightning and thunder.

Next day we grabbed breakfast and headed up the mountain. The road wasn’t as bad as a passenger, I just have a phobia driving roads like that. The weather was clearing and things were looking promising. We went on a hike to Inner Basin and got as far as one of the many watersheds on the mountain and had lunch. there was a huge aspen grove that was stunning and when we got to the basin there was a great view of some of the peaks.

Photo courtesy of Deb

The next day was even more beautiful. We stayed till about 11:45 and then got headed out. I was once again white-knuckled, hyperventilating and crying with fear as I drove down that steep ass bumpy road. I was never so glad to get to the bottom. Next time. I am definitely riding with someone else driving.

Until next time

The Scubajedi

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Photo courtesy of Deb

Annual Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Easter Weekend Campout 2015

April 6, 2015 by scubajedi

Every year a core group of friends get together and go down to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for and Easter weekend campout. I have been blessed recently with a Monday through Friday job where I get out of work at 1:30 in the afternoon, so this year I could jump in my car after work and head down. I had packed up everything non perishable the day before, so all I had to do on Friday was pop home to get my food for the cooler, tend to the cats and I headed off to Eden.

I left by 3pm thinking stupidly that might beat the traffic heading out of town. I was way wrong. It was bumper to bumper all the way from the confluence of the 60 and 1-10 through Buckeye. I got to the campsite about 6:30 and quickly got to setting up.

It was good to see everyone again as some of us only see each other once a year. Others of us regularly hang out as we are in a book club together, or just like to do things together. This annual even had been going on for over 16 years. I really enjoy it as I love to camp and though some years it can be a bit warm down there, the campground is really good and getting better as now there is SHADE!

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is located in southern Arizona, south of Ajo, west of Tucson, and east of Yuma. It borders Mexico and you can see it from there. The park was founded in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The park was created as a way to preserve a representative area of the Sonoran Desert. The new monument was part of a movement in the National Parks to protect not just scenic wonders but also the ecological wonders of the country. Over 75 years later, Organ Pipe Cactus is now one of the best preserved examples of the Sonoran Desert wilderness.

Within the monument, signs of human use are also preserved and protected. The monument is the site of culture and history that reflect long, widespread and diverse use by American Indian, Mexican, and European groups. The intersection of these of these three cultures is significant archeologically, geographically, and internationally. (Copied and pasted from here as I am too lay to regurgitate this information).

Those who show up on Friday evening usually just hang out and catch up. Some of is who get there early enough make the short trip in to Sonoyta, Mexico go to the steak house there to make reservations for the following evening as is tradition for us to eat Saturday night at the only good restaurant in Sonoyta. Also, there is a liquor/various sundries store called Vasquez where we buy good tequila, and some like to visit the pharmacia to get cheap over the counter drugs. I got there too late for that this year.

On Saturday we all usually go for a hike. Some like to treacherous long hike up Mt Ajo (which means garlic in Spanish), some like the kinder gentler hike to what is called Bull Pasture and others like me in recent years either site around at camp (when I had a broken toe), or go on even easier hike. Last year I went to what is called Dripping Spring. this is a little dribbly spring coming out of a little cave in the rock and it is swarming with bees, so you don’t stay too long. This year a feature area called Quitoqibito spring in the south of the park. In past years it’s been closed because of illegal immigration activities and the only people lurking about in that area were the “Coyotes”, their victims and the border patrol.

The visitor center was giving tours of the newly opened area on Saturday so three of us decided to go. It was a 20 mile very bumpy ride out there, but you could see the “fence” they are trying to build to keep those pesky Mexicans out. Like the Great Wall of Arizona. It looks like something that can be climbed in like, 1 minute. It isn’t finished and when we drove further it was just a short easy to jump fence really just to indicate the border. Along the fence in a road that was built by FDR and is now patrolled by border agents. We drove parallel to this until we got to the parking area for Quitoqibito Spring.

We walked around the pond and up to the spring boil then back to the van after a long winded tour and lecture on the history of that area. Then we drove the bumpy road back to the camp and saw a nesting great horned owl that looked like a cat sitting on a nest in a Saguaro.

We got back and my friend Joan and I took to crocheting and everyone else that was back just kicked back and chatted. At 6pm we were all going in to Sonoyta for dinner. Then there was the great scuffle as to who was driving and who was riding with whom. I said I would drive and could take two more, but everyone pretty much found a ride and I Jon ended up with me, which I liked because he is a retired border agent. We were joking that I should bring my new lighter that is shaped like a bolt action rifle ha ha…

We crossed the border which is getting scarier as they have much military posted at the borders now. But nothing happened and we went in and had dinner at the little steak house we always eat at. It isn’t the best but it’s the best in town.

Afterword, we headed back to camp. So here’s where it gets interesting. We were probably no more than 100 yards of American soil when I see the old blue and red lights in the rear view mirror. I said, “Oh shit, Jon, we’re getting pulled over, I haven’t done anything”. So I pull over and the officer approaches my car. I roll the window down and he asks if I speak Spanish. I say no, of course not your friggin idiot, do I look like I speak Spanish? Of course only the No part was audible, the rest were my thoughts. So he shows me the radar gun and he says I was going 58km in a 40km zone. I apologized, thinking he’s a liar and that radar gun is an etch-a-sketch. I ask what to do. He tells me I can go to the police station and pay the fine. I ask how much is the fine and he says $1000 pesos. About $80 American dollars. I look at Jon and he’s just staring ahead and ask what to do and he says it’s up to me. Well, I didn’t have $80 on me so I tell the officer is there any other way, I don’t have any money. So he tells me he can take $60 and then I see what’s going on here. So I say what about letting me off with a warning and I will never do it again (which is true, I never plan on driving in to Sonoyta again). He then says he can take $40. All I had on me was $40, Jon offered to pitch in $20 and I said it’s okay, I just want to get out of here. So I gave the Highway Robber, I mean, Police Officer the $40 and got the hell out of there. Jon said he was very impressed with my negotiation skills.

Got back to camp and regaled the story around the campfire. Everyone was joking about what could have happened but all in all we were pretty lucky. It’s not going to go against my driving record, my insurance isn’t going to go up, and Mr Police Oficer probably got off duty and got with his other crook cop buddies to compare their hauls for the night. Also, if he would have searched the car he would have found my camping hatchet in the trunk and I would still be in jail down there instead of blogging about it.

One of the guys at camp said that I was in the No Hassle Zone which means that I didn’t have to stop, I could have just kept going. I questioned this and so did Jon. So when I got home I googled it and that is not what that means AT ALL. It means you do not need a permit to drive in that particular area. Between Sonoyta and Rocky point is a hassle free zone. When we go to San Carlo we stop at the 20-click mark and pick up a permit because we are going further into Mexico and you need a permit. So if I would have taken his advise (which was after the fact) and blown through like Thelma and Louise, I, again, would still be in jail down there.

Until next time, your Friendo Bandito,

The Scuba Jedi

Yavapai Campground Adventure

November 26, 2014 by scubajedi

We wanted to do one more camp out before it got really cold out. Since we were going to be camping over Halloween and the next two days after, we had to find a campground that was going to be opened after October 31. Most of the National Forest campgrounds close up for the winter after Halloween. Our friend Sherri lives in Prescott and wanted me and Nunya to go up there somewhere. I looked online for an open campground and could only find one in Payson. Luckily Sherri got on the job and found a couple of option in the Prescott area. We had the choice of one just south of town and one just west of town. The west of town option sounded really interesting to me as it involved a trail from the camp that would take you to a lake nearby. Also, I love going to Prescott anyway.

Prescott was officially incorporated in 1883, named after historian William H. Prescott. Today the city has 39,843 residents (U.S. Census 2010) and is a wonderful small town with a town square and courthouse surrounded by shops, restaurants and bars.

Prescott Courthouse

I have Fridays off so I went up to the campsite first. I got a late start as I work until 1 in the morning and really needed to sleep in. I keep all my camp gear in the car for a fast getaway so all I really needed was clothing, ice and food.

The directions to the campground were rubbish. Very vague and I had no idea where to really go. Thankfully I was in text range and Sherri helped me out. The directions started you in Prescott saying to take Iron Springs Road going west out of Prescott, the take Forest Road 337 to the campground. That was it. I was way off. Finally Sherri called me and guided me to Iron Springs Road, which I never would have found. After that I was looking for Forest Road 337 and drove way past it because it’s really called Granite Basin Road. I turned around and finally found the right road.

I found the campground and picked out a spot. I thought it was going to be perfect as there were three spots for three cars, three flat spots for three tents and three tables! Perfect!

I started setting up my tent and the camp host, Doug, stopped by. Later I would be referring to him as Lt. Neidermeyer. He came off as soft spoken and all natural. He asked if I had paid for the site and that it was a double site. I said yes, I know and I have two friends coming later and we would pay up then. He then tells me that they are very strict with the noise level at the campground, that the grounds were like a bowl and sound travels far. Huh? Anyway, I started suspecting the guy was a little weird and passive aggressive. He said that some campers called the police on some others the previous night.

Sherri arrived when I was out for a walk around the bowl, uh, campground. She was setting up opposite of where I was set up. I mentioned that it was great that we had three tables, we could really spread out, like having our own little campground to ourselves!

We started a campfire and chatted away until Nunya finally got there and I turned in. The next morning I got up and the others were up and making coffee and getting breakfast ready. They then told me that someone called the cops on them last night. I was out cold and missed all of this. They said the Sheriff deputy came by saying someone called in for noise! When he got there they were just sitting by the fire and quietly chatting! They said the officer looked bewildered and frankly this was a complete waste of his time.

So the camp host, Doug, comes by and Nunya in her blunt style just asks him point blank if he called the cops on us. He then said several people did. Okay, so, there were two other camping parties nowhere near us, and we couldn’t hear them so it goes to say unless we’re screaming they can’t hear us chatting. Doug was the closest to us, so it was him.

Personally, I never understood why people go to the wilderness to listen to loud music and scream and holler. I go there for serenity.

Then Douggie asks us if we’ve paid for the second site. Again, huh? Turned out that the site Sherri was at was a separate site. I mean, it was totally glaumed on the the “Double Occupancy” site where Nunya and I were. The campground was empty except for us and the two other camping parties a ways down. So Doug either wants us to pay for the site Sherri was in or, she had to move her tent and her car, so our cars were now all blocking each other. All this because this douche-canoe couldn’t have the heart to just blow it off since it was cold out and there were no other people coming to camp. Even if there were, there were plenty of empty sites.

So we did as he said lest he come around and kill us in our sleep.

After that we took a short hike to Granite Basin Lake and had a good time joking around about the “noise ordinance”. Doug had told us we could be fined $200 per person if the cops wanted to cite us. I then said, “Well, when the cop comes out tonight I’m going to clarify that with him”. I’m such a smart-ass.

Granite Basin Lake

Turned out we were good doo-bees that night and no cops showed up.

Until next time, your out of control friend

The ScubaJedi

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Reavis Ranch from Trail 109 North – Apache Lake

October 27, 2014 by scubajedi

I think that women who have more than one child go through a denial phase where they forgot the pain and suffering they went through the first time and decide to do it again. This is what I think I experienced when I decided to take my annual Reavis Ranch Birthday Backpack this year from trail 109 the North trailhead. I had blotted out all the areas that were unpleasant and just too hard to do and enjoy.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret anything, the views were spectacular, my hiking companions were terrific, and it’s just fun to camp out.

The weather was warmer than what I was hoping for, but still not too bad and the fact that we were going to be at a higher elevation would mean that it was cooler than home. Being the middle of October my fine friends up north are saying what?? Camp out in October?

The trailhead for Reavis 109 North is located off the Apache Trail. This is an improved unpaved road that takes you from Apache junction to Roosevelt Lake. I have only driven the road once in 1992 with my mother in a Pontiac Grand Am. I thought if I got out of there alive I was never going back. For someone coming from the flats of Florida to a steep unpaved narrow road through canyons with very high and immediate drop off’s it was scary. But for the trail head, you go past a little group of buildings called Tortilla Flat and there is a sign for the trailhead. Then you get on an even narrower road with a few whoop-de-doos and roundabouts and viola, you are there. You do get a nice view of Apache lake and there is ample parking for cars, trucks and horse trailers. It is a popular trail for Chevaliers, Caballeros, and Cowboys.

George at the trailhead. Photo courtesy of Nunya.

So we parked and hoisted our packs on. Once again, my pack was way too heavy. I don’t know why, water is the heaviest thing you carry and I only brought my one bag of water thinking, I never use the whole thing on one day hike and this is only 6 miles in. I never looked up the trail stats before this hike because I did it before, and the way in from the south is 6 miles and frankly, I was just negligent in my research and too cavalier in the idea that I remembered the trail.

It was me, my friends George, Nunya and George’s friend Nate. I later discovered that I knew Nate, but I’m getting ahead of my story. We started in about 9:30 am. George and Nate quickly got ahead because these two guys are trail monsters and get out and hike all the time. Nunya I know lagged with me simply to stay with me as I have gotten so out of shape for hiking and was struggling early on.

The trail has basically six segments, all of which I made up during this trip as to remember it all rather than the fun stuff. The first leg is what I call the approach to the Gap of Rohan. This is a gradual uphill trail to a small pass between some large boulders that I named the Gap of Rohan, as I am a Lord of the Rings fan. The trail, I might add, follows and old road bed that was laid down in I believe 1910. I can’t believe cars would have ever been able to drive on this, but I am sure the terrain has changed sine the ranch was abandoned and vehicles no longer go there.

Resting at The Gap of Rohan. Photo courtesy of Nunya.

Once past the Gap of Rohan you are in the Riddermark, as you would expect. I call it this because it, well, looks like the Riddermark in The Two Towers. Here is where you can really see where it is you have to go and here is when you start saying “Fuck Me!”.

But, you plough on. There is a side trail to what is Called Reavis Falls and it is marked by some cairns. The trail leads up to another gap where the terrain changes and the trail leads up to a place called Windy Pass. When I say up, I mean up. 3,700′ at Reavis Trailhead to 5,100′ at Windy Pass. Not sure of the mileage, I cannot find the stats. The approach to Windy Pass also had me mumbling foul words. It was on the segment when my legs decided to cramp up. This segment is also insidious in that you go around several corners where you are thinking is this the last one and we’ll see the pass? No. You go around one corner only to see more trail going up over what I like to call, ankle-twisters. These are rocks roughly the size of a baseball or softball and they are loose. Depending on what muscles are being stressed in my legs and feet, is how my legs cramp up. When I say cramp up I mean to the point where I cannot walk. I was way too dehydrated and my legs were seizing. I really mean seizing because you could see the muscles ripple.

We caught up to George and Nate who were taking a break, but I am sure just waiting for us as they didn’t really need a break, ever, as it seemed. I took some Emergen-C, which is an electrolyte replacement but I was too late for that. You need to take that stuff before you start cramping up. The others started up again and I trundled on behind them. I stepped up on a rock at one point and could literally not move. I started hollering and Nate came back to see if I was all right. I was not, but I wasn’t going to let HIM know that! I struggled along and at one point I did actually collapse and George had to help me up. This was bad.

We made it to Windy pass where we had a bite to eat and I searched for my Gatorade which I conveniently left behind in my fridge. After this I remembered that it was all downhill and just led you into Reavis Ranch. This is what I remembered but not what actually was. The boys had taken off and were far ahead. We went down the side of the hill from Windy Pass and I thought we’d be there soon. But that was not so. We passed a sign that pointed to a trail called Plow Saddle. I looked that up later and it sounded like an interesting trip, but we needed to forge on. The trail then went up onto what I called the Ridge Segment. By the time we got to the top, I was completely out of water. This has never happened to me before on a hike and I usually make fun of the people who do run out of water. Never underestimate your need for water. Nunya shared some of her water with me and that was enough to get to the campsite. It was after the ridge where it was all downhill or flat till you got tot he ranch area.

We knew we were getting close when we started seeing the apple orchard. From year to year, it varies on whether or not there will be apples, but this year must have been a good one. We saw lots of apples on the ground and in the trees, and judging from the size of the fresh bear scat we witnessed, the bears were enjoying the harvest as well.

Bear scat, photo courtesy of Nunya.

We arrived and met up with the guys with just enough sunlight to pitch camp and pump water. The weather was good and not too cold at night. The next day we just repeated what we did the first day but going out the other way. I can honestly say this is a trail that is uphill both ways. I don’t think I’ll be taking this route again, but the views are spectacular and you can take a passenger car to the trailhead. The down side it the length of the trail and the exposure.

When we got back into Apache Junction we stopped at a place called The Hitching Post. It was a country-western themed restaurant/bar with really good wings.