Today was our first transition day, going from Tucson to Ajo. We didn’t have anything particular in mind to do along the way, so I thought I’d see if there were a few BMs along Route 86. Were there ever!
They line the entire road. I selected three tri-stations for us to look for, plus one regular BM that served as an RM for one of the tri-stations. We were in for a special treat because of the crazy abundance of wildflowers blooming now! They literally carpeted the land on either side of the road for dozens of miles with orange and purple, maroon, magenta, interspersed with yellow and white. The first was called COVERED and was the one with the corresponding BM on the south side of the road. We found a very convenient pulloff and walked a few feet into the cactus and desert overgrowth and found the station immediately. R wandered around while I was taking my photos and he found another mass of concrete with what looked like a bolt in the middle with a punch in the top cetner. In reading the datasheet, though, we realized that this had to be RM2, whose disk was noted as missing several years ago. RM1 was the other BM, P 37, on the south side of the road. We found that easily too, and at that spot R found some wildflowers and a cholla fruit for me.
The second tri-station was an easy find along a fence row on the south side of the road. It was similar to others we’ve found in AZ with all three marks in a row. They were close together and all easy to find - bonus that they were surrounded by the gorgeous orange wildflowers!
And the third tri-station, POZO, was really neat as well. It’s a slight distance up a small knoll north of the highway. The station was an easy find; then we noticed that one RM was on the other side of the barded wire fence. It was easy enough to step through and recover the mark. RM1 was down the hill a few yards from the station and also an easy find. The coolest thing here were the two young ferocactuses near a dead ferocactus skeleton … and a tiny seedling that we spotted growing up within the rocks! So adorable!
We continued on and on R’s suggestion drove to the northern end of the Old Ajo-Sonoyta Road for a short hike and to recover a few of the benchmarks that lie along this old road. We parked at the registration area, where we saw a large cairn at the north end of a wide wash and another large cairn at the south side - it looked like this would be the beginning of the trail, and it was. We hiked in about a third of a mile to the first mark, which we walked right up to due to the excellent coordinates. It was guarded by a young saguaro and is in excellent condition, although missing its witness post.
We continued on the relatively level, rocky/grass and weed covered road toward the next mark, X 309, about a mile south. We swa more wildflowers all along this walk, although most of them were low growing asters in various shades of lavender, and Mojave lupines. Knowing that the coordinates for the second mark were scaled, we didn’t expect hem to be very helpful but we went to them first as a starting point. There’s so much vegetation here that we had no chance of spotting the mark just by scanning the area. We had no luck. So we decided to walk to the wash mentioned in the description and pace off the distance, and then pace off the distance from the road. R couldn’t have been closer if he’d had a tape measure! His pacing took us directly to the mark, unbelievable! This mark was also in great condition, but as we found with U 110, its witness post is missing.
By now it was time t turn around and enjoy the scenery in reverse on our way out. We were only about a tenth of a mile from the trailhead when I spotted something strange beneath a cholla skeleton. It took me a minute but I recognized it as a rattlesnake! R tried to get some photos while he was rattling like crazy! Exciting and very cool. We learned later at the visitors center that he was a western diamondback rattler.
We had some time (it was around 3:30) to investigate the visitors center before it closed at 5:00pm. We bought a t-shirt and benchmark pin and prickly pear taffy(!) and asked a few questions, namely about where we could find more wildflowers, and whether we could drive to Dos Lomitas Ranch.
We drove back to Ajo and checked in, and then tried in vain to find somewhere to eat. It was completely bizarre. Everything in town (100 Estrella, Agave Grill, the new Mexican place Arriba) was closed. Literally the only place to eat was Pizza Hut - again! You may recall that this happened to us before about 10 years ago. (And yes, that is the last time we ate in aPizza Hut!) The place was crazy and absolutely filled with some really bizarre people. There were 58 people in the tiny restaurant at one point. Old people, screaming kids, people making a mess of the salad bar, and just general insanity. We ended up with Budweiser (again) and a “thin & crispy” pizza which was legitimately awful, at least if you think of it as pizza. (I was only able to eat it by thinking of it as a mediocre cheese crisp with sauce, rather than a really awful pizza). The best part was talking to a couple from northern Saskatchewan who sat down at our table because there wasn’t anywhere else to sit. They had had a bad day (something about having to pay $600 to get their car across the border) and this was just another piece of craziness. At least they could get a beer! They said that hey spend 5 months eac year in a fishing village near Puerto Vallarta. He worked for 35 years in a uranium mine near the Arctic Circle and feels he deserves some sunshine now.
We got out of there as quickly as possible (not that easy because the waitress never came back to our table) and went to the IGA for a few supplies. This was another bizarre other-worldly place. While we were checking out we both noticed this boy who was the exact doppelganger of Dave’s son David. I mean exactly, from the long blond hair to the face, body type and height and mannerisms. It was all too weird for us! We returned to our room and rested for a while, watching Oak Island and having some well-deserved wine.