Day 2 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We headed north on 95 through farm fields. They were harvesting broccoli and cabbage and the whole world smelled like cabbage! We could see lots of different leafy vegetables growing. This area is popular for winter crops and we are looking forward to getting some fresh veggies while we are here. The fields are watered with irrigation systems.

Soon enough we were back in the desert. We entered The United States Army Yuma Proving Grounds.

We arrived at our destination. This area was owned by King of Arizona Mine back in the day. The mountains and surrounding wildlife refuge are named Kofa after the goldmine. We got the very last map and after consulting it we decided to go to the right at marker 75.

This road is only recommended for 4 wheel drive vehicles. It passes through the desert and the mountains and the views are breathtaking!

This area has lots of wildlife…foxes, pronghorns, bighorn sheep, and mule deer. It is also a famous birding site. We saw NO mammals. We saw some nondescript brown birds, too small and too fast to identify. We did see a little lizard, a hummingbird, a grasshopper, and lots of butterflies. We also saw these ants. They call the desert barren. It certainly is dry. But there is a wide variety of animal and plant life here. The desert is alive!

Though we saw no desert wildlife, we were surrounded by beauty.

We were driving along when all at once the road ended. Had we taken a wrong turn? The map was pretty simple…it looked like we could loop all the way around…

Another look at the map….oh no…the road doesn’t connect after Big Eye Mine…There is a mountain in between us! Oh well…we had plenty of gas, plenty of water and snacks…back the way we came…20 miles back to the road! Well the good thing is that when you go back the other way you get an entirely new perspective!

Tomorrow we have a different sort of adventure in mind!