Painted Rock, AZ - Jan. 9 - 11, 2009
On January 9th we traveled a whopping 120 miles east on I-8 to Painted Rock located about 20 miles northwest of Gila Bend. Painted Rock is a very pleasant dry campground (no utility hookups) on BLM land. The land preserves a Hohokam petroglyph site dating to 350 - 700 AD. The Painted Rock Site has about 800 images pecked onto weathered basalt boulders overlaying a granite outcrop. There are also some inscriptions made by Juan Bautista de Anza's troops that passed near here in the 1700's, and the Mormon Battalion from the 1800s - and a bit of less interesting modern graffiti.
While in the area we vainly tried to interpret what these chatty ancients were trying to convey, rode our bikes to the now dry Painted Rock Dam on the equally dry Gila River and searched for the wagon wheel tracks of the historic Butterfield Stage Route. We also met some very wonderfully friendly folks that were parked near us. These people really enjoy haunting splendor of the desert, and shared with us some of the region's lore and history.
Why - Organ Pipe National Monument - Jan. 12 - 14, 2009
From Painted Rock we traveled 80 miles south to Why, AZ. Reputedly, Why got its name when somebody asked "Why would anybody live here?" Although that is an fitting story, we think it may also be because there is a 'Y' formed by the joining of Highways 85 and 86. While there is precious little in Why, it is conveniently located close to Organ Pipe National Monument.
We chose to dry camp at Coyote Howls Campground in Why because of reports of violent activity in Organ Pipe related to Mexican drug cartels. After talking to volunteers and rangers at Organ Pipe we concluded we may have been overly cautious; however, about 40% of the park is closed due to 'visitor safety concerns'.
We spent a day hiking and driving in the incredibly beautiful and lush (in a deserty kind of way) park. We also checked out the park's campground that sits high on a hill, has wonderful vistas and can accommodate large RVs. We hope to return in the future during the spring blooming season and stay in the park's campground.
The following day we took a scenic drive along Darby Well Road to Ajo, a historic copper mining town 10 miles north of Why. Along the way we encountered some folks we had met at Painted Rock a couple of days earlier - big desert - small world.
After lunch, we explored the town, its nearly deserted Spanish colonial plaza, abandoned copper mine, and the Ajo Historical Society Museum. We learned from an ancient, but charming, docent that the mining company recently abandoned plans to reopen the mine due to the global economic recession and resultant plunging copper prices.
On the morning of January 15th we ended our desert sojourn and headed east to rejoin urban America in one of our favorite cities - Tucson.
