Category: Places

After a week at Lake Mead and finally getting all of my car registration stuff done in Vegas, I was more than ready to leave and head to better adventures somewhere else. As I was preparing to head out, a friend hit me up and invited me on a backpacking trip in Goldstrike Canyon, just south of the Hoover Dam. That turned into one awesome adventure before I set off into Arizona, where I visited the Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest.

Time to catch back up on the blog! After my weekend backpacking in Joshua Tree, I stayed in the area for my sister’s wedding nearby the following weekend, before spending the next week in LA. Alas, time came to hit the road again, and I kicked it off with an official Instameet put on by the Bureau of Land Management at Amboy Crater in Mojave Trails National Monument, where an excellent super bloom of wildflowers is taking place. I even spent the night at a small parking area adjacent to the crater before heading on to 8 Mile Road in Lake Mead National Recreation Area for the week to take care of my car registration in Las Vegas.

On Friday afternoon, I packed up from Arizona and headed towards Joshua Tree with plans to spend a couple of weeks in the general area. After one night at a free spot on the South end of the park, I drove to the Black Rock area on Saturday and did a single overnight backpacking trip into the park’s wilderness. Getting back to the trailhead on Sunday, I went immediately to a campsite at the Black Rock Campground that I had previously reserved for the week.

Although I already went to Montezuma Castle, I realized that I skipped past Montezuma Well, so I decided to go see that on Friday, and also ended up taking a brief drive through the Red Rock Scenic Byway. However, as a heavier rainy storm came through, I didn’t get to do much else with my weekend until Monday, when I was able to go out and adventure around the Bradshaw mountains. Finally, I also scoped out a new campsite during my adventures, with some absolutely lovely views!

On Friday, I decided to head north from my camp in Tonto National Forest to visit a few more national monuments. I ended up seeing all of Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, and Agua Fria National Monuments, and found a wonderful, free campsite in Agua Fria.

On Friday, I decided to leave the camp at Gilbert Ray outside of Tucson and head north into the Phoenix area. On the way, I stopped to enjoy Casa Grande Ruins National Monument before finding a boondocking site in Tonto National Forest. On Saturday, I also took some time to drive to Tonto National Monument, where I was lucky enough to see both cliff dwellings!

On Friday, I decided to leave my camp at Gunsight Wash and head into the Tucson area. After one freezing cold night in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, I went on to visit both halves of Saguaro National Park and settle on a paid campsite at Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park.

Although I had only spent about half a week in Kofa, I decided to take a break from recent rains over the weekend to go checkout Southwest Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It turned into a surprisingly beautiful adventure! I also found a new boondocking campsite nearby for the week, at Gunsight Wash.

As Wednesday was my birthday, I decided to take the day to leave San Diego. As I went, I crossed through the Imperial Dunes area again, being a spot that I previously enjoyed traveling through. I finally ended up at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge south of Quartzsite, Arizona.