This was our first trip with the Bambi in 2010, about

3 1/2 weeks since we got home from our Holiday

Trip to Lost Dutchman State Park and the

4 Corners Unit New Year’s Rally at Picacho Peak.

So we were more than ready to hit the road again! 3 1/2 weeks! That’s way too long between trips! (Whine, whine.)

We hadn’t been in this part of southern Arizona since our trip to Patagonia Lake in January 2009. So it was good to be heading there again. It seems like we always end up going to Patagonia Lake in the winter. Terry keeps saying he wants to go there later in the year when the trees are greener with leaves. Hopefully this year we’ll be able to do that! The problem is that it gets busy with families flocking to the water in the summer, and it is potentially very warm in the summer, so timing is everything. Guess we’ll just have to go and take our chances.

We had planned to make this trip a week earlier but southern Arizona had been

                        socked with very wet, stormy weather, so we put it off. This was

                               the wettest January we’ve had in years … which is a good

                                 thing, of course, but it puts a “damper” on camping. But the

                                   forecast for the coming weekend was dry so we went for

                                   it, leaving Tucson on Friday, 29 January, with plans to

                                come back on Monday. We also planned to dry camp for the

                                    weekend. The weather was cool, and we’d been wanting

                                     to camp in the non-electric loop of the park. The park has a very nice dry camping area and this time of year it is pretty quite. The electric loops fill up quickly on weekends because of winter visitors and birders.

Patagonia Lake State Park is one of a few state parks that will remain open after the rape and pillage of park funds by the state legislature… because it is a lucrative operation between winter visitors and summer fishing and water sports. (Is is all about the money in the end. Sad.) It is a park that offers everything from camping to swimming to fishing to boating and kayaking, so it is popular. There is a marina where you can rent fishing boats and paddle boats. So there’s something for everybody. There’s even a small store that sells basics, including gas and propane.

We took the “scenic route” which takes us east on I-10 to Arizona Route 83 south to Sonoita, AZ where we pick up Arizona 82 west to through Patagonia and on about 15 miles to the park entrance. It’s only about 75 miles from Tucson, so it’s a relatively short but pleasant drive through high desert terrain. You can also take I-19 south from Tucson to Nogales and come to the park from the west on Route 82. That way it’s about 86 miles, mostly on the Interstate. Sometimes we go one way and come home the other way so we’re not backtracking as much. We prefer traveling on non-Interstate roads when possible, so we usually opt for the easterly route. It’s a short drive to either Patagonia or Nogales from the park, so those are good day trips in the area. There are also a number of wineries in the area. The one we usually stop at fir wind tasting, between the park and Nogales burned down last year, unfortunately. Hopefully they will rebuild. they had a nice selection of wines ... we tasted most of them on our last trip there!

While there was no rain in the forecast, it was cloudy as we headed south. But that makes for beautiful skies, so it was OK. We could see snow on the backside of the Santa Rita Mountains, which lie south of Tucson and are accessed most easily from the west side. The Santa Ritas always seem higher when viewed from the east. We have not explored the Santa Ritas much in terms of camping. We know there are a few national forest campgrounds there and it’s a big birding area. so the campgrounds fill quickly in the summer when it would be best to go there. And the campgrounds are older, which sometimes is not good for trailers. Our friends Deb & Loretta camped there recently with their pop-up so we really should take a closer look, especially with so many of the state parks slated for closure. The area could potentially provide places to escape to on short notice in the summer time.

About half way to the lake Terry realized that in the

rush to get out the door and on the road, he’d

forgotten to bring his money, his driver’s license

and his ID. Great. And of course, he was driving.

So for the rest of the towing part of the trip, Terry

was illegal. Greg drove the day trips just to be safe

from getting a ticket for driving without a license. 

Terry told Greg that since he didn’t have his own money or credit cards, this weekend would have to be on Greg! (And you thought Terry had not planned well!)

We got to the park in good time. The road from Sonoita through Patagonia and on to the park is a pretty drive, so it seemed short. As we suspected, there were lots of open spaces, particularly in the dry camping area. There are two areas with electric and water hookups but they are usually pretty busy in the winter. There were a few spots still open in the electric loops when we got there, but we headed to the dry camping area. There were maybe 3 rigs beside ourselves in the dry camping area, so we had lots of space to ourselves. Not a bad thing! We chose a site that faced the lake looking toward the beach area. We got unpacked and took the Girls for their first walk. They are always to eager to get out and do their initial sniff-fest. We often wonder if they “recognize” places between visits. Dogs are supposed to have an extraordinary sense of smell, so it would not surprise us. Maybe after a few sniffs, they think to themselves, “Oh, yea… this place. We where here about a year ago.”

We had brought the generator with us of course, as this was to be a dry

camping weekend. Though we’d been to Patagonia Lake several times,

this was the first time we’d stayed in the dry camping area. When we

were here before in the electrical loops, we could not get any TV

reception, and the air card Internet reception was very spotty. So we had no

high expectations this trip in terms of “being connected.” But we had a pleasant surprise ahead. We still didn’t have any TV reception being down in a valley and fairly far-removed from signal towers … but much to our surprise, we had totally adequate Internet and cell reception! Then we realized that the poor reception in the electric loops was probably due to the fact that those areas are at the foot of a steep hill and the dry camping area is further removed from the hill in a more open area. It just goes to show you that the “premium” sites do not always deliver the best amenities.

We enjoyed the park being sparsely populated. We set up camp, built a fire

                             and settled in for the weekend. The Bambi had a new interior,

                                     “Navajo Water Blanket” décor for this trip. It’s based on

                                          a Pendleton blanket by the same name and has a

                                            stylized dragon fly as the central graphic element.

                                            Apparently the dragon fly is symbolic of water in

                                         some Native American cultures. Greg picked up the

                                         dragon fly graphic motif and made window valances

                                            and pillow covers to match. We really like using

                                            Pendleton blankets especially when it’s chilly out ...

                                           they’re so cozy ... and usually they are reversible so you really get two “looks” out of the same blanket.

After we set up a few more rigs came into the park, but we still pretty much had our corner of the park to ourselves. Weather held pretty well. It was cool but comfortable and the evenings were brisk with great sleeping weather. We had a pleasant rest of the afternoon and evening.

One of the reasons we wanted to come to Patagonia was to scout a possible location for a boon docking gathering that had loosely been planned for late March. Our Airstream friend Rodney, from Tennessee (who is also a member of the 4 Corners Unit), is an avid boon docker. He was planning to be in SoAZ in March and was working to put together a group and a location to gather for a boon docking weekend. Someone had suggested a ghost town/abandoned mining camp called Harshaw Camp, located about 8 miles SE of Patagonia, as a potential location. We told Rodney that we’d scout the site and let folks know what we thought. (The link for Harshaw is quite interesting and discusses a number of ghost towns/abandoned mining camps in the area, including Harshaw. There are quite a few, and some have quite colorful histories.)

So Saturday we put the Girls in the truck and drove back to Patagonia to check out some of the antique places and shops … and to go on to Harshaw to see if it would be a good place for a boon docking gathering. We enjoyed going through the shops in Patagonia. It’s a charming little town with an interesting population … some artists … some farmers … some retirees … some of this and some of that. It was a pleasant time and an interesting mix of locals.

Then we headed out the east end of town to the south to find Harshaw. The directions were fairly straightforward. Harshaw is the first of a string of old mining camps, according to the link given above. Most of the 8-mile drive was on pavement, but when we reached the Coronado National Forest, we hit dirt road for about the last 2-3 miles. We knew that would be the case. We are not opposed to dirt roads if they are somewhat maintained and will not rattle the trailer to pieces. As we progressed the road worsened, largely because of all the rain that we’d had recently. It was wash boarded and we had to traverse

several creeks that ran over the road. We saw several boon docking

sites along the drive to the actual town of Harshaw (what’s left

of it). Some where along the Harshaw Creek and were OK.

The problem was getting to them without bottoming out. The

rain had made deep gullies on both sides of the dirt road, so it

might been necessary to lay boards down to get off the road

and into the areas for boon docking. There was evidence of

campfires here and there along the way, and we actually saw

a few boon dockers who had no doubt been there a while. This is Coronado National Forest land, so unless otherwise posted, you can camp there for 14 days at a time. As we drove further we went through some private property with postings of “no trespassing” ... and we passed what looked like a homesteader’s farm house ... with cows and sheep and dogs (who like to chase trucks) roaming freely. The occupants of the property were outside their house and leered at us as we passed by. They didn’t look terribly “neighborly.” Glad we didn’t need to borrow a cup of sugar or anything!

When we arrived at Harshaw, we found the cemetery on the side of one hill and the remains of one building ... and a lot of ruts and mud. Crossing some of the creek-washes in the truck was OK, but even then the mud flaps hit bottom a couple of times. We were not thrilled with what we’d found. While some older rigs have a higher clearance, our Bambi has only about 8” clearance for the tank drains. This would be problematic. Sure, we might be able to make it if we proceeded gingerly and built makeshift bridges with planks and boards, but why? And those with longer rigs would definitely have issues. None of that sounds like much fun. Those who are willing to take the risk and say, “We’ve towed down worse roads,” would have no hesitation to head down these roads with a trailer, but we are not among them. We don’t mind the prospect of boon

                                        docking (camping off the grid in undeveloped areas)

                                                but we are not willing to take our rig on roads that

                                                   are going to tear it apart or drag it into

                                                     potentially damaging places. It’s just not worth

                                                      it to us. We’ve gotten comments from a few

                                                      folks who think those who don’t camp in the

                                                     middle of nowhere — practically off-roading

                                                    to get there — are somehow not really

                                                     “camping.” Frankly, we’d rather be cautious

                                                         than woeful as the result of damage we inflicted on our rig for the sake of getting off the grid. It is possible to get off the grid without losing your drain fittings! And to those who say we are not “real” campers … well, we say, “To each his own … have a great time.”

We did find one pleasant looking place just off the paved portion of the road that really looked great in terms of camping … nice and level and room for probably 5-8 rigs. And it had obviously been camped in before based on the evidence of old fire rings. Then we realized is was a dry creek bed. The creek comes out of the hills form a shallow ravine and spreads its water over a wide area before going into culverts at the road. Hmmm. Great place, as long as there are no flash floods! And in Arizona, well, flash floods happen a lot.

Soooo … our final report on the potential boon docking site of Harshaw was not a good one. Rodney is more adventurous than we are in terms of where we are willing to take our rig, but he completely understood our concerns about this location and didn’t hold it against us. He would rather go somewhere where folks feel OK about getting to … and then enjoy the experience. (Thanks for understanding, Rodney!)

When we got back to the campground we had new neighbors … a couple in a pop-up. They had a canoe with them and spent most of their time fishing.

We remember them well because they also had a generator … 

a cheap generator … a loud generator. When they cranked it up it

sounded like the neighbors were either using a chain saw or

mowing their yard. They we’re all that close to us so it didn’t

bother us that much but it drove home the value of having a good

generator. You can stand over our Honda 2000w and carry on a

conversation. It’s that quiet. We’d be embarrassed to use a cheapie in a campground near other people, but those who use them seem to be deaf to it. (Pun intended.)

Saturday afternoon a few more campers came in … some in RVs, a couple in tents … but it was still fairly open. Campgrounds lend well to people watching, and this weekend was no exception. We chatted briefly with folks who happened by and nodded as others drove through the loop.

We took several nice walks with the girls, being careful not to push Sadie too much. While Terry tended the fire in camp, Greg took off to the lake with the camera to see what he could see. He ran into some free-range cows making a meal of prickly pear cacti. This really surprised Terry, but Greg did point out that they are meaty and have a lot of moisture in them, so it sorta make sense… It was just weird. Cows eat grass … not cactus!  He also got some great sunset shots and reflections in the lake.

In the late afternoon each day something happened that reminded us of earlier visits to the park. Black birds of some kind (starlings?) congregate on the power lines about 4 PM. They arrive in small flocks and line up the length of the lines as far as you can see. And they sit there. And watch. (Run, Tippy, run!) Then, as if someone gives a silent signal they all take off en masse to some other location. It is the strangest thing to watch ... and it happens every day about the same time. It makes you wonder what they know that we don’t.

We had some great meals on the BBQ and some quiet times around the campfire in the evenings since there was no TV reception … always a good excuse to have a fire. We were able to sleep late, be lazy and get lots of rest, which is what it’s all about … While we were only there for three nights we felt very refreshed and rested by the time we got home Monday. It was a great little low-stress, laid back get-away, and a wonderful start to our 2010 camping year.

Now let’s see if we can get down there again before it gets too hot for the summer!

Enjoy the pictures below by clicking on the “Slide Show” icon … and you can click on “Other Trips” at the end of the picture section. That will take you back to the 2010 trips page (which at this point only has this trip listed). You can go to 2007, 2008 and 2009 trip lists from that page and access all of our previous trip logs. If you’d like to see a lot more pictures of Patagonia Lake showing the marina, bridge over the lagoon, etc., check out the travel logs for our trips to Patagonia Lake in 2008 ... and 2009.

Have a blast and we’ll see you down the road…