March 9, 2013 – Original Quartzsite

Blue Sky and SUN this morning – YEA!   Another road trip – YEA.

Looking at the “Stone Cabin” Booklet, we decided to try to find the old Quartzsite Town Site and Petroglyphs and Grinding Holes.  The directions were to first go thru the BLM Long Term Visitor Area.  This area is a fee area to camp - $40 for 14 days or $180 for 6 months.  It is dry camping but there is access to a dump, water, and garbage disposal.  We did not have to pay anything to drive thru it.

We found the “ Old Yuma Road” and turned left onto it.  Here it is:

 

Compared to some of the other dirt roads we have been on, this is like a super highway.   We were looking for BLM Road 356.  For those who don’t know, the BLM marks most of the roads in their area with a brown metal “pole” that lists the road number.  So every road we passed, we slowed down, first to find the marker and second to try to see the number.  Well, we went all the way down to the paved La Paz Road.  Hmmm, we missed it or maybe we should have went the other direction.  Well as long as we were here, we checked out the La Paz Road area and then the area around MM99.  Every January, the Escape Amateur Radio group has a rally.  Andy has stopped by but always went in the back way (not good for a MH).  We wanted to check how to get in with the motorhome – nice area.

Okay, back to finding BLM Road 356.  We go back thru the BLM Long Term Visitor Area and turned right.  Lots of folks in this area but no 356.  And then I realize that I have a BLM map of this area with me – LOL!!  Our comes the map, and we go back down the way we first came.  Now here is what is strange..the roads are numbered in the 500’s and then the 600’s.  Right after 620 is 356 – no wonder I missed it – :-))).

Here is the road back to the petroglyphs:

 

We parked the car here and walked down to the outcrop and the wash:

Tyson’s Wash:

This is part of a mine – not sure what they were mining:

 

The petroglyphs:

Tyson’s Wash was HUGE!  The wash goes from the rocks on the right to the trees on the left.  I took Andy’s picture for a perspective.

This is the outcropping with the petroglyphs – notice the width of wash:

Looking down the wash:

 

We headed over to the outcropping on the right and found the cave where Indians once lived.  This is part of the cave – it was starting to fall down:

We found the road to climb to the top – it was worth it for the views.  This is the area of the original town site of Quartzsite.  It was washed away in a flood and then rebuilt on higher ground in its present location.  It is said that there is a safe full of gold buried beneath the sand at the bottom of Tyson Wash somewhere near the spot.  The safe was apparently carried away in the “great” flood.

The road across the wash is where the car is parked:

The group of houses in the center is Rainbow Acres – yep, it is in the middle of nowhere:

 

This guy was enjoying floating on the breezes and looking for some food:

We headed back to the car and then back into the long term visitor area where we found this RV with a garden (must be one of the long termers).

Oh, by the way, we did not find the grinding holes.  I am sure they are there cause I did see posted pictures but we couldn’t find them – maybe next time :-)

We headed back home where we enjoyed a sunny afternoon.  We started a fire late afternoon, cooked supper, and enjoyed more of the campfire.  The clouds started moving in again – made for dramatic skies (sorry no pictures).

Another great day!

March 2, 2010 – Painted Rock Petroglyph Site

Our journey today took us to Painted Rock Petroglyph Site.  Here is some information from the internet:

“The Painted Rock Petroglyph Site is located on the eastern edge of the Painted Rock Mountains and about 18 miles west by northwest of Gila Bend, Arizona.  This area is mostly flat and sandy with May -Oct daytime temperatures in the 100's. The annual rainfall here is only about six inches and the nearest irrigational water is the Gila River. In prehistoric times the Gila flowed west out of the Mountains of western New Mexico, made a big dogleg turn at the town of Gila Bend and continued west to empty into the Colorado River. The Hohokam people once lived and farmed here. Ruins of their late Pioneer Period (AD 350-AD 550) and Early Colonial Period (AD 550-AD 700) villages are found to the north and west, and ruins of their Sedentary - Classic Period (AD 900-AD 1400) villages are found to the south and east.

Over 40 petroglyph sites have been recorded in this area, however; most of these sites are small with only a few dozen petroglyphs. The Painted Rock Site is the largest known site with about 800 images. The petroglyphs are pecked onto weathered basalt boulders overlaying a granite outcrop. The outcrop is in the form of an east to west orientated oval about 400' long, and about 20' tall with two small knob tops . Most of the petroglyphs are concentrated on the boulders along the eastern edge, but the petroglyphs face in all directions from that edge.

Although considered a Hohokam rock art site, Painted Rock is on the extreme western edge of the Hohokam cultural area.  As you travel east from Painted Rock the petroglyphs take on more typical Hohokam characteristics, and as you travel further west, the petroglyphs take on more Patayan characteristics. Found here and in nearby areas of the Gila River are petroglyphs of Archaic origin.  Painted Rock also bears the inscriptions of Historic passers-by. Juan Bautista de Anza passed near here in the 1700's, followed in the 1800's by the Mormon Battalion, the Butterfield Overland Mail, and countless numbers of pioneers. In the 1900's George Patton used this area as headquarters for WWII tank training.”

 

This is a view of the site from the parking lot:

We took the trail around the area.  There were a number of information boards on the petroglyphs and the area:

 

As we walked around the trail and saw the drawings, we wondered about all the peoples who passed this way and made their mark on these boulders.  This place was very spiritual.

Here are a number of the petroglyphs – notice the different shapes and figures:

  

 

Fascinating and we do not know why they were made nor what they mean!!

There is also a very nice campground there and we may stay there sometime in the future.

And the desert continues to become green.  There were areas we passed today that looked like lawns…

 

Back home, we just did some things around the motor home.  Andy put in a new water pump and I did some more washing and cleaning.

Tomorrow we head to Organ Pipe National Monument so stay tuned.