Senator Wash Reservoir

Feb 5th

The temperatures were cold at this altitude, so we moved south today. Margie, Shannon, and Sequoia, a.k.a. the Canadians, are taking a different route, and will meet back up with us in a few days. We headed south and stopped in El Centro, CA., for some groceries and laundry. I found a campsite on BLM land just east of Yuma, AZ, called Ogilby Rd. Dispersed Camping. We drove several miles into the desert to get to the site. There were quite a few campers already there when we arrived. It is a popular OHV campsite, and we saw a few of the sand buggies pass by in the evening.

Feb 6th

We awoke to the sounds of ATV motors. The wind also picked up during the night, and the combination of the two made for some terrible air quality. The scenery wasn’t very good either, so there was no reason to stay. We decided to move to the Senator Wash Reservoir, which is surrounded by BLM land. On our drive into the area, we started seeing more and more campers. We arrived at the Imperial Dam check in site, to find hundreds of campers everywhere. There are five lanes to fill up with fresh water, 5 lanes to dump your tanks, and 5 large dumpsters for garbage. It turns out that the BLM has set up different access areas on federal lands in California and Arizona. In the LTVA, Long Term Visitor Areas, you can camp all year long for $180, and this area is wall to wall campers. In the Recreational Areas, you can camp all year for $75, but you must move to a different Rec. area, every 14 days. In the Rec. areas, campers are spread out more and you have seclusion. Both fees, include the use of all BLM dump stations, water resupply, bathrooms, and garbage dumpsters. We opted for the Rec. pass. With the Rec. pass, we were able to drive down to the lake and camp right next to it. We drove around for almost an hour looking for a spot on the lake. Anything that we could fit in was already taken. We ended up having to back out of some of the roads, because there were no turn arounds. Kathy, having had enough backing with the trailer, asked that we leave the trailer on the ridge overlooking the lake, and then just drive the truck to find a spot. We picked a large flat area above the lake and dropped the trailer off. We drove around the entire lake and couldn’t find a spot. Our ridge campsite is very beautiful, and we decided just to stay there until something else opened up. About this time, I received a message from Margie, aka one of the Canadians, that they were going to try and join us tonight. The family that we met at Salton City, also contacted us and said they would like to meet us too. By 5pm both families had arrived. We had our own little group campsite up on the ridge, and the 4 children were having a great time. Mia comes to me at one point and very calmly says “Guess what I found.” “A scorpion.” She proceeds to move a rock, and a scorpion skuttles out. All of the parents agreed that the kids shouldn’t move the rocks anymore. There are supposed to be wild donkeys roaming the area however we have not seen any. We have seen many footprints and piles of their poop.

Feb 7th

All three families had school in the morning. The kids played together the rest of the day. The family from Texas who are with us, have a portable gas campfire, and we all sat around it this evening while the children roasted marshmallows. Margie has taught us to “spin poi”. Poi are balls attached to strings that you spin around in different directions. The Māori in New Zealand use them. She had some that light up, and they look very cool at night. We still haven’t seen the donkeys.

Feb 8th

The Texans left us this morning and the two remaining girls are a little sad. We found a better campsite that overlooks the lake, and we moved there this afternoon. From our new spot, we were able to hike ¼ mile down to the lake with our kayak. Kathleen and Margie attempted to swim, but the water is too cold. We took turns kayaking instead. Still no donkey sightings.

Feb 8th

While the girls had school this morning, I drove into Yuma, and saw my mother. She showed me around her neighborhood and then we went shopping together. There are a lot of people in Yuma, and most of them are snowbirds. When I got back to our campsite, Oreo was curled up under the table. He was having a nervous breakdown about all of the loud explosions coming from the Army Proving Grounds next door. There would be one every 10 minutes or so. Later in the afternoon, we took the kayak down to the lake again. We have still not seen any donkeys. Mia and Sequoia created a solar oven using cardboard and Aluminum foil, and cooked lentil soup for dinner. It worked, and the soup was delicious. We played cards with Margie and Shannon after dinner. I was awakened sometime in the night, by coyotes howling all around us.

Feb 9th

After school this morning the two girls made little pizzas in their solar ovens. My parents showed up this afternoon, and grandma had cookies for us. They stayed for a couple of hours and talked and after they left, we went on a hike. We found some very fresh donkey droppings, and their hoof prints. We followed the prints and droppings over the ridge, through the trees, and down to the lake, but we still didn’t find them. This evening as the sun was going down, we heard the coyotes howling very nearby. There were five of them on the ridge across from us.