If you don’t don’t like donkeys, cacti, or rocks, don’t even bother clicking on this link or reading on!

We started a slow retreat east, and at one point we will sadly have to start heading north.  in the meantime, we were able to boondock in a few areas that we would really like to share with you.  This time, we found all of our boondocking sites by tying BLM into Google map.  We didn’t use any of the apps or websites that we would normally consult. We were very pleased with the results!

We headed east from Quartzsite and after a short stop at Wickenburg, Arizona. this cowboy town is adorable.  We walked around a bit and did some grocery shopping.

Apparently, in olden times, the town’s people were too busy looking for gold that they didn’t have time to build a jail. They had a jail tree instead. This display is very realistic…

We boondocked at Pleasant Lake BLM near Phoenix.  Not at the state park, but north of it, on BLM management area where they manage a herd of wild burros.  We really wanted to see the wild burros, and sure enough, as soon as we started driving north on the dirt road, we spotted our first cautious, philosophical burro.

They were everywhere, stoically staring at us for hours.

We heard them braying and walking by the RV at night, a herd came by to stare at us in the morning, and we spotted different herds on our drive out.  News must travel fast as it seems like most of the 400+ burros in the management area came to check us out.

We had to hold Emma’s mouth under control several times…

There were also coyotes everywhere, and they were very vocal.  We spotted a lone coyote trotting by, and he seemed to be very focused on getting somewhere.  He basically ignored us, but there was a lot of coyote commotion a few minutes later from the direction that he was going to.

It is baffling to hear folks say that the desert is barren and boring. There is bloom and life everywhere you look, whether it’s cacti, berries, flowers, coyotes, burros, or Jack Rabbits. There are animal tracks and droppings, there is howling at night, sudden movement in the bushes.  THERE ARE ROADRUNNERS AND JAVELINAS! (we may have seen one Javelina as roadkill, not too sure, but spotted several roadrunners).  Bottom line, not so barren in our opinion.

The forecast called for a bit of rain at 3am. Instead, it poured all night to the point that we weren’t sure that our van will be able to negotiate the mud and make it out of our campsite, and all the way to the paved road on the 3 miles of roller coaster gravel road.

We did make it out, but the van, the gas fittings and the entire lower portion of the van ended up caked in mud.

We were able to clean the step with a shovel, but we let the rest come of by itself as we drove on.

It was a nice place to boondock, unfortunately, a lot of trash was left behind by other users. We enjoyed the solitude, but suspect that it’s a lot busier in better weather as it is a trail starting point for ATVs.

The next evening we stopped at Indian Bread Rocks; another scenic BLM area. There are several campsites in the main camping area, but they were all full so we kept on going on the dirt road and found a beautiful isolated area to stop for the night. We were there early enough to enjoy a cooked meal and watch a beautiful sunset.

and a sunrise.

The next morning we took the short hike to the rocks,

and up to the top of the hill to watch the beautiful vista from the top.

We drove out through groves of pistachios and pecans,

and stopped at a local store to buy some of their pistachios.

We would go back just for the pistachios! Those were the tastiest pistachios we ever had! It looks like they get a bit old by the time they get to our Ontario supermarket.

We decided to go home via Texas. Makes sense, just like it did when we went to Yuma via San Diego. There were nasty winter storms again that we needed to avoid while we are waiting for our window so that we can dash to the border. Texas was the warmest place so we stopped at Baylor Canyon BLM near Las Cruces.

Another beautiful and secluded spot and the Organ Mountains towering over us were magnificent.

Again, there was some garbage strewn around, and it was pretty evident that this place is a hot spot for late night rendezvous – perhaps because of its proximity to Las Cruces –  and judged by the amount of empty shells and coyote carcass, it is also a hunter’s hangout.  We weren’t disturbed by anyone though and had a good night.

The next day we drove through El Paso and headed towards Big Bend National Park. Looks like our boondocking days are over for now. Texas doesn’t have a lot of BLM land, and you can find similar sites only in Wildlife Management Areas.  There weren’t many of those in the areas we were going to, so back to RV parks for now.

Hand down, boondocking is our preferred type of RVing. The solitude, serenity, and scenery beat hook-ups and bingo nights. The price is right too.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• Cost: CAD179.7 (US129.3) gas and groceries
• Distance: 882km (512miles) 
• Fuel Average: 8.4km/l (18.48mpg)

We’ll have an overall cost breakdown at the end of the trip.

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