A Fitting Find

Salton Sea was ripe with drone filming possibilities. I’m not a morning person but I set my alarm so I could actually photograph a sunrise and a sunset in the same day. Here is a cool video I put together of some of my photos and videos from the 2nd of January.

Overall Salton Sea was a nice detour but I was ready to find a place with a little more off the beaten path. I thought I would make my way to Senora. I left Salton City around 1.30 in the afternoon and made a pitstop at the Pilot Station to fill up my propane and water. I know Sedona is going to be colder than Salton so being sure to have enough propane for heat and for my refrigerator seems a good idea.

Leaving the Pilot station I was amazed at the queue for the dump station. It looked there were about 3 or 4 dump stations and there were at least 4 or 5 RVs or Travel Trailers behind each one! What a fun thing!!

I didn’t actually drive all that far yesterday. I thought I would check out a spot mentioned on i-overlander, the app I use – I have to say if I could have gotten into the spot recommended I might have stayed a few days but I wound up on a pullout over the Colorado river that was basically a decent spot for the night and certainly very quiet but a not a spot to stay for long.

My drive to my campsite took over 40 minutes and one almost mishap! I found the spot that wound have been an ideal spot. It was off the road and rather hidden but right on the river. There were 2 campers already there so it was a no-go! I thought I spotted the next best thing in a pull off just above them and then I made the mistake of not getting out of my vehicle first to investigate. Turned out the spot was all sand!! My rear wheels started to get stuck and actually my left rear wheel had created a rut that there could have been no escaping from. Fortunately I carry a couple of small pieces of 1/2 inch plywood with me. By small I mean about 18 inches by about 2 1/2 ft. I also have a small folding shovel. I used to the shovel to clear away the sand from around the embedded wheel and shoved the plywood in as far as I could get it as close to right under the tire as possible. It worked! As soon as I felt the traction start to take I gunned it and was able to get myself out of the almost terrible situation. Grateful I came prepared. I carry the plywood to have a solid surface to park on and on occasion they are just the right height to act as levelers … in this case the plywood was my ticket out of trouble.

Overall it was nice to have quiet night by the river. There was no road noise at all. In spite of being a gateway for ATVs the area wasn’t as busy as it could have been maybe this was because the weekend was over.

Below is a quick video showing the rough route in and then a little dog play at the end.