Some Desert & Sun

We are in Yuma for what has become a yearly geocaching trip. There are several geocaching events planned for the weekend, but until then, we are out in the desert with Lil' Red. This is our fourth Yuma MEGA (meaning 500 people have registered) event.

Yuma is in the very southwest corner of AZ. The desert in this area is quite different than the desert in our area. The sand is very fine. There is less plant life and fewer cacti than in the area in the center part of the state.

From the Phoenix area, we drove through some Sonoran desert (meaning saguaro forests), some farmland (crops for cattle), then two solar energy plants, then a volcanic

Here is what we did on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I do not expect to see grave markers in the desert. This one probably marks the final resting place of someone's faithful companion; most likely not human, as there are no dates. 

This grave marker was maybe 20 feet away. It is Spanish and is marking the resting place of a human.

We were along an irrigation canal part of the time. There is a LOT of farming in this area. West of the mountain range it is produce. East of the mountain range is farm land, mostly cattle feed.

I am ALWAYS surprised to see seashells in the desert! These, of course, were in the sand near the canal. And I was surprised at how big some of the shells were.

The area in which we were in on Tuesday & Wednesday was disgustingly scattered with trash and debris. Some of the areas along major roads were full of glass bottles, cans, plastic shopping bags, and even plastic bags of trash/garbage. It is very sad to see the desert so littered. Sometimes the objects are very large...mattresses, tires, discarded appliances are some of the more common ones.

 This large (I think mesquite) tree was just interesting with limbs bent to the ground.

Another surprise is when I see weeds (in this case, desert shrubs) that grow in rows. This may have been farmland at one time and that would account for weeds in straight rows. Still interesting.

We came across an organic date farm. The date palms were in three different planted sizes. I do not remember seeing the date palms last year when we were in the area.

These date palms were the youngest of the three sizes. The fronds are still wrapped in paper.

I think these are the 'middle-sized' plants. This date farm is just getting started. Mature date trees are 25-30 feet tall.


More desert geocaching adventures to come.