Lake Havasu back to S'dale again, another long way.

Before heading out of town I availed myself of a convenient Indian buffet.

I headed north into Nevada and through the Spirit Mountain area north of 163.  Remnants of the wet weather from the previous evening and night were still blowing out of the area.

I eventually landed just off Hwy 95 about 10 miles south of Boulder City.  No rain tonight, and that shiny patch on the horizon isn't a lake this time but rather a solar farm.

A beautiful and convenient spot.

Next morning headed into the southern portion of the Las Vegas metro area and stopped at this library.  This was the reading room and I was settling in to work on my exploding picture library and blog and confirmed that the lack of password protection had sunk that ship.  Onward!

Heading S. on I-15, then exiting on Nipton Road and heading east a tiny bit I dropped into the Mojave Natl. Preserve.  'Preserve' is the operative word there because unlike a monument there is no entrance fee!  I think these might be the fabled Joshua Tree but I haven't confirmed via internet yet.

I proceeded south, wending my way, and eventually passed the hole-in-the-wall visitor center, which was closed and under construction, but they had a nice solar installation!

I can't remember if this is accidental or on purpose but I think it accurately captures the situation at that point.

That night I camped just north of I-40, far enough away not to be able to hear the traffic but able to see it stretching like a glittering necklace across the desert under the brilliant stars.

The next day I continued my back-roads journey south toward the Imperial Valley and did some pretty major back roads, at times rutted and rocky, and at other times sandy washes grabbing at your tires.  This was a delightful gravel portion at the top of the final descent from I-10 to 111 around Frink, past the Red Canyon trailhead and Glamis North Hot Springs Resort.  I always think as I get closer to my destination the roads must just get better and better but I'm continually reminded that's not always the case. It had already been a bit dicey getting to this point and I was quite a ways from the highway already but I didn't realize I still had quite a  bit to go and there would be other very challenging sections.  Good thing I've had lots of experience driving back roads at this point!  Doesn't keep me from continuing to scrape nose, belly, and tail now and then though.

Our (yes, 'our', I'll own it) first glimpse of the Salton Sea, as the wash we were driving down passed under an old (current?) railway.  We posed for this one.

But you're not down yet, Truckers.

Many semi-hemi-demi-nerve-wracking moments later we ARE down, to Slab City.

Eventually, after surviving and completing the rest of the descent, we landed in Slab City for the eve, which turned out to be copacetic enough as a stopping over point but I wouldn't go out of my way to stay there on purpose.  Would have stopped further up my descent through the wash if I'd have been sure I could have gotten out the rest of the way the next morning and not have had to turn back.  These shots taken from the "Coliseum" area.

Then guess what?  The next day, after visiting a delightful small free community library in Calipatria, and spending a couple hours completing and posting my previous entry, I headed the rest of the way down the valley to El Centro where I got on I-8 and headed into Yuma.  I stopped at the BLM office there and got some key intel and a map.  This bloomin' ocotillo was just across the street from the BLM office!  5 sigma above anything I'd seen previously!  I think it was a sign.  This would be my last night on the road before I needed to land in S'dale for cat-sitting today (Sat) so I wanted to find some place to camp, and I wanted to test out a route I thought I'd found which would allow me to enter the rest of the way into AZ without going through CBP checkpoints I'd identified.  I was successful thanks to careful planning and diligent execution.

Once back on I-8 and headed east I stopped at a place I'd identified just off the interstate at the exit on the pass in Mohawk.  I was the only one not speeding by a couple hundred yards away and this place came with its own back patio!

As is my wont, after setting up camp I ventured forth on a sunset hike.  This hike will start and end with mamillarii, like bookends.

I got up on the ridge and looked back south at the freeway and (I think if you zoom in you can just make out) Vanessa down in the wash in the center of the picture.

Get ready for a bunch of pictures because I got up here about an hour before sunset and had a lot of time to photograph the changing conditions.

Some of these may look a little redundant but you should see the complete collection!

The sun's finally going down.  I'm heading down too.

And now this collection is done.  Except for one more pic which comes next.

The next day I passed through Gila Bend again, and back to "Chris' Corner", which is my name for the spot just east of Gila Bend where I've passed the night on two different occasions.  I didn't stay long this time, just picked up something I'd stashed last time through then headed further along the West Maricopa Road than I'd been before, on the final leg of my journey back to Phoenix/Scottsdale.  But I found one more shortcut to take, and once again it was challenging and beautiful.  As I passed the bottom of the Butterfly Peaks range I took a left on an unmaintained road and headed due north toward Komatke.  I didn't realize this would take me through the Gila River basin (mostly dry on my road, but a few wallows to avoid) just before it joined the Salt River.  But it did, looking at it now on Google Maps on my laptop in S'dale rather than on my phone, bouncing along in the car.

This was a beautiful ride, too, but of course I wasn't taking pictures during the white-knuckle sections.

Now I'm back in Seevil-I-zation, baby!  I'm anticipating my first shower in 10-ish days (TMI?) and maybe some sushi.  Gonna do my laundry, dishes, refill water, and in 60 more hours I'll be off to meet Alan for the final chapter of this southwest touring trip (I'm already looking forward to next winter's tour!).

Here's the rest of the pics.  (Note: only 160 pics this time, down from 380!  I'm exercising restraint!)